This may feel like it's come out of left field, but getting back to my TNA pay-per-view reviews is something I've been pushing myself to do for a number of months now. I had such a fun time reviewing Victory Road 2004, Turning Point 2004, Final Resolution 2005, Against All Odds 2005, Destination X 2005, Lockdown 2005, Hard Justice 2005, and Slammiversary 2005, and while I moved on to other projects in search of more views, a return to TNA has been in the back of my brain for the past year. Now, finally, I'm biting the bullet and going for it, and I'm thrilled I did. I don't know why I love this promotion as much as I do, it makes no logical sense for someone that is generally such a snob as a wrestling fan, but TNA/Impact Wrestling just feels like home. Let's get back to work.
As they have throughout most of their history, and likely will continue to do in the future, TNA is fighting through the loss of their TV deal, which in this occasion was with Fox Sports Net. Impact! had been broadcast on FSN for the past year, but negotiations never got on track, and as a result, the flagship show was now off the air. In a move many years ahead of it's time, TNA decided to make Impact! available for free through their website, and I have to imagine that downloading 45 minute-long video files in 2005 was a harrowing experience. For the next few months, the product would seen by significantly less eyes, but that didn't stop TNA from soldiering on, with a babyface Raven as the new top champion. TNA's momentum remained high, and they booked a stellar card for the first show following Slammiversary, main evented by Raven's first defense as NWA Champion against Abyss, which would take place in a dog collar match. Extreme carnage was promised, and while Raven as a face was relatively uninteresting, there's no doubt that seeing these two hardcore warriors face off was a potential big money match, especially coming one month after the wildly successful ECW One Night Stand.
- TNA's first No Surrender event comes to you from Soundstage 21 in Universal Studios Florida, otherwise known as the Impact Zone. Mike Tenay and Don West are on the call.
- Our opening contest pits America's Most Wanted (James Storm and Chris Harris) against the newly formed team of Alex Shelley and Michael Shane, accompanied by his valet, Traci Brooks. This is a definite filler match for AMW, who don't have much going on right now, but TNA doesn't want one of their most successful teams to languish in nothingness, so Shane and Shelley were thrown together to offer a challenge. There has been some story built, all surrounding Storm and Shane's usage of the superkick, which Mike Tenay will not shut up about on commentary. There was some decent action in this one, as Shane and Shelley bump well for their bigger opponents, and Storm's leap off the stage was fun. The crowd goes nuts for Harris handcuffing Traci to the ringpost to stop her outside interference (the camera also gets a full shot of her backside as her mini-skirt lifts up while Harris is carrying her), but the bulk of the match really exposes how little chemistry Shane and Shelley have as a duo. I can't honestly remember a single double team move they did in this one, and they barely even acknowledge the other's presence, it's very strange. A couple slick little counters build up to the finish, as Shane stops Storm from skinning the cat with a baseball slide dropkick, and an athletic evasion of a backdrop leads Shelley to get blasted by Storm's superkick. Storm gets the win, but Shane has the last laugh, nailing Storm with a superkick of his own before high-tailing it. This was a perfectly acceptable opener, but a waste of AMW, who should be feuding with an actual tag team.
- Next up is a four-way match, which offers the winner a spot in the upcoming Super X Cup tournament, as Elix Skipper, Mikey Batts, Shark Boy, and Sonjay Dutt square off. The crowd despises Batts, with a multitude of "Mikey sucks" chants breaking out whenever he's in the ring, and I'm not quite sure I get it. Yeah, Batts is extremely limited, and can't keep up with the other three, but this seems incredibly harsh, especially considering he's a babyface. Sonjay is by some distance the most engaging and consistent performer of the four, with some picture-perfect armdrags and dropkicks, and his double stomp onto Skipper, who was in the middle of a Matrix-style dodge, looked absolutely brutal. The only other spot I took away from this match was Skipper botching his rope walk hurricanrana, which was unfortunate, and I would've loved to see Dutt's awesome Himalaya Press (a corkscrew 450 splash) that he used to win the match in live action, but the camera almost completely missed it.
- There is no man I feel sorrier for in TNA than David Young, who has an impressive physique and capable athletic ability, but comes with only one defining character trait: he's a loser. Tenay and West bury him hard on commentary throughout his matches, frequently mentioning that they don't expect him to last long, and making a big deal out of him making it passing five minutes against Chris Sabin. Young is unsurprisingly doing the job on this night, losing a tag match while teaming with his new mentor, Simon Diamond, to Apolo and Sonny Siaki. There was some entertainment value in this match, I really enjoyed Young's slap and chop exchange with Siaki, and Apolo's big dive was impressive, but it doesn't feel like a contest that belongs on a pay-per-view card. Young gets some protection in defeat, as he actually has Siaki pinned, only to be stopped as Sonny isn't the legal man, and Apolo then puts Young away.
