Classic Wrestling Events: TNA No Surrender 2009

                                                     

The sheer star power alone on this card, no matter how old they were, at least makes this worth watching. On one card, you had Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Sting, Bobby Lashley, Rhino, The Dudleys, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Samoa Joe. This card is a perfect blend of WCW legends, WWE legends, and TNA Icons. No match eclipsed 25 minutes on this card, all matches move pretty fast and are easy to digest. Besides The Main Event Mafia being one of the best factions in TNA history, this was during a confusing time in TNA history, when they were giving too much time to elderly competitors, and had too many confusing and pointless factions. However, the beauty of this card, as you will read, was despite the legends on the card, and people who made their name away from TNA, it was a night full of TNA originals getting over on big names. Let’s take a look at each match. 

1. Inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Sarita & Taylor Wilde VS The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne & Velvet Sky) 

Result: Sarita & Taylor Wilde win by pin to win the Inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Titles 

For two women that portrayed strippers with their entrance, twerking whilst pointing to the camera man to zoom in on their asses, Rayne and Skye and sky weren’t terrible in the ring, especially as a tag team. Sarita and Skye, today working for AEW as coaches, do well as ring generals in the ring. Taylor Wilde was an extremely young and athletic kickstart that provided some high spots when it was needed. This match was only about 5 minutes, but it didn’t feel rushed, and was a piece of shit in the end. It’s alway a bit cheap when a promotion kicks the show off by sending out the hot chicks, but it’s much more palatable than if this was a 30-40 minutes midcard title that exhausted the fans. There was a good buzz in the arena and these women helped provide that. The one disappointing note I have, and this was something I thought when I was a Freshman in High School watching this card, was all the great female talent that have worked for TNA, and the Inaugural knockouts tag champions are Taylor Wilde and Sarita. It's just a bit random.  

2. Singles Match: Eric Young VS Hernandez 

Result: Hernandez wins by pin

For a guy who was such a big part of this pay per view, Hernandez didn’t accomplish jack shit in this match. I don’t know if Eric Young had it in his contract to appear on every PPV, but this match was all of 40 seconds, and EY came out in a suit and got dismantled by Hernandez. A lot of the attacks look stiff as well. I never bought into this guy, and it appears that the company didn’t either. Will get into that a little later. 

3. TNA X-Division Championship: © Samoa Joe VS Christopher Daniels 

Result: Samoa Joe wins by submission 

Anytime Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels are wrestling each other for the X-Division title it’s a good thing. These two pros never disappoint, from their triple threat battles with AJ Styles to singles matches like the ones they had at this event. In his prime, nobody executed the flying head first suicide to the outside like Daniels. This version of Joe was noticeably violent, I say noticeable because Joe is typically a physical and violent wrestler. But this heel gimmick he was running with was exceptionally vicious. Eventually, Joe’s rear naked choke would submit The Fallen Angel. Daniels and Styles really elevated Joe with the way they sold his offense. Joe brings an element of grappling, but doesn’t bore you by trying to mock an MMA fight. And you pair that with the high flying, technical expertise of Daniels, and you have a thrilling match in the making. 

4. Fall Count Anywhere Match: D’ Angelo Dinero VS Suicide 

Result: D’ Angelo Dinero wins by pin 

The next match began on the outside, as D’ Angelo Dinero was conducting a backstage interview and he got attacked by the masked man Suicide. The man playing Suicidice at this time was Frankie Kazarian. This match was a bit sloppy. Dinero tried to back a cart over Suicide, and when he came back to outright run him over, Suicide jump through the door and locked in a chokehold. There were some pretty fun moments in this match. The elbow drop that Dinero hit from a stack of stage bins looked like a stiff landing. Dinero did well in these styles of matches, as he did a lot of segments like this when he was wrestling on WWE’s version of ECW. 

5. TNA Women’s Knockout Championship: © ODB VS Cody Deaner 

Result: ODB wins by pin to retain the title

I can’t help but feel this match was a white trash rip off of the Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella feud in WWE. Even though ODB could believable beat the shit out of Deaner, I hate gimmick matches. I hate it even more when a major championship is being defended or being held hostage by stupid storyline writing. I never understood the appeal of this type of story, it’s not edgy, and it’s not really comical. I just don’t see what the point is when you could have ODB working a program with one of the women on the roster. I wasn’t a fan of this match. 

