TNA No Surrender 2006

When people look back on TNAs No Surrender pay per view at the end of the year, it's safe to say that all they'll remember is the final 30 seconds. By teasing their big announcment for the whole show and then actually delivering news which caught the entire wrestling world by surprise, TNA not only created an unprecedented buzz for itself, it also managed to gloss over what was, for the most part, a decidedly below average pay per view.

The anouncement that Kurt Angle has come to terms with TNA is huge, there's no doubt about that. Combined with the news they are going to primetime with Impact as well as the return of Vince Russo to creative, TNA has a buzz surrounding it at the moment which is bigger than ever in the companies history. Whether good or bad, people are talking about TNA for once and as the old adage goes, there's no such thing as bad publicitiy. The only obvious downside is that all this buzz and speculation not only over-shadowed this weekend's show, but is also over shadowing a lot of the build for their Bound for Glory show. Although the show as a whole was decidely poor, there were 2 excellent matches in Christian vs. Rhino and the tag team Ultimate X as well as a very significant angle played out involving Samoa Joe and the NWA title belt. Unfortunately with all the hype currently being around TNA signing that aren;t currently in the ring, the actual in-ring product has taken a back seat, which is a worrying move for a company that should be priding itself on it's quality wrestling - after all, WWE sure as hell isn't!

After a string of very solid pay per views, No Surrender featured that kind of fragmented booking and average wrestling that you would expect from a show which has felt like an after though all along. With the main event of Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting settled for Bound For Glory, the build for No Surrender lacked the usual focus of a title match and as such felt somewhat of a filler show in the weeks leading up to it, much like WWE single brand pay per views. Thank goodness then for Christian Cage vs. Rhino and the Ultimate X tag match. Prior to that, the show was punctuated by ridiculous booking and matches that were far from exciting. Despite being a crowd favourite, Eric Young was never going to carry muscle-bound goof A-1 to a good match and this was a very underwhelming opener. Then, during the Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal and Senshi vs. Chris Sabin matches we saw the babyfaces imitate Jackass and do crazy stunts to help them win their matches. Now call me stupid, but isn't one of the points in Jackass that fans aren't supposed to emulate them? This now makes Dutt, Lethal and Sabin look even more stupid. The laxative angle with Lethal and Williams was just embarassing and made the X Division look like amateur hour, while the shenangians in the Sabin vs. Senshi match ruined what was otherwise a really strong bout. Thank god the crowd voiced their dissatisfaction here and at the Impact taping and hopefully we'll see an end to this current storyline. God knows, after this and the Kevin Nash debacle, the X Division desperatly needs to get back to putting on some awesome matches and go back to being a positive for the company, not an embarassing negative.



So it was, that nearly half way through the show we got out first match of any meaning that wasn't punctuated by silliness. Christian and Rhino had a really good match that followed up on their weeks of really interesting build since Christian's heel turn. Although it didn't make much sense at the time, you cannot argue with the quality of promos that have built to this match and Christian is back to being the slimy heel he is so good at portraying. Rhino is also reaping the rewards and his stock is definitely on the rise as he has more than carried his side of things in thie feud and as such the match definitely felt like a main event match with main event stars. Although slow to get going, they told a great story - so great, that you don't even mind there being a ref bump at the end as it actually adds to it rather than seem like a booking crutch. By adding the idea that Rhino had a concussion going in, it gives Rhino an excuse for his clean loss and so I don't think we will be seeing an end to this feud anytime soon, which is no bad thing. With Bound for Glory being in Rhino's hometown, I can see a big babyface win at the next show, but for now this was a really solid match which has helped get over both guys and helped save the pay per view at this point.

