Scraping the Barrel: Lethal Lockdown!

Welcome to “ Scraping the Barrel ” — Cheap-Heat ‘s official TNA Impact Countdown , brought to you by B+ Players Radio. This week was Lethal Lockdown— a former pay-per-view event and fitting choice for a week overflowing with pro wrestling excitement. With much to discuss from this broadcast, picking a Top Five was nearly impossible, but we managed to do it. Check out this week’s “ Scraping the Barrel ,” complete with full length video clips.

5. The Contract Signing
It's Total Nonstop Action versus Global Force Wrestling in a " Winner-Takes-All" Lethal Lockdown Match! Jeff and Karen Jarrett enter the Impact Zone, and sit opposite Dixie Carter. The owner of TNA wishes there could have been peace between the warring sides, and stresses that the decision to leave TNA was Jeff Jarrett's. Nobody asked him to leave. Karen continues to mock Dixie throughout the contract signing, and tells Borash to take the briefcase with the documents—"they'll be picking them up at the end of the night." Jeff then says that he's going to do something he's wanted to do for a long time; as Jeremy Borash places the contract inside the case, Double J blindsides the Voice of TNA wrestling with a cheap shot.

4. TNA Knockout's Championship
I didn't get the chance to watch this event live, and before I knew it, TNA announced Gail Kim versus Awesome Kong for the Knockouts Championship at Bound for Glory . What? I thought Brooke was the champion. Rewind—now I'm caught up. The champion Brooke is set to defend in a four-way competition against GFW's Lei'd Tapa, Awesome Kong, and a woman who might one day be the first female inductee to the TNA Hall of Fame, Gail Kim. The two Amazonian women all-but take each other out, and Brooke is left defending her championship against the most celebrated Knockout in the division. Gail reverses a pin attempt by Brooke after the champion countered "Eat Defeat," and scores a surprising three-count. Gail Kim is your new TNA Knockouts Champion , tying Madison Rayne with five separate title runs.

3. Mahabali Shera is SUPER Charismatic
Mahabali Shera—formerly known as the Revolution 's Khoya—is really coming out of his shell, and it seems to have happened overnight. Well, I guess being that all of these episodes were taped over a weekend in JULY, it did happen overnight. Shera is embracing the Bollywood traditions of his homeland, and is rocking his arms and hips to the sounds of his badass Indian entrance music. He gets everyone in the Impact Zone on board with what's been dubbed " The Shera"— I was admittedly doing it as well in my living room. Granted I can't do it as well as the ladies in the front row, or Big Foot , it's still a lot of fun. He's not a great wrestler, but Shera is a former Ring Ka King World Champion —and at 91-days is the longest RKK Champion ever. His match with Abyss was decent considering the two mechanics involved, and ended with Shera having his arm raised. Given his charisma and apparent aptitude, bet Mahabali Shera could become true championship material should he ever fall under the tutelage of the WWE Performance Center coaches. At least better than Baron Corbin—right?

2. Ethan Carter by Ethan Carter
Ethan Carter is a lot of things: a champion, a business man, a politician—this past weekend in Brooklyn New York he even confessed his sins to "Father Goldman" AKA Colt Cabana. What more can EC3 do to put himself above and beyond every single wrestling roster? Introduce his own fashion line, of course! Tonight Carter's got Jeff Hardy tethered by a stipulation the " Charismatic Enigma " agreed to some weeks back. When Matt Hardy failed to capture the world title from EC3, Jeff gave up his freedom and became Carter's indentured servant. Tonight Jeff drove Carter to the arena, and did his dirty work as EC3 and Tyrus sat back and watched "Cat Videos" on EC3's iPhone. Now Jeff is inside the Impact Zone , and sporting the latest EC3 creation—a suit stitched with Carter's own-likeness. Of course Rockstar Spud came out to doll out a piece of his mind, but the greatest take-away from this segment is Jeff Hardy's attire. Which coincidentally enough, is a goofy custom suit —that Rockstar Spud fails to even address. I feel that was prime real estate for a tirade, but I suppose a few underhanded comments will do, and we'll move on to a more contrived conversation ending with an inevitable beat-down.

1. Lethal Lockdown
The future of TNA Wrestling is on the line as Jeff Jarrett and Global Force are set to take on Dixie Carter's most valiant warriors. It's very telling of what sort of shape a company is in when it's being defended by Drew Galloway. Nevertheless this was an entertaining contest featuring some of the most exciting athletes on either roster. Regardless of any sort of handicap placed on Dixie Carter, the result was never in question. Especially since Jeff Jarrett publicly backed out of TNA as a minority owner just days before the broadcast. It might seem silly to have GFW win if Jeff has no stake in the promotion for the first time since 2002.

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