By Jason Powell

Dot Net Members are listening to my 61-minute audio review of the TNA No Surrender pay-per-view. Join us on the ad-free version of the website by signing up for membership now via Prowrestling.net/amember/signup.php.

TNA No Surrender Hits

Christopher Daniels and Kazarian vs. A.J. Styles and Kazarian: This was the best match of the night. It was painful to watch Angle because I got the sense that one wrong move was going to cause severe pain, but he limited his involvement and was very good whenever he was in the ring. This wasn't as good as their Slammiversary match, which is understandable considering Angle's injury. I like the finish if only because it created the need for a likely Bound For Glory rematch.

Zema Ion vs. Sonjay Dutt: Ion and Dutt were in a tough spot. They never got a chance to build up to their match on television and then they had to follow the big brawl between the TNA wrestlers and the Aces & 8s. The live crowd was still coming down from the brawl when the match started, yet the wrestlers were able to get them into the match by the end.

Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara: The match gets a Hit for quality. It was the best in-ring performance we've seen from the Knockouts in months. The live crowd didn't get caught up in the match and I was left baffled by how whiney Tessmacher came across early on. I was actually siding with the no nonsense, all business Tara character early on and I don't think that was what they were going for. Tessmacher needs a real heel to feud with and hopefully this match was a step toward making Tara that heel. Part of the problem is that they keep talking about how Tara is a mentor to Tessmacher. Even though that's actually true, we never saw it play out on television, so it feels more like a manufactured pro wrestling story even though it's not.

Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe: This was the better of the two qualifying matches, mostly because we didn't get a nonsensical finish. I enjoyed their television match more.

Rob Van Dam vs. Magnus: I didn't care for the outcome or RVD's latest example of his showboating thumb-pointing routine backfiring, but the match was entertaining even if the crowd didn't seem to care about Magnus. That's a shame because the guy has really improved in the ring and continues to be a standout on the mic. He needs in-ring credibility, which is why I wasn't a fan out of the outcome.

Overall show: This is in the minor Hit category, just all of the matches other than the tag title match listed above fall into. The show looked better on paper than it played out. A big part of the problem is that it was held in the Impact Zone. The look is dark and the fans are overexposed to the product and thus don't react to the talent the way a regular crowd would. I'm looking forward to seeing them get out of the Impact Zone next month for Bound For Glory. By the way, is there a reason TNA can't run their September pay-per-view a couple weeks later? The idea of running against the NFL on the first Sunday of the season is buy rate suicide. No, this doesn't mean I want them to attempt to run on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend again.

TNA No Surrender Misses

Hulk Hogan: Hogan was doing a good job in his role as the authority figure until last night. He has this dorky quality that rises to the surface whenever he's asked to yell outside the context of a pro wrestling promo. His segments on this show were embarrassing. It was scripted so that cops were taking orders from Hogan. Just how much power does the TNA general manager wield? Hogan telling the cops to essentially assault the Aces & 8s members were awful. Hogan's performances in these settings make it impossible for viewers to suspend their disbelief. I also have no idea WTF he was talking about heading into the main event.

Bully Ray vs. James Storm: All those ref bumps and a broken beer bottle finish. I always hate the beer bottle finish because it's absurd to think that a referee wouldn't notice the broken glass he's counting the pin on. Hell, even the NFL replacement referees would notice broken glass if they were lying on top of it. I'm not a fan of investing months into the BFG Series just to have one of the semifinal matches end in this manner. Having said that, it was still good to see Bobby Roode return.

Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray: The live crowd did this match no favors. Hardy did a good job of selling his shoulder injury and a different crowd may have rallied behind him. I think I'm supposed to feel excited about Aries vs. Hardy as a dream match, but I'm just not feeling it. I get the idea of putting the marketable Hardy in the main event on the biggest show of the year, but they never did a good job of building up Hardy throughout the Bound For Glory Series so his win felt more random than a big moment. Of course, Aries and Hardy have a month to draw me in as a viewer and I assume the match will be very good, but it just doesn't feel like a big match at this point.

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