This was followed by the Ultimate X match between Konnan's LAX group and AJ Styles and Chris Daniels. In many ways, this deserved to be the main event as once again Styles and Daniels helped steal the show by putting on one of the best Ultimate X matches in TNA history. These two have really found their niche in the tag division as well as revitalizing tag team wrestling in TNA. Homicide and Hernandez though, more than held their own in this match and the LAX gimmick is becoming one of the best parts of the TNA product right now. When it came to who won this match, either team could have walked off with the gold and it would not matter. However, thanks to Chris Daniels' insane dive from the corner post of the Ultimate X structure, Styles and Daniels regained the belt and we are set for a rubber match at Bound for Glory which should very well steal the show once again.



Then finally we came to our main event. Although the idea of this match has seemed very forced and like a filler main event, you can't fault the build up for it. Although I would have preferred to see Ultimate X close the show, this match was a dran sight more entertaining than many expected. Although the build saw the emphasis put on the fans getting their revenge on Jarrett, TNA did an excellent job of refocusing Joe's role in the match on the final Impact and by bloodying Joe and having him cut that superb promo, we finally got the heat in the match that was missing all along. As such, the match kept a nice balance of fans getting to hit Jarett and joe getting his revenge and coming across like a star. It's easy to forget that with all that's been said about Jarrett pushing himself as the top guy when he doesn't need, but the man can still have a really strong match when he needs to and he showed he can still cut it in the ring with this match. He put over Joe and made him look a million bucks, while taking the pin clean in the middle of the ring after taking only one muscle-buster. Admittedly he was a little bit quick to get up on his feet once the match was over, but fair dues to him, he took the loss and has set-up an intriguing issue between himself and Joe for the coming months.

Overall verdict: C+
"A definite filler show that people will only really remember for the final 30 seconds. On the plus-side this means some stupid booking and average matches will now be forgotten. But on the down side three very good matches in Christian/Rhino, Jarett/Joe and Ultmate X will be never ge given the admiration they deserve."

ROH Death Before Dishonor 4

There have been some surprising events in the world of professional wrestling over the years. Whether it's Eric Bischoff appearing on Raw, David Arquette winning the WCW World title or Mae Young giving birth to a plastic hand, you must never say never in the world of pro wrestling. And so it was, with a little surprise, that we found Ring of Honor promoting it's 4th Death Before Dishonor show, by main eventing it with a 'Cage of Death' match (the signature event of fierce rivals, Combat Zone Wrestling). Could this really be a sign of things to come for ROH?

Fortunately not. The ROH vs. CZW has revitalized Ring of Honor at a time when competition for a wrestling fan's hard earned dollar is getting more competitive than ever. However few could have predicted 12 months ago, that Chris Hero or Necro Butcher would be regular members of the ROH roster. Or that ROH would be embroiled in a violent feud with it's arch rival of CZW in the rings of the Philaphia wrestling arenas, not behind the scenes as they did in 2002/3. However where ROH has prospered, unfortunately CZW has not followed suit. Despite a number of reasonably high-profile appearances by ROH regulars, CZW has failed to capitalize on the buzz that has generated around this feud and as such it is at a Ring of Honor event (albeit one headlines by a CZW staple) that sees the climax of the feud, rather than at a CZW show.

It's is rare that a show can truly be called a one-match card, but alas DBD4 is one of those cases. It's not that the under card is bad, more that it is simply not as good as the main event. As is so often the case with an ROH show, the undercard features matches which are better than many other indie show's main events, but in this case, they all played second fiddle to the main event. In the matches of note Nigel McGuinness defeated Roderick Strong by count-out to retain his Pure Title, the Briscoes helped continue the development of new tag team Irish Airbourne by giving them a solid thrashing and AJ Styles and Davey Richards proved that great workers can still have average matches. Even the world title match that saw Bryan Danielson take on 'CZW's own' Sonjay Dutt was overshadowed by the main event. Despite a strong outing from both men, this match was cut short and was more memorable for the very partisan crowds rather than the in-ring action. (One clever touch ROH has added to these shows, is the precence of 'CZW bleachers' which allow the crowd to be much more vocal and unbiased and as such create a much more fervent atmosphere which you can still feel even on DVD.)