- No Surrender takes a huge step forward with our next contest, and underrated classic between Chris Sabin and Samoa Joe. Joe may have just entered the company, but he immediately feels like he belongs, presented as an unbeatable monster right out of the gate. Joe has trounced everyone that has opposed him thus far in TNA, but Sabin is a legit competitor, and someone TNA still wants to put over as a threat, despite feeding him to Joe, so this is far from a squash match. Indeed, Sabin, in an unexpected twist, comes out look far better than he did going in, as he survives the onslaught of Joe, and pushes the Samoan machine to his limit. Sabin's desperate fight to survive Joe's STF and Crossface were sold brilliantly by both men, enrapturing the crowd in the process, and Sabin managing to lift Joe up for a massive running sit-out powerbomb was an unreal spot. Sabin inevitably comes up short, as Joe knees his way out of the Cradle Shock, stopping Sabin on the top rope with a few kicks, then delivering a crunching Muscle Buster and turning Sabin's lights out with the Coquina Clutch. Sabin got as much shine from this match as any man reasonably could expect, but even though TNA took care to make Sabin look great, his valiant babyface role took nothing away from the sinister aura of Joe. Joe was still a killer in this one, with kicks, knees, and big slams galore, attacking with an intensity and speed that no one else in this company, or across the wrestling world, could possibly match. This may not be the signature match of either man's career, but it did so much to elevate both, and serves as a glorious example of what TNA could do right at it's peak. I highly recommend that every wrestling fan check this one out.
- The task of following that up falls on the broad shoulders of TNA's newest star, Lance Hoyt (aka Lance Archer), who teams with The Naturals (Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas, the current NWA tag champs) to take on three members of Team Canada (Eric Young, Bobby Roode, and A-1). This is a rematch of a previous trios that took place of an episode of Impact!, which ended with a clean win for Hoyt, much to the delight of the masses in the Impact Zone. For some reason, we're running it back, a baffling decision given both the result of the first match, and also given how much it sucked, packed full of restholds and with a long, long build towards a Hoyt hot tag that nearly put me to sleep. As it turns out, these six men only have one match layout, because they do the same effing thing here, with Stevens being worked over for what felt like several hours, before Hoyt finally made his way in. Some excitement did take place prior to the hot tag, mainly coming from the babyfaces hitting big dives, and also from Roode getting Jimmy Hart, The Naturals' manager, ejected by pretending that Hart had decked him with Team Canada's hockey stick. Without the extra man advantage, the faces are toast, as Team Canada survives Hoyt's power offense, and Roode steals Hart's megaphone, abandoned at ringside, braining Douglas with it to pick up the win. I've enjoyed the story that's been told with Team Canada, who have lacked leadership since their manager, Scott D'Amore, was taken out by Hoyt at Slammiversary, and I'm also pleased that TNA is giving Roode a bit of a push to fill that spot, evidenced by his sneaky antics in this match. Roode is someone with a lot of potential growth in his future, so elevating him is a good call, though I'm still not clear as to why we needed to see this same match twice.
- The tangled web between BG James (the former Road Dogg) and The Outlaw (the former Billy Gunn) has continued to hold a spot in TNA's midcard, with Konnan and Ron Killings, James' partners in the 3 Live Kru, feuding with Outlaw and his partner, Monty Brown. This story started off interesting, and has quickly started to lose steam, especially with James missing in action, leading to a tag match involving the other four men being booked, turning into a Street Fight after they brawled on Impact!. The Outlaw renaming himself Kip James, claiming he's been accepted into BG's family, was odd, just because two men have teamed together before doesn't mean they need to share a last name. It's obvious that TNA realizes nobody cares about the wrestling portion of this angle, as this was booked to be the shortest match on the card, going just 5 minutes. In that time, they did sneak in a decent amount of action, as Killings entertains with his always impressive athleticism, taking flight was an awe-inspiring flip dive onto Brown, before everyone starts walloping each other with baking trays. Kip pummels some refs, and Monty puts Killings away with the Pounce, with BG making his first appearance in a month to witness the three count be made. Kip calls BG his "brother", and invites his former tag partner to smack Killings with a chair, but BG bails before any decision is made. I'm getting very tired of how little progression there has been in this feud, TNA gambled far too hard on how invested their audience would be in a soap opera centered around a team that hadn't been relevant in 5 years.
