PPV REVIEW - WCW Superbrawl VII

February 23, 1997,
The Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.

Though we often poke fun at WCW's tendency to declare - via lead announcer Tony Schiavone- that every show was 'The Biggest Night in the History of Our Sport' and every main event 'The Biggest Main Event Ever In The Whole Wide Universe,' you do have to hand it to them: 

They really did go all out to back up their claims.

Such was the case tonight, as the company presented the hotly anticipated rematch between nWo leader and World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and his arch-nemesis, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

For those of you just catching up, Piper had put Hogan to sleep in the main event of WCW Starrcade 1996, earning himself a shot at the Big Gold Belt.

If you ignore the ridiculous story where he holed himself up in Alcatraz for a week, WCW had crated a serious big-time fight feel coming into Superbrawl 7.

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Would the show live up to the hype? Let's head to The Cow Palace in San Francisco to find out:

Roddy Piper is Released from Alcatraz 

Remember that time Rowdy Roddy Piper locked himself away in Alcatraz for a week to prepare for a pro wrestling match against Hulk Hogan?

That match was tonight, and the past seven days has seen Piper locked up, growing more and more insane in the process.

Tonight, Superbrawl VII began with Piper being released from what he called 'hell' and taking a boat towards dry land, shouting like a lunatic en route.

I'm saying nothing about whether 'Piper in Alcatraz' was a good idea or not, but it made an interesting start to the show.

From there, we got our typical welcome from Tony Schiavone and his colleagues, Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan and The American Dream Dusty Rhodes.

The three talked about the big main event before giving us the back story to tonight's opening contest.

World Championship Wrestling Cruiserweight Championship
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Syxx 

That story took us back to Starrcade 96, when Eddie Guerrero won the vacant US title in a tournament final.

If you recall, Syxx had run out afterwards to steal the title, only for Guerrero to beat him in an awesome ladder match at the otherwise terrible nWo Souled Out show back in January.

Trying his luck a second time, Syxx this time stole

Dean Malenko's Cruiserweight title, and also tried to make off with the US belt again before Guerrero stopped him.

Tonight, Malenko would look to get his belt back from a man trained by Dean's own father, Borris Malenko.

The match, though it may not have been quite as good as it could have been, was a perfectly acceptable opener between two talented performers.

After plenty of back-and-forth action, Syxx looked to use the Cruiserweight title as a weapon, only for Eddie Guerrero to run out and stop him.

A tug of war ensued which the referee broke up, in doing so turning his attention away from the combatants so that Syxx could waffle his opponent with the strap and win his first singles title in one of the Big 2.
Your Winner and New WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Syxx

Cutting to the locker room, Mean Gene Okerlund told us to call 1-900-909-9900 to find out which major WCW superstar he saw having breakfast with the nWo that morning.

Speaking of The New World Order, one of them would be facing Diamond Dallas Page tonight, though Page hadn't been told who his actual opponent will be.

Gene welcomed him as his first guest of the evening to run through the possibilities, finally deducing that Buff Bagwell was a real possibility.

By coincidence, at exactly the same time, Gene got word on his head set that Buff would indeed face DDP, who promised to Diamond Cutter the former American Male before storming off to end what was a solid promo.

Six Man Tag

Konnan, La Parka, Vilano IV vs. Juventud Guerrera, Ciclope, Super Calo

There was no backstory and no intense rivalry behind this lucha libre style trios match, but that was perfectly OK.

Rather than progressing a storyline, this was a pure time filler, and as time fillers go, it was a rather fun one.

OK, so this one was not the kind of classic we'd see from other AAA imports like Rey Mysterio Jr. and Eddie Guerrero, and with Ciclope botching a moonsault to the outside so badly that he nearly Lille's himself, it had no chance of ever coming close.

But there were some entertaining spots here, and I find it hard to believe that anybody could watch this one and not find it fun to watch.

In the end, Konnan threw Juventud Guerrera about 10,000 million feet in the air and flattened him to win the match for his side.

Your Winners: Konnan, La Parka, Vilano IV. 

From there, it was straight back to the runt for our next match.

World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship

WCW Cruiserweight Champion Prince Iaukea vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. 

Having to really fight my autocorrect here, it insists I refer to the Champion as Prince Ikea, but obviously I'm not going to.

The story here was that the Prince had gone into a TV title match against then-champion Steven Regal as an underdog, but shocked everybody by winning the match, and the title.

Regal had blamed Rey Mysterio for the loss (what Rey did, I'm not sure, I'm just repeating what Tony Schiavone said), and somehow that meant we had Mysterio as Prince Iuakea's first major title defence.

I've read a lot of criticism of this match but honestly can't understand it.

Despite what you've read elsewhere, this was a perfectly good match which -whilst not a classic- certainly delivered value for money.

Towards the end, Regal came out to distract Mysterio in retaliation for the masked luchadore costing him the title.

Prince Iaukea got the win, but that was only half of the story.

Your Winner and Still WCW Television Champion: Prince Iaukea. 

Admittedly, this is where things started to get dumb.

After realising that his victory was tainted, Iaukea, being the good sport he was, actually offered Rey Mysterio his title.

Why he didn't offer him a rematch, or even a restart is beyond me, and apparently beyond the announcers, who joked that this was the first time nobody actually wanted a title, because Rey wouldn't accept it like that either.

The Giant is Calm

Backstage, Mean Gene once again urged us to call the hotline before introducing his next guest, The Giant.

The big man would be going up against The Outsiders for the Tag Team titles by himself tonight since Eric Bischoff had ruled his original partner, Lex Luger, unfit to wrestle.

The Giant didn't care about that, nor did he care about the mindgames his former team mates in the nWo had been playing with him.

In another solid promo, the former champion told us he was calm, he was ready, and he would destroy Kevin Nash and Scott Hall tonight.

Buff Bagwell vs. Diamond Dallas Page 

At the previous month's nWo Souled Out, Buff Bagwell had offered Diamond Dallas Page one last opportunity to join the nWo.

Page had responded by Diamond Cuttering the hell out of the nWo B-Team, effectively cementing his face turn in the process and setting up a new rivalry with Bagwell.