6. $ 50,000 Bounty Challenge for TNA Legends Championship: Kevin Nash VS Abyss 

Result: Kevin Nash wins by pin

This match made me physically ill to watch. Kevin Nash had no business being in the ring at his physical state or his age. And to beat a TNA Icon like Abyss pissed me off. The match was exactly what you’d think two big and slow wrestlers would produce. It was boring, and filled with gimmicky bullshit. The waste of space Steven Richards made an appearance as “Dr. Stevie.” It was confusing as to what his role was, as apparently his money was the bounty. Mick Foley’s involvement made things even worse. Handing a bat wrapped in barbed wire to Abyss, who cut his hand and the distraction led to Nash using an obviously fake taser on Abyss, I didn’t know taser’s cause the entire ring to smoke up. This match insulted the intelligence of the viewer. The Legends Championship was a fake championship to make the older stars relevant without putting the TNA world title on them. 

7. Lethal Lockdown Match: Beer Money, Inc (James Storm & Robert Roode) & Team 3D (Brother Devon & Brother Ray) VS The Main Event Mafia (Booker T & Scott Steiner) & The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) 

Result: Team 3D & Beer Money win by pin

The “holy shit” match of the night. Essentially, TNA Lethal Lockdown is their version of war games, and this was done so well. Every single competitor in the match was relevant to the crowd, and people were invested heavily in the match. Booker T and Scott Steiner, members of the Main Event Mafia, are tag team royalty, and the fact that they teamed together was something you had to see to believe. They included the young British Invasion team and Beer Money to provide the highspots, and Team 3D to “play the hits” in a sense. The crowd was fired up for this match. Team 3D brought the tables and the hardcore element, and their leadership in being the generals for this match played a massive role. The match moved very smoothly, and there weren’t any moments that felt sloppy or like someone made a mistake. And ultimately, the baby faces, and the homegrown talents pulled out the victory. 

8. Bobby Lashley VS Rhino 

Result: Bobby Lashley wins by pin 

Bobby Lashley being on TNA was important because he was elevating the product. A legitimate talent in the prime of his career, and having success in MMA to legitimize his ability was important to a company that was known for acquiring talent from WWE past their prime. But to acquire Bobby when he hadn’t even cracked the pinnacle of his pro wrestling potential was an important acquisition for this company. And they booked him brilliantly. Rhino was a man that was known for having wars with some of the industries most monstrous talents, and Bobby ran through “The War Machine.” The TNA roster at this point was stacked with established talent. 

9. 5–way Match for TNA World Championship: © Kurt Angle VS Matt Morgan VS Sting VS AJ Styles VS Hernandez 

Result: AJ Styles wins by pin to win the TNA World Championship

Hernandez cashed in his “Feast or Fried” world championship opportunity to challenge for the world title. Why he would choose a fatal 4 way match to do so is lost on me. He opened the match up with a vicious attack of Kurt Angle that lasted all but 30 seconds. After the initial attack, Hernandez didn’t have much of an impact on this match, which was confusing to me. This event really felt like an important moment for Hernandez. From squashing Eric Young earlier in the show and having the guaranteed shot at the title, to surprising the 4 members in the main event, this felt like the main event should have been his moment. But the company lost interest in the span of one night, and put the belt on AJ Styles, who in my opinion, is the greatest talent to ever be produced and perform in TNA. And it just so happened that this was AJ Styles’ first TNA World Title. So potentially, the purpose of building up all the supporting cast was to make AJ’s win feel like he really overcame the odds. It’s that aspect that made this event so important to me. It had nothing to do with the wrestling aspect of the show, because that wasn’t anything new or special. But for TNA to reward AJ Styles, a man who had such an important role with the company, with his first world championship was something all the fans were excited about. And to do it around all these icons who made their names outside of TNA really showed that the company hadn’t forgotten the work AJ put in and the sacrifices he made to fill the seats in this arena. Ultimately, when you think of TNA, you think about AJ Styles, Sting, and Samoa Joe. It’s kind of crazy to think that 2009, a transitional point in TNA’s history, was the first time he won the big one. It was a classic moment for people who are fans of TNA, and people who are fans of AJ Styles. Given what AJ has done for the wrestling business in his career, this is also an important moment in the history of wrestling.