TNA Wrestling held their first international pay-per-view last night with No Surrender in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. If there is one thing that I like about wrestling in Canada it has to be the fans. Last night’s crowd was very energetic and made the show fun to watch. No Surrender was dealt a blow before it even got started as Booker T, who was scheduled for the main event, was unable to get to Canada because of the Houston airport being closed. Last night’s show was not a bad show but it was not a really good show either. It was full of the good, the bad, and the ugly with some solid wrestling. Below are my thoughts on TNA No Surrender 2008:
The show opened with Sting coming out and cutting a promo on respect. I guess this is TNA’s way of trying to make him a heel for his match against Samoa Joe but it didn’t work. The crowd interrupted Sting with “you are a legend” chants and a tremendous pop. After the promo, they showed a clip of Christian Cage arriving at the arena, and then Mike Tenay delivered the news about Booker T. Ordinarily I would be disgusted about a wrestler unable to make a PPV main event but given the circumstances I understand completely and wish Booker and Sharmell the best. I have family in Houston, Texas myself and can tell you that things are not good right now.
The opening match was The Rock N’ Rave Infection taking on The Prince Justice Brotherhood. The match was meant to sell comedy with Curry Man feeling up Christy Hemme and I guess it accomplished that but it had some sloppy wrestling and was uneventful. Super Eric (I can’t believe I’m calling him that) hit a sweet Death Valley Driver on both Lance Rock and Jimmy Rave which was pretty impressive. I would have liked to have seen more high-risk spots in the bout but like I said this match was not meant to sell good wrestling.
ODB and Awesome Kong with Raisha Saeed was the next match on the card and I felt that it was another uneventful bout. The work rate was OK but the finish saw Kong make the pin in the ring. Why have a Falls Count Anywhere stipulation only to end it in the ring? There were some notable botches in this match as ODB powerbombed Kong onto a table and it did not break and Saeed had trouble getting a table in the ring. I wouldn’t be surprised if either spot showed up on Botchomania over on YouTube. Kong was portrayed dominate as the storyline was ODB got distracted with Saeed which cost her the win and resulted in her getting put through a table to take the loss.
As I noted in my live coverage last night, Team 3D vs. Matt Morgan & Abyss was typical TNA. There was some decent tag action but the bout featured outside interference (Johnny Devine) and weapons when it was not a hardcore match. Abyss hit the Black Hole slam on Devon to get the win as Mike Tenay put Morgan and Abyss over as an up and coming tag team that Jim Cornette needs to take notice of. So of course TNA defies logic with a spot at the end where the Dudleys beat up Morgan with a chair and when Morgan came too he thought Abyss hit him with a chair. They teased dissension between the two. Morgan’s work in the match impressed me but did anyone else notice how much heat he got from the crowd for using Undertaker’s rope walk? That was not a good idea.
Sheik Abdul Bashir is the new X Division Champion as he won the triple-threat with Petey Williams and Consequences Creed. There were a lot of fun spots in this match and it further goes to show just how good that TNA can be if they just cut out all of the BS. I had a lot of fun with the high-risk spots. How about Consequences Creed’s somersault to the outside? It was pretty impressive and the match was a lot of fun. Bashir is the new champion and while I didn’t agree with the decision to take the strap off of Williams in Canada, it certainly gives Bashir even more heat.
The match for the TNA Knockout Women’s Championship between Taylor Wilde and Angelina Love was about as insignificant as a WWE Women’s Championship match. The work rate was fair but the match had a lot of outside interference with Rhino in the corner of Wilde and Cute Kip out with Velvet Sky in the corner of Love. The wrestling was sloppy with Taylor Wilde retaining. The match was an afterthought and goes to show just how much the Knockout division lacks without Gail Kim. Wilde is a fair worker but she is by no means Gail Kim. Angelina is good but the booking helped destroy the bout.
Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal had a great ladder match where SoCal Val made her predictable turn on Lethal by taking him off of the ladder, allowing Dutt to grab the ring and steal her heart. The stipulation was kind of corny but it was just a ladder match. There were some notable botches as Dutt just barely grazed Lethal with a front standing moonsault when it was meant to connect but it did not affect the crowd’s enjoyment of the match. A good way to judge how good a match is done is to see how the fans are reacting live. If the match pleases the live crowd, then the match accomplished its goal. The goal was accomplished in this match and hopefully this drawn out feud is over.
Beer Money, Inc. retained the TNA Tag Team Championship after Robert Roode hit a suplex on Homicide who had been blinded by powder thrown in his eyes by Jacqueline. Salinas was not at ringside as it is believed that she is gone from the company. Mike Tenay explained her absence in a random note in the previous match where he said that Jacqueline took her out in the women’s bathroom. The match itself was what I have come to expect from LAX and Beer Money. Great work with the typical TNA overbooking and interference; I can’t say enough about how good that James Storm and Robert Roode have gotten working together as a tag team. Hernandez is not human with his high risk spots to the outside and Homicide is no slouch either.
The worst thing on the card was the MMA Match between Frank Trigg and AJ Styles. This was doomed from the beginning as Trigg came out and cut one of the most contrived and flat promos that I have ever seen. Seriously, this guy has no business cutting a promo in the wrestling business. The match (if you can call it that) lost the crowd quickly with loud “fire Russo” and “we want wrestling” chants. As soon as the second round started my cable briefly cut out and returned with a shot of nude women. Apparently it was an isolated incident but when my cable came back on the crowd was chanting “this is BS” as the match was ruled a No Contest. I don’t know why TNA puts their audience through stuff like this as it completely insults their intelligence and doesn’t do an outstanding worker like AJ Styles any favors. If I were Styles I would have refused to work the match and quit before I did it. He took one for the team and I wonder if what he said at the announce table to West and Tenay where he said that this isn’t what he does that he is a wrestler was scripted. AJ had to have been embarrassed but hopefully the company will never do that again.
Kurt Angle, Christian Cage, and Samoa Joe had a very good triple-threat match for the TNA Championship. There were a lot of near falls and submissions with Joe pinning Angle for the three count after a Muscle Buster. The finish was overbooked with Jarrett coming out and hitting Angle in the head with the guitar but it looks like we’ll see Jarrett vs. Angle at Bound For Glory or a derivative of it. Kurt Angle is a legend in the wrestling business and proved just how good he is with his work last night. Christian Cage and Samoa Joe are legitimate main event wrestlers and their work showed that last night. Samoa Joe will defend the TNA Championship against Sting at Bound For Glory next month.
TNA No Surrender was a middle of the road pay-per-view. The event featured some good wrestling but it was not without its flaws as the MMA match was painful and embarrassing to watch. Booker T’s absence did not affect the main event as Angle, Cage, and Joe stepped it up to deliver a match that was a very respectable main event. TNA booked a ton of outside interference throughout and they had plenty of overbooking but that is something that they just do and if you’re going to watch you are going to have to overlook. It drives me crazy sometimes but I try to remain open minded. I would not spend money on a replay or DVD because it was basically the “take me to Bound For Glory” show. Not a bad effort from TNA but nothing that I would label as “must-see”.
Richard can be contacted at richard [at] grayinternet.com
Richard Gray is a professional wrestling journalist and frequent contributor to Rajah.com. He has been covering the world of professional wrestling since 1999 and has had the opportunity to cover ground breaking stories such as the demise of ECW, the WCW buyout, the Benoit tragedy, Bobby Lashley leaving WWE, and more. For more on Richard check out his web site, Wrestling News World.
– “Richard Reacts” Archive By WrestlingNewsWorld.com’s Richard Gray