The Hardys dropped the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth in the Lockdown main event, but the title change was part of a larger creative plan.
On a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Matt explained that two factors drove the decision. The first involves Jeff, who continues to have issues getting into Canada, where TNA is currently taping.
The main reason, though, is creative. According to Matt, TNA wants to build up Nic Nemeth as a strong heel heading into his TNA World Championship match against Leon Slater at Bound for Glory.
Matt also indicated there’s hope of Slater making history:
“I think we’re, you know, we’re hoping to make Leon Slater, when it’s all said and done, the youngest TNA World Champion of all time.”
The strategy became clear in the aftermath of Lockdown. By capturing the tag titles, Nic became only the second wrestler in TNA history, after Kurt Angle, to hold the World Championship and the World Tag Team Championship at the same time.
Slater also appeared right after the Nemeths’ win and invoked Option C, surrendering the X-Division Championship to challenge Nic at Bound for Glory.
Hardy also revealed that the Lockdown main event lost six minutes because the rest of the show ran long. Even so, the originally planned finish was kept.