Say what you will about the former American Male, he was both effective and entertaining as the arrogant, narcissistic heel, whilst Page himself was over as hell with the San Francisco crowd.

Unfortunately, neither of these made for that good of a match.

The sole highlight came when Buff shoved referee Scott Dickinson, only for the ref to shove back and verbally berate Buff until he backed down in the corner.

If that sounds familiar, it's because Earl Hebner had only just started to do that very same gimmick at the last two WWF pay per views.

After that, more uninspired back and forth followed until DDP hit the Diamond Cutter. Just when it looked like he was going to win, Syxx led the nWo B-Team to the rescue and Page hightailed it through the crowd.

Your Winner via DQ: Diamond Dallas Page 

Afterwards, Tony Schiavone told us about some guy named Keith who had won a PlayStation competition to be at the event. They put the camera on poor Keith for so long that he had no idea what to do with himself. He'd give us a 'yeah! Woo!' then look away and turn back, only to realise the  camera was still on him and give us a 'um...yeah!'

It was awkward. Poor guy.

World Championship Wrestling United States Championship

WCW United States Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho 

This was a shame, because both men really worked hard to deliver a great match that ultimately did nothing to excite the live audience.

In a different time, this one would have gone down well, but tonight it simply fell flat, ending when Eddie Guerrero rolled up Chris Jericho for the three count to retain his title.

Your Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Eddie Guerrero 

Post match, Jericho looked visibly pissed at the loss and even argued with the referee. However, this would only serve to be the most subtlest of teases at an eventual heel turn, as he did at least shake hands with Guerrero and congratulate him on the match.

Triangle Tag Team match

The Faces of Fear (Meng & Barbarian) vs. The Public Enemy (Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) vs. Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray, w/ Sister Sherri)

As the Faces of Fear made their entrance (sans Jimmy Hart), Tony Schiavone reminded us that this was supposed to be a four way match until The Outsiders ran over The Steiner Brothers on Nitro.

That took Rick and Scott out of the equation and made this a triangle match where a title shot was not on the line.

The lack of a title shot (or 'opportunity' if you will, pal) didn't seem to matter to either of these three teams, who tore the hell out of each other in a short, passable match.

The Faces of Fear - who, I believe, were a far better team than many gave them credit for- were the stars here, doing most of the work before Public Enemy stole the win.

Your Winners: Public Enemy 

They must have been paying Mean Gene per-interview tonight, because once again we skipped the 'tween-match hotline shilling and went straight to our next match.

If Jarrett Wins, He Joins The Four Horsemen

Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve 'Mongo' McMichael (w/ Debra McMichael) 

Steve McMichael's wife, Debra McMichael had been campaigning ardently to get Jeff Jarrett into the Four Horsemen. Tonight, if the former WWF Intercontinental Champion could beat her husband, he would earn that spot.

This was the set-up for what turned out to be one of the best matches Steve McMichael would ever have in his career.

Look, I'm not saying it was great or anything, but for what it was, it was certainly very good.

Jarrett made McMichael look awesome before finally beating him after Debra not-so-accidentally passed him Mongo's steel briefcase:

One shot to the head later, and this one was over.

Your Winner: Jeff Jarrett 

Afterwards, Jarrett seemingly ignored Debra and strutted backstage boasting about his big win.

Talk about ungrateful.

San Francisco Death Match

The Taskmaster (w/ Jimmy Hart and Jacqueline) vs. Chris Benoit (w/ Woman) 

As the two competitors made their way out, Tony Schiavone told us that a San Francisco Death Match was basically your standard no DQ match.

Confusingly, Woman and Jacqueline were then strapped together and begun whipping each other whilst Chris Benoit and The Taskmaster did their usual brawling routine.

As the show switched back and forth between the men and the women, not to mention occasionally going to that horrible split screen WCW loved to use whenever they could, it was obvious that this was nothing more than a disappointing mess.

At The Great American Bash 1996, these two had put on one of the most entertaining matches of the year in a similar no-holds-barred, falls-count-anywhere that was as wild as it was violent.

Tonight, this writer expected , as I'm sure many who were watching at the time did, to see the same kind of deal.

Instead, we got a poor man's imitation of ECW which ended when Benoit put Sullivan on a table, only for Jacqueline to lie on top of her man in order to protect him.

Benoit didn't care and dove off anyway, then pinned both Jackie and Sullivan beneath the table.

Your Winner: Chris Benoit

In order to really sell this as a big deal, Benoit, Jacqueline, and Sullivan all lay comatose in the ring for half an eternity whilst Paul Orndorff, Terry Taylor, and, randomly, Lee Marshall all took turns at coming to the ring and yelling at nobody in particular.

A long while later, the three were stretchered off as the show cut to a promo in which Hugh Morrus told us how crazy Uncensored 1996 was going to be.

World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship

WCW World Tag Team Champions The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash w/ Syxx) vs. The Giant  

At the start of this one, Scott Hall and Syxx came out wearing t-shirts promoting the Mexican Promo Azteca promotion. Dusty misread this and somehow thought it said 'Alcatraz,' his logic being that The Outsiders were so worried about Roddy Piper coming out of Alcatraz to face Hulk Hogan that they decided to wear t-shirts about it.

Anyway, the bout itself was fine - nothing terrible, nothing spectacular, just fine.

After holding his own against the nWo for a few minutes, The Giant was rescued by his original partner Lex Luger, who bust in with a torture rack to which Kevin Nash submitted.

After the bell, The Giant chokeslammed Scott Hall, pinned him, and had the referee count to three, just to be sure that he was definitely responsible for winning the titles.

Your Winners and New WCW Tag Team Champions: The Giant and Lex Luger                                  

Luger and The Giant celebrated, but their reign would be short lived.

Just as he had done after Hall and Nash lost the titles to The Steiner Brothers at WCW/nWo Souled Out 1997, Eric Bischoff vetoed the win and gave the belts back to The Outsiders the following night.

Wasting no time, it was finally on to our main event.

World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan (w/ Ted Dibiase and Vincent) vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper

The first part of this Mach was actually fun in an old-school, less-is-more sort of way, with Piper finally unleashing all that pent-up Alcatraz insanity on Hogan.

