No Surrender: Out with the old, in with the new

First and foremost, I’d like to thank the team here at Wrestling’s Last Hope for giving me the privilege and honor to write with them. I hope to make the most of this opportunity as well as offer WLH a new perspective on TNA Wrestling.

With that being said, I will get straight into the main topic- No Surrender. As a TNA fan, I can easily admit that they generally fail to produce a good, long build up to a match, but with Bound for Glory this year, they’ve done so in great style, setting up a mini match series at No Surrender to determine the number one contender for the World Title.

First thing I’d like to point out is the fact none of the final four have ever held a World title. Putting four guys who’ve never held the title, in this match could do wonders for the company. One common complaint about TNA is not enough young, TNA home grown talents getting title shots. They finally listened, and have put the final four men against each other to decide who truly is Bound for Glory (pun intended!)

Let’s break down the final four

Bully Ray

Age: 40

Bubba (Bully) Ray is no doubt one of the greatest TAG team wrestlers of all time. He, along with Dvon did some amazing things, and they deserve all the praise they get. But, when TNA decided to separate the team, people foresaw the exact same thing that happened when WWE tried, a complete mess. At the start, it seemed to be heading that way, but Bully Ray was given a chance to take his singles feuds away from D von and move onto Immortal. Who’d have thought he’d be so successful? He’s by far the best heel in TNA right now, and has a lot of freedom in TNA to give him that chance to shine.

Gunner

Age: 29

Gunner has surprised so many people with the momentum he’s been able to gain given his little opportunities at TNA. At first, he was a petty security guard for immortal. He, along with Murphy had zero momentum, zero fan base and no real hope in TNA. Gunner was lucky enough to have put in a good performance against the Motor City Machine Guns and was able to get out of that crappy tag team. They gave him a couple of singles matches, and he was able to really show his power house style and intensity that made him popular in the NWA scene. TNA gave him a huge mini push, giving him the chance to wrestle, and defeat the then TNA World champion Sting. He later beat Mr. Anderson in a non title match and solidified his position as a genuine contender, coming from nothing to do so.

James Storm

Age: 34

Here’s a guy who started his career with TNA (Can’t count his jobber stint with WCW) and will retire with TNA. He’s a man who’d give anything for the company. Look at his time with AMW, he was over. Then came BMI, and he’s still over. The only thing that has truly held him back was how successful his tag teams were. Who’d have thought success could hold you back! Now, he and Roode have been given a chance to show their in ring skills as solo competitors, it has worked wonders on both men’s careers. Storm is flying high, and if you don’t like it. Well, sorry about your damn luck!

Robert Roode

Age: 34

A staple of TNA wrestling; Robert (Bobby) Roode has (like Storm) been held back by the success of Beer Money. Quite possibly the most over tag team in the world. Through his time at TNA, he’s well and truly fine tuned himself and developed into a fine in ring competitor. From Petey Williams’ side kick, to main event quality wrestler, he’s the perfect example of what hard work and dedication can do to a wrestler. His work against Flair and Hogan on the mic got him well over as a stand alone man, and, if given the chance, could easily become as big as AJ was.

So, that leaves us with the question- who will win?
For me, it has to be Bobby Roode because he’s by far the most suitable candidate. In saying that, I would be more than happy for any of these men to win it, each have made their own IMPACT (heh, another pun) as of late!

It is safe to say, that whoever wins the number 1 contenders match will go on to win the strap. Why? Kurt’s liver was hacked (yet again) by some budweiser and I think TNA may have learned that people with addictions shouldn’t be champions!

To make the most of No Surrender, they need both members of Beer Money to win and have a long, awesome match to end the night. They have so much chemistry, that if they were given the chance, they could blow the crowd away!

Until then, thank you for your time!

Many warm Regards,

Jordan (Danger) Merrick


All in all, No Surrender is the make or break point for the build up to the Bound for Glory series to be a success, and given how much time and effort TNA have put into it, I’d say, not even they could stuff this one up easily!

I’ll be writing a full review of No Surrender next week, lets hope its all positive!