Prior to the main event, Jim Cornette continued one of the main angles coming into this show and discussed his request of Homicide to be the 5th member of Team ROH. Homicide had said he would only be in Team ROH if he was granted 3 wishes, which Cornette said would give him too much power in ROH. This brought out ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson who said he would join Samoa Joe, Ace Steel, Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer in the cage and would not ask for any wishes from Cornette.

With all these elements in place, as well as the mysterious 5th member of team CZW and the presence of former 4 Horsemen manager JJ Dillon guarding the gate door our main event was on. ROH would win the coin toss and have the man advantage which meant that you know things would not be going ROH's way. The arrival of Samoa Joe to be the first man in the cage was somewhat of a surprise given the regard in which Joe is held by ROH fans however this was not his match and so it made sense for him to be first in. As a result of what would happen later in the match it led to many speculating that this 'easy ride' that Joe was given in Cage of Death was because of his commitments to TNA. Whether this was the case or not, is not a matter for debate here, however ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky has maintained there was no pre-meditated plan to keep Joe 'safe' during the first part of this match. Certainly the way that Joe's summer has panned out in regards to his feud with Bryan Danielson would back that argument up, however on intial viewing it does seem strange for such a prominent member of the ROH roster to play such a minor role in this major match.

It's a good thing then that the performances of the other men involved in the match more than makes up for the lack of Samoa Joe. Once Danielson takes Joe out of the match by clipping his knee, ROH is left with the numbers disadvantage that few would have foreseen when they saw ROH win the coin toss and as such sets up the arrival of Homicide to the match perfectly. The fact that prior to this, CZW revealed it's 5th member to be Eddie Kingston, a man who has nothing but bad words to say about ROH, made this matter even more dramatic as the story of Cage of Death unfolded perfectly before the fan's eyes. With both this surprise entrant and the (albeit obvious) arrival of Homicide to save the day, ROH proved that no matter how smart your fanbase, good story telling can outdo great workrate and technical perfection any day. The fans were taken along on a fantastic journey with this match and the climax of Homicide pinning Nate Webb after a a copkiller into a barbed wire board perfectly captured the whole essence of the ROH vs. CZW feud and provided yet another highlight reel moment from the brief history of ROH.

The angle which followed the climax of Cage of Death saw Jim Cornette grant 2 out of 3 of Homicide's wishes (a world title match in New York and a rematch with long term rival Steve Corino) but he would stop short of allowing Low-ki to return. This led to an heel turn which saw Cornette, Pearce and Dillon seal Homicide in the cage and put the boots to him, setting up a Homicide vs. Cornette feud for the remainder of the year. In a lot of ways this felt like an angle too far after the emotionally draining show that had come before it. However this was the perfect time to do it as it was fresh in the people's minds and helped retain the momentum that ROH so desperately needs in order to keep itself relevant in the modern wrestling world.

Overall verdict: A+
"As good a Ring of Honor show as you'll see and a prime example of how even the smartest of smart fans can still enjoy a good old fashioned brawl between good guys and bad guys."

WWE + Taste = Not likely

I suppose I should expect nothing less from a company who shamelssly exploit the death of one of their own wrestlers. However I felt the mention of Steve Irwin in the Matt Striker's Classroom segment on ECW TV this week went beyond the bounds of what any reasonable person could regard as good taste. We all know WWE is the lowest common denominator when it comes to television, howevber it is crass and tasteless remarks that help put it there and will prevent it from ever raising itself above gutter level., What relevance Steve Irwin had to a WWE broadcast is beyond me and the fact that it was made with a few days of his untimely death is beyond anything which any right minded person should expect to see mad fun of on their TV. Now Vince and co I am sure wil tell you that what they were doing was being topical and trying to garner heat for Striker. However what it really proved is that WWE is trash TV and it has tarnished what has been otherwise very strong run of telvision from the ECW brand.