When the champ took over however, we ended up with a dull bear hug spot that lasted about two decades and literally nearly sent this writer to sleep.

At one point, Macho Man Randy Savage came out to take a look whilst Sting, who Savage had been palling around with since his return to World Championship Wrestling, came with but encouraged him to leave the match alone.

Macho would have none of that, and instead wandered to the ring, where he stood and watched Roddy Piper clearly and cleanly win the match -and the title- via sleeper.

All was not as it seemed however. In one of the most confusing finishes ever, we were told that Hogan had his foot under the ropes (I've read reports that said Savage put his feet there, but if he did, it was a blink-and-you'll-Miss-it kinda deal.

What Savage did do, was hand Hogan some brass knuckles. Hogan hit Piper with them, and 3 seconds later, this dumb piece of crap was over.

Your Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hollywood Hulk Hogan

After the match, Randy Savage, who had been beaten up and humiliated for months by the nWo, revealed that he had finally joined them by assisting Hogan in a post-match beatdown of Piper.

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So, did Superbrawl VII live up to the 'Greatest Night in the History of Our Sport' tag?

Not exactly.

Whilst there was nothing particularly terrible about this show, there was nothing especially spectacular either.

The only thing that really, really gets me about this show is Randy Savage's bizarre heel turn.

After Hogan turned heel, there was no bigger enemy of the nWo than Randy Savage, and that includes Sting.

Savage was beaten down, humiliated, and blackballed from WCW, and then one day just shrugged his shoulders and went 'Oh well, if you can't beat em, join em?' yeah, that's dumb.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Next time, over the next few weeks we'll be looking at WCW Uncensored 1997 and WWF Wrestlemania 13. Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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1997 events reviewed so far:

1. WWF - Royal Rumble 1997
2. WCW - Souled Out 1997
3. WWF - In Your House 13: Final Four 

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PPV REVIEW: TNA Bound For Glory 2009

Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Irvine, California

On Sunday, October 18th, 2009, TNA wrestling presented their biggest pay per view event of the year, Bound for Glory.

As the company's equivalent of Wrestlemania, Bound for Glory 2009 saw the culmination of a number of the biggest rivalries in TNA.

(NOTE: This review was written at the time of TNA Bound for Glory's broadcast in October 2009. I found this along with other TNA reviews in my archive recently and decide to report them to RPW) 

Here's what went down.

Zack Wylde played the American National Anthem.

It's true; the Black Label Society founder opened the show with a heavy metal rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Those fans who weren't desperately trying to look sincere in their displays of patriotism simply looked around, confused.

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X-Division Championship Ultimate X Match: Amazing Red defended the X-Division Championship against Chris Sabin, Alex Shelly, Suicide, Homicide and Daniels.

Nobody wasted a second in tearing into each other in the X-Division's trademark fast and furious style.

The Motor City Machine Guns, Shelly and Sabin, were the stars in the early going, even if one or two of their spots did make that all important suspension of disbelief somewhat difficult.

The grand finale of this exciting spot-fest came when Daniels and Suicide climbed high above the ring atop the steel structure for a dramatic exchange of blows. Fans watched with bated breath as the two hung on nervously before making a sickening drop that left Christopher Daniels legitimately hurt.

In the ensuing bedlam, Amazing Red was able to capture his belt and retain the title.
Your Winner and still X-Division Champion: Amazing Red

As the ring crew worked to disassemble the Ultimate X structure, the show went to the back for a couple of interviews.

Lauren interviewed The Beautiful People

Flanked by Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Eric, Velvet Sky vowed to capture the Knockout Tag Team Titles whilst Madison insisted that the only reason The Beautiful People failed to do so last time was that they weren't ready.

JB interviewed Taylor Wilde and Sarita

Responding to The Beautiful People's comments, TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions, Taylor Wilde and Sarita promised to win their upcoming match.

TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Taylor Wilde and Sarita defended against Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne (with Lacey Von Eric)

Before this one could begin, Lacey Von Eric did her best to seduce the referee, hoping to get him on the side of The Beautiful People. Having none of it, Earl Hebner raced to the ring, snogged Lacey and sent her packing.

When the match finally did begin, it was a short, explosive affair in which the two teams traded the advantage until Wilde hit a German suplex on Madison to pick up the win for her team.
Your Winners and still TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Taylor Wilde & Sarita

Backstage, Eric Young and Kevin Nash  cut a decent promo discussing their upcoming Triple Threat match against Hernandez.

TNA Legends Championship: Kevin Nash defended against Eric Young and Hernandez

This basically evolved into a passable handicap match, with Nash and Young working together and Hernandez struggling to overcome the odds.

The twist came at the end, when Young double-crossed 'Big Sexy' by using Hernandez as a battering ram to take out the legend's champion and take his title.
Your winner and NEW TNA Legends Champion: Eric Young

Backstage, tensions were rife between The British Invasion, Beer Money and the team of Scott Steiner and Booker T. All three teams argued, until; the Brits proved to be an unlikely voice of reason and urged everyone to concentrate on taking out Team 3D.

TNA Tag Team Championship and IWGP Tag Team Championship Full Metal Mayhem match: TNA Tag Team Champions Scott Steiner and Booker T vs. IWGP tag team champions The British Invasion vs. Beer Money vs. Team 3D

Both TNA's tag team title and their New Japan Pro Wrestling equivalent where on the line in Full Metal Mayhem; TNA's answer to your usual Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

Surprisingly, it was Scott Steiner who impressed early in this contest; destroying everyone except for Team 3D (who were taken out at the start) with a number of suplexes and even hitting a very cool top rope frankensteiner).

There was worse luck for his partner, Booker T, who injured his back and was carried out on a stretcher (don't expect to see Booker in TNA again).

The rest of the match was fairly entertaining, featuring cameos from Rhyno (who took out Team 3D), guitarist Zack Wylde (who was watching with the rest of the crowd and took out Brutus Magnus with a chair) and Rob Terry, who eventually helped Doug Williams to win a good match that could have been even better were it not for some timing issues and a lot of stalling.
Your Winners and new TNA Tag Team Champions: The British Invasion

TNA Knockouts Championship: ODB defends her title against Awesome Kong and Tara.

