TNA: Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle Better Than HBK vs. Taker? It's Damn Real!

Overall, TNA Lockdown was a disappointing affair with again the limelight being pushed on the old timers in Hogan, Flair and indeed Bischoff. With the Lethal Lockdown match being the main event, it proved that Hogan and Co. are not ready to step out of the limelight even though it is well over 10 years since they deserved the limelight to be shone ever so brightly upon them.

Case in point, the match for the most prestigious championship in TNA was put on as a semi-main event rather than THE main event; a match which included the cornerstone of TNA in AJ Styles and a future champion in the Pope.

However, with that being said, the show was undoubtedly stolen by the man known around the world as Mr. Anderson.  Anderson (who is fast becoming THE money player in TNA and top heel) and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time in the Olympic hero known as Kurt Angle, indeed stole the limelight.

The storyline was simple; Mr. Anderson had beaten Kurt Angle at Against All Odds via using a warrior medal as a carving utensil. He then insulted the principle of Angle being given the warrior's medal on a constant basis and in essence, he insulted the principles of which Kurt’s career and life are based on as of this time. Kurt, the fighting babyface, wanted to exact revenge and thought he did so at Destination-X, where he made the GreenBay loudmouth pass out in a pool of his own blood.

However, the arrogant up comer would not let of Kurt off that easily, and so upped the intensity and viciousness of his actions leading to this said match-up, and taking a play out of the text book written my the IWC favorite announcer in wrestling history, Michael Cole, Oh My what a match-up it turned out to be.

It had it all; the in-ring action kept the viewer on the edge of their seat, the heel mannerisms of Mr. Anderson were spot on and showcased his A**HOLE character to perfection, there were memorable spots like the German Suplex off the side of the cage, and of course the top-cage moonsault, and lastly the psychology of their past meetings being put into play both during the beginning when Anderson once again choked out Angle with his wrist tape, (a flashback to the Ladder match between these two a few weeks ago on Impact) and at the end where the storyline came full circle with Kurt Angle choking Mr. Anderson with the very thing that had started this feud two months ago; the warrior medal. It was a fitting ending to a fantastic blow-off match which has been the feud thus far this year for TNA.

Although previous and latter bouts had the element of blood, the incorporation of this factor in this bout was not just a case of having blood just for the sake of being edgy, because how can you have a blood feud without blood? The blood did not take away from the match, but instead enhanced the story that these two painted during their contest.

The only downside of this match was that the key that Mr. Anderson had won was proved to be irrelevant, and also that Mr. Anderson indeed lost the match even though Kurt Angle was on his way to going on a hiatus. A win would have propelled Anderson to superstardom in TNA but alas, the baby face had to come out victor in this feud.

Now the time has come to address the heading of this article and yes you read it right. For me personally, and I emphasize personally, this bout was better than HBK vs. Taker V, as it had more storyline investment and the match itself was, for me, more edge-of-your-seat and glued to your TV type match-up than the HBK vs. Taker bout was. Don't get me wrong—the build-up to the HBK vs. Taker match-up was also fantastic, as was the match, but this feud and this blow off bout just had an edge over that for me.

Many of you will disagree, some of you may agree and some of you may not care, but Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle at Lockdown 2010 was, in taking a phrase out of the book of the greatest performer in the history of pro-wrestling and indeed the most charismatic, an INSTANT CLASSIC!

Comments are welcome and Andrea Claire, I assume you will bring the EDGE in the comment threads but I will provide the charisma to rebuke you once more!!