TNA Lockdown 2026 is officially set to start with a fight inside the cage, as the company revealed during the kickoff show that Elijah vs. AJ Francis in The Final Encore Steel Cage Match will open the pay-per-view.
The announcement came just before the main card was set to begin from Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago on August 23, giving fans one final lineup update before the show got underway.
Elijah and AJ Francis have been locked in a heated issue heading into Lockdown, and now they won’t have to wait long to settle it. Their Final Encore match will be the first bout on the main card, putting one of the night’s personal rivalries right at the front of the show.
The match is also one of several cage-based bouts scheduled for Lockdown. TNA built the event around the return of the Lockdown concept, with multiple championships and rivalries being settled inside the steel structure.
Elsewhere on the card, The Hardys will defend the TNA World Tag Team Championships against Nic and Ryan Nemeth inside the cage, while Xia Brookside defends the TNA Knockouts World Championship against Elayna Black.
Cedric Alexander is also set to defend the TNA X-Division Championship against Leon Slater, with Slater’s historic TNA record at stake if he loses. Jason Hotch will put the TNA International Championship on the line against Mustafa Ali in another steel cage match.
Lethal Lockdown is also returning for the first time in nearly a decade, with The System facing KC Navarro, Ricky Sosa, Fabian Aichner and Jada Stone.
TNA had already loaded up Lockdown with plenty of high-stakes matches, but now fans know exactly how the main show will begin. Elijah and AJ Francis are getting the first shot to set the tone, and they’ll be doing it inside the cage.
Do you think Elijah vs. AJ Francis is the right match to open TNA Lockdown 2026? Let us know what you think in the comments.