All three women went at it from the opening bell and before long this Knockouts championship bout had grown into a decent match.

Following several minutes of well put together action, Tara found herself in an altercation with a woman at ringside (it was Kim Couture, apparently setting up some MMA angle between the two), and then stormed off.

After leaving Awesome Kong as the sole challenger to tackle champion ODB, Tara returned after several minutes only get destroyed by Kong. Raisha Saeed arrived and insisted that Kong used a chair to pin the champion. Kong refused and it cost her, as ODB retained the gold.
Your Winner and still TNA Knockouts Champion: ODB 

In the back, The Blueprint Matt Morgan discussed his history with Kurt Angle, leading to their match later in the show.

Submission match: Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley came to the ring with his ribs heavily bandaged to take on Samoa Joe in a match billed as MMA vs. TNA.

Despite playing the babyface role, Bobby Lashley's every move was met with a loud chorus of boos as the California crowd got firmly behind Samoa Joe in a reasonably entertaining bout. It would have been all the more entertaining were the crowd not so vehemently against Bobby; effectively killing off his super hero come back and rendering the whole point of the match rather useless.
Your winner: Bobby Lashley

Backstage, Mick Foley reminded JB of all the sacrifices he'd made to make a name for himself, and insisted that if Abyss wanted to overshadow the Hardcore Legend's achievements, he would have to do it himself.

A terrific video package followed, detailing the story between Foley and Abyss.

Monster's Ball match: Mick Foley vs. Abyss (with Dr. Stevie as the special guest referee)

The Monster's Ball moniker may just be a way for TNA to dress up your average hardcore match, but there was certainly nothing average about the sadistic bumps the two combatants took in this match.

Foley attacked as Abyss made his entrance and the two went for an early high spot when Foley climbed to the top of the entrance set and knocked Abyss off, sending the big man crashing through the stage.

What followed was a bloody, barbed wire fuelled brawl with plenty of high impact offence. Everything was going well, with both men taking some sickening bumps into the barbed wire, until Abyss slammed Stevie onto the tacks, knocking him out.

Daffney ran to ringside and handed Foley a tazer, which he used to take out Abyss. Mick then made the cover and a second referee ran out to make the count, however Abyss forgot to kick out, and the referee was forced to count to three, then pretend like it never happened. Needless to say, the crowd, this writer, and no doubt many watching at home, were none too happy about that little mishap.

A few minutes later, Abyss sent Daffney through the barbed wire (rumours are that Daffney broke her arm in that spot), covered Foley and used the hand of an unconscious Dr. Stevie to count the three.
Your Winner: Abyss

JB interviewed Kurt Angle backstage. The Olympic Gold Medallist promised to give Matt Morgan a lesson in respect when they met in the ring.

Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan

The two arch-rivals fought for respect in a largely disappointing effort by Angle's usually phenomenal standards. That's not to say this wasn't a fun match, but we've seen Angle deliver some true classics.

Sadly, this wasn't one of them.

The Olympic Gold Medallist dominated the bout before winning with a roll-up.
Your Winner: Kurt Angle

And now, time for the main event.

TNA World Championship: AJ Styles defended against Sting

Home-state hero and all-round wrestling legend Sting looked to dethrone his friend and protege AJ Styles in a good main event.

Early on, Tazz summed up this writer's thoughts that this symbolic passing of the torch encounter was reminiscent of watching Sting in his early days battling Ric Flair in the NWA/WCW.

It didn't quite go long enough to be the spectacular main event it could have been, but it was nonetheless a very good way to end a very good show.
Your Winner and still TNA World Champion: AJ Styles

Afterwards, AJ handed the spotlight to Sting. The Icon thanked the fans for their support and declared that he didn't know whether he'd be back in a TNA ring.

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Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling promote Bound for Glory as their biggest show of the year, their equivalent to Wrestlemania and the event that really showcases what TNA is really all about. In that respect, BFG 2009 was an enormous success. With not one bad match on the card, and most ranging from good to great, the in-ring action was mostly a joy to watch.

Match of the night honours go to the Full Metal Mayhem bout, which had a similar vibe as the opening Ultimate X contest but managed to deliver a multi-man spot-fest encounter in a much more believable fashion.

If TNA could just continue to deliver amazing cards like this, I'm sure they'd attract many more new fans.

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I'm slowly working my way through re-publishing all of my old TNA reviews from 2008 - 2009. For now, you can also read:

PPVS: 

• TNA Turning Point 2008 
• TNA Final Resolution 2008 
• TNA Genesis 2009 
• TNA Destination-X 2009 
• TNA Slammiversary 7 
• TNA Hard Justice 2009 
• TNA No Surrender 2009 

TNA Impact: 

• TNA Impact: January 15th, 2009 
• TNA Impact: January 22nd, 2009 
• TNA Impact: January 29th, 2009 

For more TNA, WCW, and WWE/WWF reviews follow Retro Pro Wrestling on Twitter or hit 'like' on the brand new Facebook page.

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Top Ten Matches from the First Ten WWE Survivor Series matches

It can't have escaped your attention that WWE Survivor Series 2017 is this weekend. 

With bouts like The Shield vs. The New Day and a hotly anticipated champion vs. champion encounter between AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar, this year's event is likely to prove that Survivor Series can indeed hold it's own with the other three members of the 'Big Four' when it comes to delivering great matches.

Yes, it's sad that Survivor Series should have to prove anything at all, but for this writer, it often feels as though it does.

As the last major -and I mean MAJOR- events of WWE's calendar, the show is usually overlooked in comparison to 'Mania, the 'Rumble, and Summerslam with many of its best moments destined to languish forever as 'forgotten classics.'

But hey, that's part of the reason Retro Pro Wrestling exists in the first place - to make sure that we don't forget those hidden gems that may otherwise go on unloved.

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If you've been following along, you'll know that I've so far covered every WWE/WWF PPV from Wrestlemania 1 up to In Your House 13: Final Four which, nicely, means I've covered the first 10 instalments of the Survivor Series franchise.

To celebrate this weekend's event, I decided to revisit those first ten events and give you my pick of the top ten matches from the first ten Survivor Series shows.

