Impact Wrestling: No Surrender 2014 -- Results & Afterthoughts

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On September 17, 2014, Impact Wrestling held it's No Surrender Pay-Per-View on Spike TV in place of a regular episode of Impact. The show was still in the 2 hour format on TV, but that didn't hinder the match quality for one bit.

Havok wins #1 Contender's Over-The-Top Rope Battle Royal For TNA Knockouts Championship


This was straight-forward and to the point. Havok came in there and cleaned house. TNA didn't sugarcoat it or anything. We knew it was coming but it was cool to see win the right to challenge Gail Kim.

If memory serves me right from the reports, this was the match where Rebel broke her arm after taking a rather nasty fall to the floor upon her elimination in this match. Speaking of Rebel, I was surprised to see her last that long in this match, especially to say that she's still pretty green in terms of her training. If I were to guess their direction from here with Rebel, I'm guessing that she would have a program with Angelina Love or The Beautiful People would feud among themselves (Angelina's jealousy was obvious during the calendar reveal last week) before we find out whether or not if Velvet Sky is going to leave with Bully Ray after Bound for Glory.

I remember reading comments online and seeing people complaining that the other Knockouts didn't get to do much here. That was the point of this match - pure domination from Havok. I guess some fans weren't paying attention that all hope wasn't lost as Rayne, Taryn, and Velvet Sky held their own against the powerhouse briefly before getting eliminated, so it's not like everyone jobbed to her.


This post-match promo from Gail Kim is one of the reasons why I love her as the fighting babyface champion. See? You don't have to be a wannabe CM Punk-like heel to get over, ladies!

Chris Melendez (Sarge) def. Kenny King (w/ MVP)


MVP comes out with Kenny King to the ring to shoot a promo on Roode's chances of defeating Lashley tonight looking bleak and hopeless. Surprisingly enough MVP and Kenny King put over Sarge in their promo before calling him out for a match here tonight.
Don't get me wrong, but this was pretty boring to watch. Sarge gets beat up without mercy throughout this match, only to get a simple roll-up out of nowhere for the win. If TNA wants to impress me with this guy, I would like to see him getting some solid offense in there like he did in his debut. Kenny King goes for the Royal Flush post-match out of spite, but Sarge DDTs him the canvas. Sarge tried to shake K2's hand out of respect, but was shot down as King assaulted Melendez until Mr. Anderson made the save.

X-Division Championship Match - Samoa Joe (c) def. Homicide to retain

I marked when I heard Homicide coming out to a variation of the original LAX theme. It was cool that Mike Tenay took the time to review Joe and Homicide's fabled history throughout this match to add to the drama. While I enjoyed this match (especially the Rear Naked Choke counter to the Gringo Cutter), I wouldn't rate it better than Samoa Joe's matches against Low-Ki over the past month. These matches are fulfilling their purpose though:
  1. These matches have been putting the X-Division back into the spotlight after taking a backseat on TNA's programming for a LONG time during the Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff takeover.
  2. TNA is slowly rebuilding Samoa Joe as a legitimate threat again. Whenever he does decide to move up back into the main event picture, he will be taken seriously as a major player like back in 2006-2007. 
Last but not least, after all of the complaints about Manik/TJ Perkins' costume, TNA finally changed it to suit his "transformation" to fit in with James Storm and The Great Sanada's stable when the trio attacked Samoa Joe and Homicide after the match. 

Match #3 in Best of Three Tag Team Series: Ladder Match - The Wolves def. The Hardys and Team 3D

Easily a Match of the Year candidate here. Each one of these matches in this Best of Three Tag Team Series has been better than the last. 

If you love tag team wrestling, do yourself a favor and watch this match in its entirety, folks. Words can't do this one justice. 

Bram def. Gunner

Let's be serious here, this was the "cool down" match after that insane ladder match. No offense to either of these guys, but I honestly didn't care much for this match. It just served its purpose to continue the ongoing Samuel Shaw and Gunner storyline/partnership. I'm just putting it out there, but if Shaw isn't interested in Brittany, send her my way. Holla at 'cha boy, Gunner!

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match - Bobby Lashley (c) def. Robert Roode

I hope this match shuts up all of Lashley's critics. Much like Eric Young before him, TNA is maintaining this track record of building up legitimately strong champions representing their top prize as the face of the company. This was yet another great title defense from the "Destroyer." Roode put up a great fight but narrowly missed the margin to dethrone Lashley for the gold.
Fortunately, GM Kurt Angle already booked the rematch, along with the last match in the Best of Three Tag Team Series to be a Full Metal Mayhem match, for TNA's next set of live TV tapings. I don't know about anyone else but I would gladly pay to see this on PPV. Somehow, I'm thinking they have a triple threat main event in mind for Bound For Glory (set to be held in Japan) between Lashley, Roode, and Eric Young. All in all, No Surrender was solid show, with the Tag Team Match and main event being must-sees this week. 
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