Looking at the card for No Surrender, it looked unspectacular, even for a TNA pay per view, having absolutely no expectations for a good show going in, makes it a little easier to come out pleasantly surprised by a not horrible show but I have some mixed feelings on the action that took place.
My last ppv review was so well received (ahem) I couldn’t wait to get to another one where I actually got to see the entire show, so lets keep the criticism this time on my writing style and lack of insight as opposed to my viewing habits.
The show got off to a good start with the MCMG vs. Generation Me, the bit of TNA I have watched, these four men are always impressive and put on matches far superior to the non existent cruiser weight division in WWE but a perfect choice to start the show, solid action to start, as the match moved on the action picked up tremendously with lots of high risk offense back and forth, which saw the MCMG retain in an entertaining opening bout. Interesting note after the match when Alex Shelly was down the ref immediately put up the X like he was injured, yet after attending to his neck they opted not to bring a stabilizer out. Not sure if this was to sell the injury angle or legit, just seems odd that if it was a neck injury they wouldn’t take every precaution to make sure the injury wasn’t severe.
Doug Williams vs. Sabu for the X Division title was up next, wasn’t really sure what to expect here as I haven’t seen Sabu wrestle in years but he helped deliver a good match. Nothing spectacular like you might expect out of an X Division bout but very solid action through out, a couple of good spots with the table which would have resulted in overall solid performance if not for the lackluster ending. Williams distracted the ref with the chair (which apparently wasn’t legal, except when Hebner wanted to leave it in for Sabu to execute a move) then lamely hit Sabu with the title belt for the quick win. Good showing, had the belt smash been followed by Williams unique finishing move, really would have helped this one come off wihout a disappointing finish.
Women match was up next, with current beautiful people members against former and Victoria, Tara, I stopped listening. Bottom line the few minutes I did watch, there was no wardrobe malfunction so, enough said. Oh yea right after this was the point where Jeff Hardy had a very uninspired promo about wanting to fight for his friend RVD. Sounded more like he wanted to give the title back to Rob than win it himself, Christy Hemme looked hot anyway.
Abyss vs. Rhyno in a falls count anywhere match was up next and this was one of the better matches of the night. Fast start, both men going after each other the whole time with weapons galore throughout. One of the big spots came when Rhyno threw Abyss through the lower portion of the stage into what amounted to be a mouse hole from the old Chuck E Cheese (if you’re not over 20 ask someone) then there was a lull when we couldn’t see or hear them fighting, until Rhyno was thrown (or threw himself) back through the other side of the stage into the arena creating an even bigger hole. Some more back and forth and then after a missed gore into the missing guard rail, Abyss hit the black hole slam for the win. Rhyno showed a lot of athleticism for his size and both men put on a really good match.
Samoa Joe and Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting and Kevin Nash was up next at about 9 oclock eastern, despite it being well past 75 percent of the participants bed time. This match actually didn’t get off to a bad start and had a few solid exchanges, unfortunately age or reality set in and the pace came to a complete halt. A few short minutes later, we had Jeff Jarrett hit Sting with his bat, Samoa Joe put on the rear naked choke and Sting, passed out, tapped out, anyone? Maybe he just fell asleep as the ref mercifully rang the bell and this one was over. (One last note on this match, if Joe is gonna be the bad ass he represents, he probably should have ring attire a little more intimidating than that ever so symmetrical black and turquoise number hes sporting now)
Onto the I Quit Match with Tommy Dreamer vs. AJ Styles. Again not sure what to expect with an aging Dreamer but this one was surprisingly good. This match had a good pace the entire way through, both men looked well and there was a lot of creative submission moves through the match. (Anyone who is worried about the realistic aspect, neither of these men should ever tap out again as they both endured excruciating moves without giving up) AJ was in a cross face with a ken-do stick pressed across his face until it snapped, yet he managed to survive. Shortly after that, AJ poked Dreamer in the face with a fork, then proceeded to jam it in his eye until he gave up. Actually kind of disturbing end but an overall good matchup.
Another uninspired promo, this time by Kurt Angle and it was on to the first semi final between Jeff Hardy and Angle. Talk about a dream match up (okay maybe 5 years ago but) this one started off slow but didn’t take long to pick up steam. Great back and forth through out, you got all the usual stuff from both men, including a swanton from the top rope out onto the floor on Angle, who it looks like suffered a broken rib at that point. The only complaint I have about this match, besides not crowning a winner, was the amount of time Hardy endured the ankle lock towards the end of regulation. He was in it way too long not to have tapped, either Hardy is SuperMan or they needed to time that better. In need of a winner, Bischoff and co. added a 5 minute overtime, after no winner came another 5 minutes was added and still no one had come out victorious. This was really becoming exciting and a potentially epic match up, until TNA pulled the rug out and ruled the match a draw due to Angles forehead gash. Really great effort on both men, particularly Angle in his condition, that unfortunately was cut short due to….lack of vision?
NOW, ONTO THE MAIN EVENT!. Thats right the one you’ve all been waiting for I’m talking about……Ken Anderson vs. The Pope. REALLY? After a few minutes it was clear we weren’t being punk’d and this match actually would happen. Aside from a good promo prior to the match from Anderson, there was nothing main event caliber about this match, including the participants. Okay anyone who predicted that Ken Kennedy would be headlining a ppv with Elijah Burke anytime in the last few years, just go ahead and walk around with a bottle of arrogance, you earned it. Kennedy came out on top and…the pay per view went off the air, no surprise returns, no outside interference or major announcements. Just Ken Kennedy call me Anderson defeating Elijah the Burke Pope to wrap up a well spent 35 dollars.
Now I actually didn’t have to pay for the ppv so its easier for me to to joke about it but if I were a TNA fan and im sure there are a few who did put up the money for this I would be extremely disappointed. While the show wasn’t a complete disaster and there were enough positives for me to want to watch TNA next time its on, overall it was a less than stellar show with a really horrible ending. For a company trying to survive as a whole, led alone compete with WWE, this was not a very good showing…..your thoughts?