This includes all matches, singles, tags, and traditional Survivor Series elimination bouts, and is based on nothing more than my own personal preference.

I'm not scoring on work rate, crowd reaction, or anything like that - if I loved the match for whatever reason, it goes in.

Don't agree with me? That's all good. Let me know in the comments what your favourite Survivor Series matches are from the first event in 1987 to the 10th event in 1996.

Ready? Let's do it.

10: Team Flair vs. Team Piper (Survivor Series 1991) 

Ric Flair, The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, Warlord and The Mountie VS. Rowdy Roddy Piper, The British Bulldog, Virgil and Intercontinental Champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

Survivor Series 1991 was a mostly terrible show that served as one long, dull commercial for another PPV - This Tuesday in Texas - set to take place just six days later.

The show gave us random crud like a match pitting Sgt. Slaughter, Jim Duggan, Tito Santana and Kerry Von Erich on the same team against Berzerker, Skinner, Hercules and Iron Sheik (as Col. Mustafa) and a weird six-man main event in which I.R.S teamed with The Natural Disasters to take on Big Boss Man and The Legion of Doom, but it did give us a few memorable moments.

It gave us the pre-Barber Shop break up of The Rockers, The Undertaker's first WWF Championship win, and this match - the best thing on the card by a mile.

The match was notable for being the first time The Million Dollar Man had wrestled on a Survivor Series team that he wasn't the captain of, and also for stand out performances by The British Bulldog and Nature Boy himself.

Sure, things were spoiled by a convoluted ending in which everybody except for Ric Flair was disqualified - but up until that point, this had the makings of a fun match.

9: Macho Man Randy Savage & Mr Perfect vs. Nature Boy Ric Flair & Razor Ramon (Survivor Series 1992)

As everybody knows, the story goes that this was supposed to be Macho Man Randy Savage partnering with The Ultimate Warrior in their short-lived Ultimate Maniacs team before Warrior left the company with just a few weeks to go.

The WWF brain trust scrambled around to come up with a replacement and found the perfect one in Mr Perfect.

Not only did this work out great for the in-ring action, but it also made perfect kayfabe sense.

Announcers Vince McMahon and Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan reminded us that Perfect had once been Ric Flair's Executive Consultant and even vaguely referenced the fact that Hennig and Razor Ramon had once tagged together in the AWA, meaning he was the one guy who knew both opponents better than anyone on the roster.

Storyline aside, the quality of the match was impressive.

Other reviewers have likened it to a good, modern-day Raw main event, but I honestly think that does it an injustice.

Sure, this wasn't necessarily a classic, but it was a quality match in its own right, and one of only two on the entire Survivor Series 1992 card that is actually worth watching.

What was the other one?

Keep reading to find out.

8: 'Wild Card' Survivor Series Elimination Match (Survivor Series 1995)

Team Michaels (Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, The British Bulldog, and Sycho Sid w/ Ted DiBiase)
vs.
 Team Yokozuna (Yokozuna, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon and Dean Douglas (w/ Mr. Fuji)

Honestly, the only reason that this one isn't higher is that Survivor Series 1995 pretty much dominates this list, and I wanted to give some of the other shows their due.

Here we have we have what was basically heels and faces on the same team. In kayfabe, this was a concept designed by WWF President Gorilla Monsoon to frustrate and punish heel manager Jim Cornette by putting members of his Camp Cornette stable on opposing teams, though in actuality, it was just a clever storytelling device that produced some terrific action.

Personally, I didn't enjoy this match quite as much as two others on this card, but that's like saying I didn't enjoy the sex I had one day as much as I did on two other days - even if it wasn't as good, it was still fantastic in its own right.

Weird, sexual analogies aside, this really was a fantastic match, going on for 30 minutes with plenty of action from all sides.

I'll say it multiple times in this review, but Survivor Series 1995 really was one of the best editions of this event to take place in the 1990s, and this incredibly exciting match is a big reason why.

7: Teamsters vs. Bad guys (Survivor Series 1994) 

The Teamsters (WWF Tag Team Champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett) 

vs. 

The Bad Guys (WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, The 123 Kid, The British Bulldog and The Headshrinkers, Sione and Fatu, w/ Afa and Captain Lou Albano)

The 1994 Survivor Series was memorable for a number of reasons.

It was at this show that Bob Backlund wrestled in only his second WWF PPV singles match, beating Bret 'The Hitman' Hart for the championship in a lengthy and enjoyable submission match.

It was here that The Undertaker stuffed Yokozuna into a casket and effectively buried Yoko's main event run for good.

And it was also here the that the friendship between Shawn Michaels and Diesel would finally come to an end.

After first hiring the former Master Blaster as his body, the Heartbreak Kid had developed a friendship with the big guy that had seen the two capture the tag team titles.

Yet after one misplaced super kick too many, 7ft Diesel was beginning to get sick and tired of his smaller ally.

Tonight, things would finally come to a head when Diesel ate Shawn's boot for the third time and turned on both HBK and his teammates.

It was obvious that the whole match had been designed to solidify Diesel's face turn in preparation for a WWF Championship reign that would begin later that week (and end with another quality Survivor Series match that we'll get to later), but that's not to say that the other participants simply sat around and watched the Diesel and Shawn show.

Everybody got involved. Everybody excelled. Everybody worked hard to make this a show-stealing performance.

From the 123 Kid's early exchanges with Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart, to Hart's duel with brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, to the dramatic, Diesel-turning finale, everything about this was pure gold.

6: WWF Champion Diesel vs. Bret 'The Hitman' Hart (Survivor Series 1995) 

Like the Jindar Mahal of the 1990s, Kevin Nash's run with the WWF title throughout 1995 had been lacklustre at best. 

After a string of terrible main event title defences against the likes of Sycho Sid (In Your House 1), King Mabel (Summerslam 1995) and The British Bulldog (In Your House IV - a match I weirdly enjoyed), Vince McMahon had decided to pull the plug on his experiment and hand the title over to a more capable worker in AJ Styles Bret 'The Hitman' Hart. 

Bret and Diesel always worked well together, and tonight was no exception. 

