TNA Lockdown 2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 We Loved

For the first time in 10 years, TNA presented Lockdown; the special, all-cage PPV spectacular. Titles changed hands, erasure was prevented, and lots of blood was shed. You can read all about it over on the TNA Lockdown 8/23/2026 Results Page.

Now, it's time for the Wrestling Inc. Staff to sing their praises and vent their frustrations over all the happenings in Chicago. There was plenty to love, especially when it came to in-ring action, and the show-closing reveal of Leon Slater's decision to cash-in Option C. There was also plenty to dislike, like the awkward debut promo from "The Phenomenal Son," or whatever you want to call the mess between AJ Francis and Elijah. As always, the comments section will be open, should you feel the need to keep the conversation going.

So without further ado, the best and the worst of the big return of TNA Lockdown.

Up until the closing stretch of all of this, I actually didn't mind the match between Elijah and A.J. Francis. It was what took place right at the tailend that ultimately ruined all of this for me.

This is far from the only occurrence of outside interference either happening or coming close to happening on this show, but I still thought it was one of the more egregious examples of it for this show with how incredibly unnecessary it was for Expressions to predictability reveal he wasn't really injured, break up a pinfall, and distract Elijah long enough for Francis to land a Down Payment for the win. This was actually one of the few matches on this card where I felt like their match had warranted a Steel Cage Match given how long they've been feuding with one another for over the past several months. It should've simply been two men duking it out with one another in a story that told a simple match, but it ended up as a bit of an overbooked mess that did not need to happen when there was a better avenue right there.

The post-match shenanigans with The Home Town Man appearing to hand Elijah his guitar in order for Elijah to hit Francis with it off the ropes also didn't help matters at all. The Home Town Man hasn't really had anything to do with the storyline between Francis and Elijah in recent memory and it took away from what TNA was trying to do by giving Francis a notable win over Elijah. All it ended up doing was make things feel that much more overbooked and quite frankly sillier than they already had been, and it worked against the two men here rather than helping them.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

There are two things I recall saying recently. One was that TNA needs to showcase more violence. And two, the Zoom chat between Xia Brookside and Elayna Black on the go-home show this past Thursday was lackluster (no fault of their own). Tonight, TNA changed its tune, specifically in this match, and I loved it!

Prior to the Knockouts World Championship title defense, I was not "sports entertained." The violence was lacking, despite each match (minus the pre-show ones) being in a steel cage match. I kept asking myself, "When will there be bloodshed?" Enter Brookside and Black. I was enamored by the tenacity and gore of their match. It was personal, brutal, and unforgiving. The ladies put together one helluva match that I couldn't take my eyes off of. Between the use of a belt and some powder, I thought that was quite clever. There were no rules. Take advantage of that lax rule. And boy, did they ever.

Even though Brookside retained, I believe this match made Black a household name. I was kind of on the fence with her. There haven't been enough TNA matches with her in them to convince me she's ready for the big dance. Tonight, in Chicago, she proved me wrong, and I love it!

From one Brie Coder to another Brianna Coda (Black's legal name), you kicked some serious butt tonight. And to Brookside, you sick duck, way to stamp your name toward legendary status with that title defense.

Written by Brie Coder

As Rhett Miller of The Old 97's said, "Nineteen is not the age of reason," so I will refrain from being too harsh on young Avery Styles. I think he had a perfectly fine start to his career. He appears to have a very solid handle on the basics. Then his dad got him sucked into the longest discourse in the history of discourses. Now, he's been signed to TNA, with a spotlight moment on a PPV, and I am worried that he is getting way too much, way too quick because of the strength of his father's name.

I get it, wrestling is a business awash in nepo-babies, but there was something about Avery's awkward, stilted promo that made me worried the kid was in way over his head. From a wrestling standpoint, he feels like a puppy that has been adopted too early, without enough time to build up the proper defenses to the world at large. 

His logo looks like a bootleg version of his father's, his nickname is the "Phenomenal Son," his promo skills leave a lot to be desired, it feels like this kid is going to have an impossible task in making a name for himself. He might as well be "El Hijo Del AJ Styles," that's how much he is currently relying on his father's name and gimmick. I hope he finds a way to stand out. He certainly has time.

Written by Ross Berman.

