In yesterday’s article, I said WWE programming was on an upswing. Today’s article explains why TNA is on its own upswing. A slow, but steady upswing. Call it ‘Thomas the Wrestling Promotion.’
Styles saw Dreamer drivin' 'round town with a girl he loves, and was like, "fork you."
No Surrender:
First off, No Surrender 2010 was a pretty good pay-per-view. Spoiler alert: here’s a breakdown of the results and my thoughts on each:
- Motor City Machine Guns def. Generation Me, Tag Team Championship
Originally this match was supposed to be the Guns versus London Brawling, but they were pulled out due to ‘personal reasons.’ Generation Me subbed in for what would easily be the match of the night, and turned heel afterwards. Max and Jeremy are currently in a program with the Guns, so I wonder if this was the plan from the start? - Douglas Williams def. Sabu, X Division Championship
I was looking forward to this match mostly due to the contrast in styles. Williams retains in a decent match and Sabu can STILL GO. I hope he’s careful and planning to retire soon, though, as I doubt his body can take many more years of his high-risk style. - Velvet Sky def. Madison Rayne
It seems a bit odd to have a Knockouts match on pay-per-view without the title being involved, but given that they have the highest rated angle going on, why not? - Abyss def. Rhino, Falls Count Anywhere match
I didn’t pay much attention to this match as I didn’t have a very high interest level in it, but I did catch the part where they were fighting under the stage and Rhino was thrown through a ‘perforated’ wall in the base of the stage. I wasn’t a fan. - Jarrett/Samoa Joe def Sting/Nash
I’m not a big fan of this angle, though I am vaguely intrigued as far as where they plan to take this. As much as I hate making this comparison, it unfortunately reeks of 2000 WCW ‘worked-shoot’ Russo segments. I guess I don’t like it as much this time around since I’ve become an ‘internet fan,’ so I’m immune to the edginess of that type of angle. - AJ Styles def Tommy Dreamer, I Quit match.
Not too many comments on this one. Physically, AJ Styles is the Shawn Michaels of TNA, and can work a good match with anyone. A good way to get heel heat is to stick a fork in someone’s eye. The 2010 equivalent to breaking Dusty Rhodes’ arm after a parking lot ambush. The lovable, blue-collar fat guy gets beaten down by the Horsemen. I suppose it’s a sad time when the Dusty Rhodes of your era is Tommy Dreamer.
Sidenote: AJ’s TV Title was not on the line, does this mean it’s literally just a title for television broadcasts? - Kurt Angle vs Jeff Hardy went to a no contest, World Championship tournament semi-final match.
Great match despite Jeff Hardy botching his spots and Angle attempting spots when he doesn’t need to do moonsaults to be over. Extending the time limit only to extend it a second time defies the logic of just having the match go on until there’s a winner, but it reminds me too that sometimes we shouldn’t ‘over think’ and be so critical. It was well-planned, well-executed, and it went over well with the crowd. - Mr Anderson def. D’Angelo Dinero, World Championship tournament semi-final match.
Great match with a win-win scenario, as either will make a great world champion if and when that day comes. Anderson’s post-match banter was very entertaining too. Anderson posed in all four corners, and dare I say it was reminiscent of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s post-match celebrations. (more…)
