TNA Lockdown

Lockdown is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event held by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the month of April. The event is highlighted by the premise that all matches take place in the "Six Sides of Steel" cage. In addition to the cage, the event usually features additional gimmicks added on to the steel cage stipulation. Trademark Lockdown specialty matches include the Lethal Lockdown and Xscape match.

Originally "Lockdown" was to have only two cage matches to highlight the name, [cite web|url= http://prowrestlingimpact.blogspot.com/2005/03/assorted-tna-news.html|title=Assorted TNA News] but soon after the premise was changed to the current "all" cage match format by TNA CEO Dixie Carter.

Lockdown dates and venues

Featured Matches

Over the years that Lockdown has become a featured Pay Per View in TNA's monthly schedule, several gimmick matches have become recurring highlights of the show. These matches are intended to provide a different "flavor" to the show as opposed to a simple eight-cage-match card.

Lethal Lockdown

The first match ever announced for a Lockdown pay per view was the Lethal Lockdown match, a variant of the WarGames match popularized in World Championship Wrestling. The match features a multi-man competition in which opponents from each team enter in alternating fashion. Victory can only be gained after everyone has entered the cage, The match has evolved over the years, developing from a three-on-three match (2005) to a four-on-four (2006) and five-on-five (2007-2008). Since 2006, the match also includes a roof to the cage, making it the only match with such a feature in TNA.

Xscape Match

The second annually featured match on a Lockdown pay per view was the XScape Match. Consisting of a multi-stage, multi-wrestler competition, the rules involve wrestlers eliminating each other by pinfall or submission. Once the competition is down to two wrestlers, the two remaining competitors attempt to escape the cage by climbing out over the top (though at Lockdown 2008 in Lowell, Massachusetts, Jay Lethal won by exiting through the door). The second stage of this match is based on the concept of the Blassie cage match.

References