On a card of middling, boring, and briefly exciting matches came one particular barn-burner in Mustafa Ali and Jason Hotch's International title match. It was a match that delivered on action, storytelling, and sheer villainy in the best way.

Hotch entered alone as his wife and daughter watched on from ringside, followed then by Ali's Chicago Mob-inspired entrance alongside the rest of Order Four, only cementing the dynamic between them. Ali felt like a monster before the bell had even rung, and then he only continued to fill that role with the breadth of his talent.

When watching TNA, it can often feel like glaring at the ghost of something once special; gone are the days of the "Impact Zone" for the most part. But these two men brought that feeling back for this match, exemplified best with Hotch leaping from the top of the cage to put Ali through a table on the outside. While fans hadn't yet realized it, that was the beginning of the end.

Hotch was selling an internal injury, spitting out blood and collapsing as he climbed back to his feet, leading officials to come and walk him out of the match. Only then did Ali dial up the villainy some more, bragging in the face of Mrs and Mini Hotch before grabbing the latter's stuffed dinosaur toy.

Ali brought it back into the ring, threatening to destroy it as a way of baiting Hotch back. It worked, and that allowed Ali to punish Hotch and eventually win the title.

It was emotive storytelling inside and out of the ring, with Hotch fighting first for the title but then because he could not give up and allow Ali to torture his family in such a way. It wasn't a happy ending, and enough had simply been enough when all was said and done. Those are sometimes the best endings; the ones where the hero does everything right and it still doesn't prove enough, because evil will find routes the hero had never even considered.

Ali has mastered the aura, the verbiage, and the actions of a monstrous villain backed by sycophants and those too scared to fight against him. He is the ultimate heel, and Hotch has been a welcome surprise in the babyface department. One would hope this isn't the last we see of their feud because TNA is cooking with gas here.

Written by Max Everett

I appreciate TNA bringing back Lockdown. It's a fun pay-per-view show that heightens the violence that is oh so needed in the company anymore. But when the pre-show started, I felt like I was on the wrong station. Just as it began, I noticed something was missing. The cage itself. I then asked my co-workers, "Aren't all these matches supposed to take place inside a steel cage tonight?" All of them replied with, "Yes." But when I didn't see the two pre-show matches in cages, I thought I was losing my mind. TNA, why did you bait and switch us?

If you looked up Lockdown 2026 prior to the card's start, you'd see that yes, every match was supposed to occur inside a steel cage, including the pre-show ones. So, what changed? It would've worked tremendously in The Righteous' favor, even though they won their match. It could've furthered their cult-like stance because at this time, it seems like their storyline is pretty directionless at this point. They were killing it after winning in the first-ever Wicked Garden match against The Hardys. But I digress.

Anyway, the pre-show matches were great tonight. Trey Miguel was rocking some Spider-Man-inspired gear. I dug it. But having their matches inside the cage could have raised the temperature, especially with Spider-Man's history with cages. Maybe that's just me.

Written by Brie Coder

There wasn't much to be celebrated from the main event of Lockdown; the Nemeths defeated the Hardys to win the TNA Tag titles, making Nic Nemeth TNA's first (pure) double champion since, checks notes, Eric Young held the World and Knockouts Tag titles. TNA is an odd little thing.

To be perfectly honest, no main event should ever bill Ryan Nemeth as one of its competitors and the Hardys are a nostalgia act that simply refuse to not put their bodies through the wood-chipper. Thus, the match was a limbering mess of plunder and pre-broken bodies and ended with a bit of a whimper. But then Leon Slater came out with his newly reclaimed X-Division title to make things all the more exciting.

He announced that he would be exercising Option C and challenging Nemeth for the World Championship at Bound for Glory, where he planned to become the youngest World Champion in TNA history.

I've been a huge fan of Slater for a while and would make the case that he should already be competing for the World title, if not have already held it. But, it's better late than never. Slater versus Nemeth sounds like a great match and could well make for some good programming in the build. And the segment acted as a sort-of post-credits scene to communicate that, leaving the crowd on a high as he posed with the World title.

On the flip side, it now leaves the X-Division title vacant and ready for someone like a Jason Hotch or Ricky Sosa to step up to the plate. That's how it should be. That's what makes the X-Division so compelling, it's a look at the future World Champions and TNA has plenty of worthy suitors.

Written by Max Everett