Pay-Per-Review: TNA No Surrender 2011
By: Chris Cash @RealityofChris
TO GET TO THE POINT: I was expecting a lot going into this TNA pay per view because I really have been enjoying Impact Wrestling as of late. Honestly, it was everything "but" the main event match that had me excited prior to No Surrender. There were a few highlights that I will address below, but I don't recommend anyone going out of their way to see this event.
It was good in that it progressed several storylines going on in the company right now, including the Bound for Glory Series that now has a winner and a new number one contender for the Heavyweight Championship, a new face and Champion of the X Division in Austin Aries, and the continuation of Bully Ray's emergence as a top heel in the company.
The main problem I had with the pay per view was from a creative/booking aspect with the finishes. Three matches ended with some sort of substance being sprayed. In one case, it was James Storm spitting beer into the eyes of the ref that caused him to be disqualified. Winter sprayed Mickie James with blood to regain her Knockout's Championship and Hulk Hogan maced Sting to allow Kurt Angle the victory in the main event. Just writing all of that is exhausting…and frustrating.
I want to blame Creative, but to their credit, you have to be f'n creative to come up with three different ways to use a spray substance as a finish to three different matches. By the second time, you're thinking that's a dumb, yet interesting coincidence. By the third time (in the main event!), you're just insulted.
I don't want to fixate on the negatives, so one thing (well, person) I want to put over is Bully Ray. This was "his" pay per view last night. He was great from start to finish and he truly put over Robert Roode in the Finals of the BFG Series. I was hoping Bully Ray would win the match as it would have given him even more ammunition for future promos, but I'm perfectly satisfied with Roode. The only thing now is they have a short time to make him a credible challenger to the World title by next month's pay per view.