TNA No Surrender Review - February 23, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: The Rascalz def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Trent Seven

This was a rematch from Final Resolution in December. Bailey and Seven won that encounter, so it was logical for The Rascalz to avenge the loss here. Steve Maclin interfering and aiding The Rascalz to victory protected the babyfaces in defeat and seemed to set up a six-man tag team match (also involving Nic Nemeth) for an upcoming edition of iMPACT!. This was the good match you'd expect from these two tandems.

Pre-Show: The System (Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards) def. Kevin Knight and Kushida

I enjoyed this a little more than the preceding tag team match. They worked a wonderful pace and kept things interesting throughout. The chaotic closing sequence was especially fun. This was part on the feud that we've seen between The System and the trio of Knight and Time Splitters. With The System being the new top heel faction, this was the correct result. Perhaps they'll set their sights on the TNA World Tag Team Championship next.

Eric Young def. Frankie Kazarian in a TNA World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

I believe putting a title shot at Sacrifice on the line was a last-minute decision because there was no mention of that on Thursday's edition of iMPACT!. It made this more meaningful as a result. It was the usual solid stuff from these seasoned veterans to start the show. Kazarian just turned heel last month, so having him lose already isn't ideal, but Young vs. Moose makes more sense for the Sacrifice event.

TNA World Tag Team Champions ABC def. Grizzled Young Vets in Match #3 in the TNA World Tag Team Championship Best-of-3 Series

This was on par with their first two matches in the series in that it was top-notch and the action was excellent. It could have gone either way, but I can't say I'm too shocked by ABC retaining since I've heard nothing about Grizzled Young Vets officially singing with TNA yet. At least these matches allowed them to remind fans what they're capable of. This feels like the deepest TNA's tag team division has been in a while and I hope they can keep it going.

PCO def. Kon by Disqualification

It's almost impossible for me to care about anything involving Kon, regardless of who he's up against. To their credit, though, they did everything they could to make this bearable. They took the fight to each other right away, brawled the whole time, did the disqualification finish, and brawled some more afterward. All things considered, this was what it needed to be. Needless to say, a Monster's Ball bout is inevitable.

MK Ultra def. Decay to Win the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship

While the men's tag team scene continues to cook, there simply isn't anything interesting about the Knockouts tag team scene at the moment. It's these two teams and the duo of Jody Threat and Dani Luna. That's about it. MK Ultra have turned heel, so them winning the belts back extends the feud, but it's not a feud I find myself overly invested in. The match itself was fine for what it was.

Josh Alexander def. Simon Gotch

Gotch is another guy who, like Kon, who I never saw any special in during his time in TNA. However, I understand the story they were trying to tell with Gotch feeling slighted by Alexander getting a TNA contract after their last match and he didn't. This was a very good, well-wrestled matchup. I don't need to see this storyline continue with Alexander winning decisively, but Gotch was certainly impressive here.

TNA World Champion Moose def. Alex Shelley in a No Surrender Rules Match

Not only was this not the main event, it didn't even go on second to last. However, I didn't have an issue with the positioning because it's not like anyone actually thought Shelley would regain the gold here. They went the storytelling route and excelled. They really leaned into the "throwing in the towel" stuff, which was strange because I don't recall that being talked about at all prior to the event (Edit: I'm realizing in retrospect that was because this was a No Surrender Rules match, which I wasn't aware of, so the headline's been updated). That actually ended up being the finish because Kushida didn't want to see Shelley endure any more punishment. I dug what they did here and am curious how Shelley will react after being adamant beforehand about not wanting Kushida or Knight to throw in the towel for him.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace def. Gisele Shaw

I had Grace winning regardless, but it was blatantly obvious she would retain the title when Ash By Elegance made her way to ringside before the bell rang. Despite that, they had a great match and Shaw had a hell of a performance. That's to take nothing away from Grace, but we already know what she can do. Shaw sadly never wins whenever it matters most, but she has delivered in each of these high-profile matches she's had and looked quite credible in defeat here.

Mustafa Ali def. Chris Sabin to Win the TNA X-Division Championship

It's awesome that the TNA X-Division Championship got to headline a pay-per-view because that title was originally what TNA was built on, not to mention that they deserved it and Ali debuting in a championship main event made him that much bigger of a deal. They had a kickass match and had the crowd with them every step of the way. Sabin has been a terrific champion, but Ali becoming champ was the right call. I can't wait to see what he'll do at the helm of the X-Division.

Overall Show

I thought we were getting Nemeth vs. Maclin on this show and feel dumb for realizing that it was never actually advertised. That's because Nemeth worked the New Japan Pro-Wrestling event last night and couldn't do both, so I assume we get that match at Sacrifice instead. Nonetheless, this was an easy thumbs-up event from TNA that ended on a high note. There's still a lot of questions regarding what the future of TNA will look like without Scott D'Amore (and if it affects the roster at all), but you wouldn't know anything changed from watching this show. Some of the stuff in the middle was decent at best, but there were enough above-average matches to make No Surrender worthwhile and one of the stronger Impact Plus specials in recent memory.

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