The two went at it in a hugely entertaining match which -along with the Wild Card match and the opening undercarders bout- helped make Survivor Series 1995 one of the best Survivor Series cards of the 1990s, if not of all time. 

5: Ten Team Survivor Series Match I (Survivor Series 1987) 

The Hart Foundation (team captains), Demolition, The Islanders, The Dream Team and The Bolsheviks vs. Strike Force, The Killer Bees, The British Bulldogs, The Rougeaus and The Young Stallions.

The first Survivor Series in 1987 already presented what was then a radical new concept in Pay Per view wrestling.

Rather than ending feuds with a card packed full of singles and tag matches, teams of five would strive to survive on a show whose original purpose had been to rival the NWA's Starrcade.

Yet as different as it was, the true stand out, the one that looked unlike anything else we'd seen on TV up to that point was a huge, 20-man elimination match in which two sides comprised of five tag teams each would go at it in a fast-paced, action-packed bout that remains highly enjoyable to this date.

The 1980s really was the golden age of tag team wrestling in the World Wrestling Federation, and here we get some of the very best in the form of The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Fabulous Rougeaus and Demolition, all colliding in one huge match.

Sure, the sequel to this match that took place the following year at Survivor Series 1988 was technically better, but that's to take nothing away from this one - it was as unique as it was fun, and like everything else on this list, well worth checking out on the WWE Network.

4: WWF Champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart vs. WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels (Survivor Series 1992)

Out of the three high profile Pay Per View main event matches that Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and Shawn Michaels had together, this is the one that most frequently gets overlooked.

On the one hand, it's understandable.

After all, one of those three encounters was a never-done-before-on-WWF-PPV hour long iron man match, and the other was Survivor Series 1997, when, well, you know what happened there.

On the other hand, it's a shame that Hart/Michaels I gets overlooked because it's arguable -and I do mean arguably- the best bout of the three.

Lacking the overly-long time limit of their Wrestlemania 12 match and the controversial finish of Montreal, this Survivor Series 1992 main event was just a straight-up wrestling match that was vastly different from previous PPV main events.

Though neither man were quite at their peak, the champion vs. champion clash showed what both were capable of in a match which blew away everything else on the card by a mile.

3: Ten Team Survivor Series Match II (Survivor Series 1988) 

Team Demolition: WWF Tag Team Champions, Demolition, The Conquistadors, The Bolsheviks, The Brain Busters and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers VS. Team Powers of Pain: Powers of Pain, The Young Stallions, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers and The British Bulldogs

The first Survivor Series also had a huge 20-man elimination bout that I've listed elsewhere, but despite the novelty value of such a match at the time, it wasn't quite as good as this all-out classic from the 1988 Survivor Series.

Abandoning the lightning-fast pace (for the 80s) that was set in the 1987 match, all ten teams took the time to really tell a story that was as compelling as it was dramatic.

Exchanges featuring The Rockers, The British Bulldogs, and The Brain Busters were highlights of the action, though of course, the most famous moment from this one was the original double-turn:

Demolition became the good guys whilst Powers of Pain aligned themselves with Ax & Smash's now-former manager, Mr Fuji.

A fun classic which is still great fun to watch, even 20 years later.

2: Bret 'The Hitman Hart' vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (Survivor Series 1996) 

After dropping the title to Shawn Michaels in their legendary Iron Man match at Wrestlemania 12, Bret Hart had taken a six-month leave of absence from the World Wrestling Federation.

Whilst he was gone, Stone Cold Steve Austin had begun to propel himself into the upper-echelons of the company hierarchy via a memorable, career-altering win at King of the Ring 1996 and countless entertaining performances between the ropes.

Not content with being one of the fastest rising stars in the company, Austin had decided that what he really needed in order to truly establish himself, was to lure Bret back from his sabbatical and into the ring.

The future champion spent months trying to coax The Hitman back to the WWF, even joining his former Hollywood Blondes partner Brian Pillman and Bret's brother Owen Hart in a boundary-pushing segment at In Your House 10: Mind Games to try and push Hart's buttons.

It worked.

Bret made his long-awaited return to the ring on November 17th at Survivor Series 1996 from Madison Square Garden in New York.

His opponent?

Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Though the two would have better matches (including that legendary submission match at Wrestlemania 13), the first in-ring meeting between the two was more than enough to prove why both men deserved to considered among the sport's all-time greatest.

Despite walking away with the win (countering Austin's Million Dollar Dream into a fluky-looking pin), Bret made Austin look like an absolute star.

Indeed, whilst the 'Austin 3:16' King of the Ring speech may have been the one 1996 Steve Austin most fans still remember best, it was this match with The Hitman that truly made Stone Cold a main event player.

1: The Underdogs vs. The Body Donnas (Survivor Series 1995) 

The Underdogs (Team Captain Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Bob Holly and Barry Horowitz) 
vs. 
The Body Donnas 
(Team Captain Skip, Rad Radford, Dr. Tom Pritchard and 123 Kid, w/ Sunny and Ted Dibiase)

Yes, I know what you're thinking.

This isn't championship material. Heck, it's barely even midcard material, but I unashamedly love this match in all its wonderful glory.

After a year of tension between 123 Kid and his best friend Razor Ramon, the man we'd later know as X-Pac had finally turned his back on the babyface locker room and aligned himself with Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Corporation.

This match was designed to help establish Kid as a star (he'd eventually win by beating former tag partner, Marty Jannetty), but it did so much more than that.

It took several midcarders with not much going on, put them together, and let them let loose.

When they did, the results were nothing short of incredible.

Technical wrestling, high-flying, the odd spot of comedy, this one had it all, and was an absolute joy to watch from start to finish.

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I get the feeling that because of the star power of its participants, this one often gets overlooked, but I dare you to watch it and not find it wonderfully entertaining.

Go on, I dare you.

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Beg to differ? Got your own choices for the top ten matches from the first ten Survivor Series events?
Let me know in the comments below, or let's connect on Twitter - @RetroPwrestling.
You can also catch up on all my latest reviews on the Retro Pro Wrestling Facebook page. 

Thanks for reading and enjoy Survivor Series! 

