Leon Slater Wins X-Division Title & Invokes Option C, Nemeths Defeat Hardys At TNA Lockdown

TNA held Lockdown on August 23 from Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois, with every match contested inside a steel cage.

The Countdown to Lockdown pre-show produced two results, as Vincent and Dutch of The Righteous beat Rich Swann and BDE, and Trey Miguel defeated Special Agent Zero.

AJ Francis opened the main card against Elijah in a singles match that had been built as The Final Encore. The Expressions returned and interfered on AJ Francis’s behalf, and AJ Francis followed with the Down Payment to pick up the win. Elijah cracked AJ Francis over the head with a guitar afterwards.

Kiera Hogan was revealed as Allie’s mystery partner for the Knockouts World Tag Team Title defence against The Elegance Brand’s Heather By Elegance and M By Elegance, marking her first appearance for the company in five years. She stepped in for Rosemary, who is expected to miss significant time with an injury. You can read more about that here.

Heather By Elegance handcuffed Allie to the cage in the closing stretch, but Kiera Hogan pinned M By Elegance as Allie and Kiera Hogan retained the championships.

Frankie Kazarian beat Moose in the Escape the Cage match. Moose gave Frankie Kazarian a Spanish Fly from the cage and then speared him through the door, but Frankie Kazarian hit the floor first to take the victory.

Xia Brookside retained the Knockouts World Championship against Elayna Black. Xia Brookside worked over the challenger with a leather belt and Elayna Black bled from the forehead before rallying in front of her hometown crowd and kicking out of a Darkside DDT. Elayna Black then connected with the Blackout for a near fall. In the closing moments, Xia Brookside threw powder in Elayna Black’s eyes and scored the pin, with Indi Hartwell watching on from backstage.

Mustafa Ali regained the International Championship from Jason Hotch in the most violent match of the night. Jason Hotch dove from the top of the cage through a table, and Mustafa Ali took a toy from Jason Hotch’s daughter at ringside and threatened to set it alight before Jason Hotch defiantly stormed back. Mustafa Ali hit two 450 splashes to win the title, and after the match, Jason Hotch was able to return the toy to his daughter.

Gia Miller then interviewed Avery Styles, the son of AJ Styles, who announced that he has signed with TNA. Frankie Kazarian came out to tell Avery Styles that he and AJ were like brothers and that Avery Styles could always trust him.

Leon Slater regained the X-Division Championship from Cedric Alexander in the Last Man Standing match, saving his record-tying 298-day reign from being erased. Both men bled before Leon Slater landed three Lumbar Checks and a Swanton 450, and Cedric Alexander could not answer the ten count as Leon Slater took back the title.

An official then alerted TNA Director of Authority Daria Rae to an attack backstage in which Elijah was found laid out. Moose and Cedric Alexander have both been victims of similar attacks in recent weeks, with the individual responsible still unknown.

The System’s Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, Bear Bronson, and Alisha Edwards beat the team of Ricky Sosa, KC Navarro, Fabian Aichner, and Jada Stone in the Lethal Lockdown match. Jada Stone made her entrance by climbing the cage and diving onto everyone in the ring below, and Ricky Sosa drove Bear Bronson through a barbed wire board. Eddie Edwards then hit a package piledriver to Sosa on two chairs to win it for his team, with The System coming out on top.

In the main event, Ryan Nemeth and TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth beat Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy to win the TNA World Tag Team Titles. Matt Hardy hit Ryan Nemeth with a Twist of Fate and an elbow drop from the top rope through a table, but Nic Nemeth caught Matt Hardy with the Danger Zone for the win.

Leon Slater interrupted the celebration to announce he is invoking Option C at Bound for Glory on October 11 at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida, trading the X-Division Championship for a shot at Nic Nemeth’s TNA World Championship. Leon Slater vowed to become the youngest world champion in company history, laid out both Nemeths and closed the show holding the world title.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates from the fallout of Lockdown as soon as we hear more.