- TNA might range well behind the WWE, both at this time and forever, in terms of name value on their roster, but that still doesn't stop them from promoting "dream matches", and in the case of AJ Styles versus Sean Waltman, they actually do approach that status. This is a highly intriguing battle between the past and present of smaller workers in America, with Waltman being a true ground-breaker in his day, while Styles looks to take the style all the way to the top of the industry. I can't say I was thrilled for Jerry Lynn to be added to the mix as a guest referee, as Lynn lacks the charisma to make a role like this work, and it was also a dead giveaway that the match would involved a healthy dose of screwiness. Almost the entirety of the match was clean, though, as Waltman put forth a solid effort, just about keeping up with the workhorse of the company. Styles did have to the bulk of the work to ensure the pace never slowed, but about midway through, Waltman settled in, and never seemed to be out of his depth. I loved Waltman's barrel roll tope to the floor, and their exchanges down the stretch were just about as fluid as Sabin and Joe earlier in the night. Each man trades narrow near falls, with Waltman almost getting it done with a bridging Northern Lights suplex (which followed a low blow) and the X-Factor, and his kickout of the Styles Clash absolutely stunned the crowd. Waltman, who did sneak attack Styles on the go-home show, cements his heelish status by attempting to Pillmanize AJ's leg, only for Lynn to involve himself for the first time, standing in Waltman's path before removing the chair hooked around AJ. Lynn fully inserts himself into the feud by then kicking Waltman's hands off the rope, as Sean looked to gain leverage during a sunset flip, and AJ gets the win as a result. I can't say I'm looking forward to a program between Lynn and Waltman, they aren't very interesting personalities, but I'm sure their match next month will be good.
- The first of two title matches on the night is for the X Division Championship, as Christopher Daniels, determined to beat all the best athletes in the world, squares off with Team Canada's own, Petey Williams. This is technically a heel versus heel match, though TNA cares little for traditional pro wrestling alignments, and generally they just book whatever sounds the best. With the Super X Cup on the horizon, and Daniels picking up steam as champion, a title change was unlikely here, though both men do well to build a dramatic contest nonetheless. This felt a little like a standard Japanese light heavyweight bout, with a lot less high-flying and a lot more suplexes and stiff bumps. Petey takes a majority of the punishment, including an apron powerbomb, a Death Valley Driver, and a big powerslam off the top rope by Daniels. To add some extra drama to the end result, Daniels has to contend throughout the match with a game Petey Williams, the cheating of A-1, and also the arrival of Samoa Joe, who watches on from the stage, distracting Daniels, who is upset with Joe for abandoning him during a tag match against Team Canada on the go-home show. With all the odds in his favor, Petey almost pulls off the upset, coming close to connecting with the devastating Canadian Destroyer (which pinned Daniels during that tag match) and getting a near fall on a slick crucifix bomb. Petey needs one more move to get the edge, and that appears to be a brass knuckles shot, but as A-1 is tossing his buddy the knucks, Daniels beats him to the punch, literally. The champ wraps a steel chain around his fist, and Petey gets decked, then pinned with the Best Moonsault Ever. This was a filler defense for Daniels, but not a bad one by any means.
- Main event time, as Abyss challenges Raven for the famous "Ten Pounds of Gold", the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, in a match where both men will be attached to the other by a heavy steel chain. The stipulation promises brutality, and that's exactly what we get, though it was far from the best hardcore match either man has ever been a part of. The crowd is very into the challenger, and Abyss is more than ready to satisfy their bloodlust, taking a wincing bump onto a pile of steel chairs while attempting a legdrop, getting stapled in the forehead, and launched off the stage through two tables. Abyss uses the chain far more than Raven throughout this contest, and creates the best visual by wrapping into around Raven's face during a chokehold, but Raven always manages to stay a step ahead. Abyss sets up a table vertically at ringside, only to be tackled through it, and his attempt at slamming Raven's exposed flesh onto a selection of thumbtacks only ends up with Abyss being powerbomb on the tacks instead. Abyss gets one genuine moment to look like a potential champion, as he counters the Evenflow DDT to nail a Black Hole Slam, but Raven kicks out. TNA sends a clear message here that Raven is just more of a monster than Abyss is, as the champion proves his tenacity by then delivering his DDT onto the tacks, which forces Raven to take a full back bump on the tacks himself, but puts Abyss down for the count. I can't say I loved this ending, as Abyss had just begun a new alliance with James Mitchell that felt like a potential world title pairing, and babyface Raven simply doesn't feel like a "face of the company" gimmick. But the headlines coming out of No Surrender would not be on the main event result, but rather the arrival of Rhino, several months after being fired from the WWE. All throughout the night, Jeff Jarrett had been paranoid about the rumors of Rhino joining TNA, in addition to promising to come after the title that he believes should be his. Jarrett wasted no time confronting Raven after the match, and distracted the champion for long enough to allow Rhino to strike with the Gore, as Jarrett adds another ally to his ranks.
8/10
No Surrender took a while to get going, but ended strong, with four matches that could be considered good to great (Sabin vs Joe, Styles vs Waltman, Daniels vs Williams, the main event), and a big new signing to close out the night. Coming out of a so-so Slammiversary, TNA set the table well for the remainder of 2005.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: TNA Sacrifice 2005, featuring the finals of the Super X Cup, and a tag team main event pitting Jeff Jarrett and Rhino against Raven and the homicidal, suicidal, genocidal, death-defying maniac known as Sabu. See you soon.
- Henry
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