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PPV Review - WWF - In Your House 13: Final Four 1997

February 16, 1997,
UTC Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

If you ever needed proof that early 1997 was a confusing time in the World Wrestling Federation, you only needed look at tonight's main event: A four-way match for the vacant WWF Championship. 

Yes, only a month after Shawn Michaels recaptured the belt from Sid in a dire main event at Royal Rumble 1997, the belt was already vacant, the result of HBK famously 'losing his smile' and deciding to go home rather than grant Bret 'The Hitman' Hart a rematch.

Tonight, Hart would get his chance to get the belt back anyway, going up against Vader, The Undertaker, and his arch-rival Stone Cold Steve Austin in a match which had originally been set-up to determine who would face the champion at Wrestlemania 13. This was because even though the latter had won the 97 Rumble match, he had done so under controversial circumstances.

Confused yet? Don't worry about it, things will be cleared up -even if only briefly- by the end of tonight's show.

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Let's get to it, shall we?

The World Wrestling Federation... for over 50 years, the revolutionary force  in sports entertainment 

Who Will Be The New WWF Champion?

Our show tonight began with another impressive hype video reminding us that even though Shawn Michaels lost his smile, everybody else was still showing up for work and wanted the WWF title. Tonight, we would get it in a big four-way match.

That took us to Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler (no idea where Vince McMahon was tonight), who introduced us to the show as The Wildman Marc Mero made his way to ringside for our opening match.

The Wildman Marc Mero (w/ Sable) vs. Leif Cassidy

I'm not sure if there was a back story to this one, and to be honest, I'm not interested enough to go and look for one.

Instead, let's just focus on the action, which was passable at best.

Despite having a brilliant opener at In Your House: It's Time back in December,

Leif Cassidy failed to have the same calibre of outing against Marc Mero.

This was somewhat surprising, not to mention disappointing, since Mero too had delivered several enjoyable performances throughout the course of 1996.

Tonight, both men seemed to work hard, but just couldn't pull it together, instead giving us a mediocre opener which Mero won via the Wild Thing Shooting Star Press.
Your Winner: Marc Mero

Next, The Honky Tonk Man, who had recently returned to the company, began making his way to the ring. Jim Ross decided that this wasn't as interesting as Shawn Michaels losing his smile on Thursday Raw Thursday, so he showed us that instead.

Sid Wants His Belt Back

Backstage, Kevin Kelly spoke with Sid, reminding us that the Master and Ruler of The World would face the winner of tonight's four-way match for the WWF title tomorrow night on Raw.

Big Sid was angry that he never got his rematch against Shawn Michaels following their last match at the 1997 Royal Rumble, but said that instead he would just have to beat up the new champion tomorrow night on Raw and get his belt back that way.

Six Man Tag
Flash Funk, Bart Gunn, and Goldust (w/  Marlena and The Funkettes) vs. The Nation of Domination (Crush, Savio Vega, and Farooq, w/ PG13, Clarence Mason, D'Lo Brown and Random Nation Members )

All three babyfaces had endured their own separate issues with The Nation of Domination lately, so tonight they were teaming up to get revenge.

Not that they would get any.

After a sloppy and instantly forgettable contest, Bart Gunn looked to have things won thanks to a top rope Bulldog to Farooq.

Instead, Crush leg dropped the former Smoking Gunn, Farooq got the pin, and that was all she wrote.
Your Winners: The Nation of Domination

Cutting to the back, Stone Cold Steve Austin told Doc Hendrix that because he had eliminated The Undertaker, Vader, and Bret 'The Hitman' Hart all from the Royal Rumble, he could eliminate them tonight and become the new WWF Champion, and there was nothing Doc, Vince McMahon, Gorilla Monsoon, or anybody else, could do to stop him.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship

WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

As The Rock and Triple H, these two would have many a fine outing together.

As Rocky Maivia and Hunter Hearst Helmsley however, what they had here was average at best.

Rocky had only recently beaten Hunter for the Intercontinental Championship on Thursday Raw Thursday, and now was putting the title on the line again in the obligatory rematch.

Like I said, this was far from the best outing these two would ever have together,  but apart from one horribly botched DDT which saw the champion basically dump Helmsley on his head, this was a perfectly serviceable mid-card bout.

Towards the finish, Hunter's arch-rival, Goldust, came to the ring, distracting the challenger so that Maivia could land a German suplex for the three count.

Your Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Rocky Maivia

Afterwards, Helmsley challenged Goldust to a fight, distracting him long enough for a big, musclebound woman to reach over the guardrail and choke out Marlena until security dragged her away.

Ladies and gentlemen, we had just witnessed the debut of Chyna.

It's Vader Time

After a quick clip promoting Wrestlemania 13, we went next to Kevin Kelly, who was standing by with Vader and his new manager, Paul Bearer.

Bearer claimed that joining forces with The Mastodon was a smart business decision, whilst Vader himself trash-talked each of his opponents, not so much threatening to beat them up or anything, just generally noting that he didn't like them much.

He did of course, also tell us that it was Vader Time, which probably meant he was going to win the match.

World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship

WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (w/ Clarence Mason) vs. Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon

One of the better matches on the show by a million miles, both teams worked well together to deliver a solid performance, all whilst Owen Hart and British Bulldog continued to display some serious tension between them.

A see-saw battle saw some good offence from both sides, but it was the reigning champions who proved to be the most entertaining here.

Towards the finish, Bulldog had Philip LaFon set up for his patented power slam, only for Owen to come in and whack LaFon on the head with a Slammy Award.

The referee gave the match to the challengers via DQ and that, as you can imagine, only pissed off Davey Boy even further.

Your Winners via Disqualification: Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon (Owen Hart & British Bulldog retain the titles)

Post match, Davey Boy yelled at Owen and threatened to beat up manager Clarence Mason. Obviously the Bulldog face turn never transpired, but it certainly looked like an exciting possibility at this stage.

Doc Hendrix Interviews The Undertaker

Prior to our next main event, The Undertaker told Doc that he had rediscovered the edge he had back in the early 90s and would be going back to that version of himself, albeit against much better opponents.

