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What’s the story?
Dave Meltzer has reported this week that Impact Wrestling is to stage a pay-per-view live event on April 22nd, just two weeks after WrestleMania 34. This will likely replace One Night Only for the month of April and is rumored to be the return of Lockdown.
In case you didn’t know…
Under the name of Total Nonstop Action, Impact's April pay-per-view was Lockdown from 2005 until 2012, being moved to March twice, then February and January over the next four years.
Lockdown has typically had at least one "feature" match - with the most likely being Lethal Lockdown, a variant on War Games. Lethal Lockdown is a multi-man tag team cage match and has more recently had a roof over the cage.
Other features of Lockdown in the past have been the Xscape Match - a multi-person, multi-stage cage match, with one stage being an adaption of the Blassie Cage Match - and the Queen of the Cage Match featuring the TNA Knockouts.
The heart of the matter
It isn't unsurprising to see Impact announce an April pay-per-view, but it is a pretty bold move, if it is Lockdown, to have such a flagship pay-per-view in the same month as WrestleMania, as we all know Mania is almost impossible to contend with.
This current formation of Impact Wrestling with Don Callis and Scott D'Amore in charge could yield further bold moves as they try to climb back to the heights they were once at.
There's no question Impact Wrestling has some great talent at their disposal with Alberto El Patron, Bobby Lashley, Abyss, Moose, Johnny Impact, Ethan Carter III and Eli Drake on their books. The change of creative may just plug the gap left by the Hardy Boyz after they returned to WWE.
What’s next?
Well, it's hard to say. You never quite know with Impact. We've had a plethora of changes already announced this year, not to mention lawsuit after lawsuit, but the ship seems to be steadying and, no matter what you think of them, they seem to have survived stuff that other companies may not have. This can only be a good move.
Author’s take
I'm not 100% sure of the reasoning behind returning to April if it is Lockdown. Maybe it's to appease the loyal fans because of how much they've been through. Either way, I think Callis and D'Amore's experience will make Impact at least very watchable for the casual fans again - and that's what they need. Having Lockdown return would be a great move as it's known for being one of the more exciting and unpredictable pay-per-views. Here's hoping Impact can, well, make an impact and at least provide competition for NJPW and ROH. The more televised wrestling on offer, the better!