Tonight, not Vader, Stone Cold, nor The Hitman would get in The Dead Man's way of becoming WWF champion again.

Bret Hart Is Ready

With his opponents already in the ring, Bret Hart told Kevin Kelly that despite all of his opponents being tough, he was ready and nothing could stop him becoming WWF Champion again.

Final Four Way Match for the Vacant World Wrestling Federation Championship
Vader (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker vs. Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

Whilst the previous tag team match may have been good for what it was, there was no doubt about it: 

In Your House 13 - Final Four was absolutely a one-match show. 

But man, what a match it was. 

Between Vader busting his eye open in horrific fashion and wrestling the majority of the match looking gruesome as all hell, Hart and Austin going after each other with their usual violent chaos, and The Undertaker destroying everyone he came across, this was non-stop carnage from start to finish. 

One of the best WWF matches of 1997, if not the entire 1990s, this made sitting through everything else on the show absolutely worth it. 

After a lengthy battle, Bret clotheslined 'Taker over the top rope to win his fourth World Wrestling Federation Championship. 

Your Winner and New WWF Champion: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

Post-match, new number-one contender Sid came out for the obligatory staredown with the new champion.

The two would face off for the title the following night on Raw in a match that would only throw further confusion and chaos on the WWF title scene. 

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What? You thought we'd have everything cleared up with The Hitman's win?

Not a chance. 

Just 24 hours after winning the belt, Bret would lose it again in that match to Sid, who would face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 13 for the title whilst Bret was left to go at it with his nemesis Steve Austin in a submission match which, rumour has it, wasn't too bad. 
But that's another review for another time. 

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1997 events reviewed so far:

1. WWF Royal Rumble 1997
2. WCW Souled Out 1997

If you want to make sure you never miss another Retro Pro Wrestling review, like the new Facebook page, or follow on Twitter @Retropwrestling. 

Until next time, thanks for reading. 

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PPV REVIEW: TNA No Surrender 2009

Sunday, September 20th 2009,
Orlando, Florida

With backstage issues surrounding Kurt Angle's real-life drama with Jeff Jarrett, Angelina Love's visa issues, and even Christopher Daniels' recent arrest, all threatening to overshadow their in-ring efforts, Total NonStop Action wrestling recently returned home to the Impact Zone for their latest pay per view offering, No Surrender.

(NOTE: This review was written at the time of TNA No Surrender's broadcast in September 2009. I found this along with other TNA reviews in my archive recently and decide to report them to RPW) 

Titles were defended, new champions were crowned, and bums were flashed, but here's what else went down.

TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship - Tournament final to Determine new champions: The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne) vs. Taylor Wilde and Sarita. 

This is what happens when you don't watch TNA Impact every week and rely on the Internet instead; you end up watching a pay per view without any idea what's going on.

Of course, your reporter is well aware that Angelina Love is no longer with the company due to issues with her work visa (it was the biggest story in the Internet Wrestling Community recently), but what doesn't make any sense is why Madison Rayne is now suddenly in Love's place. The last time I say Impact, Velvet Sky and her erstwhile partner were beating up Rayne every which way, so how they've ended up as best chums again is anyone's guess.

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Confusing partnerships aside, the four ladies turned out a short and sweet opening contest that was too short to really be either good or bad. Velvet Sky looked stronger than she ever has done, but sadly it wasn't enough to help her capture the gold as Madison Rayne lost the bout for her team after getting caught in a bridging German suplex by Wilde and drop kicked by Sarita.
Your Winners and new TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions: Taylor Wilde and Sarita

After the bout, the new champions were interviewed by Lauren and vowed to hold on to the belts for a very long time in a very awkward looking promo.

Eric Young vs. Hernandez

Prior to this contest Eric Young, dressed in a suit and flanked by members of his World Elite faction, announced that he would not fight Hernandez. Instead, he was holding out hope that Super Mex would join him in the 'Elite team.

Hernandez however, had other plans, and quickly disposed of his Canadian rival. Several clotheslines and a Border Toss were all it took for the big man to win a very confusing match; why should anyone cheer for Hernandez when all he did was beat up someone who refused to fight back?
Your Winner: Hernandez

Heading to the back, Jeremy Borash interviewed Matt Morgan. The 'DNA of TNA' cut one of his finest promos to date, declaring that the main event would be all about him and Kurt Angle. He says that 'the future is now', and the future, not surprisingly, is Matt Morgan.

TNA X-Division Championship Match: Samoa Joe defends against Daniels

Daniels and Samoa Joe have had many incredible matches during their history together, and whilst their No Surrender effort didn't quite live up to any of those, it was still nonetheless a good, enjoyable match.

The two former friends turned bitter rivals battled back and forth in an early contender for match of the night which was only let down by the knowledge that they could have done even better. Following a hard-fought contest, 'The Fallen Angel' finally succumbed to the Kokina Clutch, allowing Joe to retain.
Your Winner and Still TNA X-Division Champion: Samoa Joe.

Heading to the back once more, cameras caught up with Jeremy Borash and Mick Foley.
The 'Hardcore Legend' was furious that somebody had ripped up a caricature painting of himself and Borash.

Apparently he was very serious, but it came across as little more than a joke. Heading back to the arena, Tazz summed up what most of us were probably thinking about the whole thing, "it's just a cartoon."

Next, D’Angelo Dinero was interviewed by Lauren. After cutting an entertaining promo, 'The Pope' was interrupted by Suicide and their 'Falls Count Anywhere Match', a bonus addition to the pay per view, was underway.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: 'The Pope' D'Angelo Dinero vs. Suicide

The two battled backstage and strung together a series of interesting spots with some good brawling. Part way through the match, Suicide pulled down his opponent's trunks, leaving Dinero to wrestle half the match with his backside showing.

It was a decent match between the two which was only ruined by Mike Tenay and Tazz using the time to joke amongst themselves rather than calling the action. That aside, this was pretty fun to watch until Suicide fell through a table and killed himself, allowing Dinero to pick up the pinfall.
Your Winner: D'Angelo Dinero 

Following a quick video package to hype it, we moved on to the battle of the sexes.

TNA Knockouts Championship Match: Cody Deaner vs. ODB for the vacant title

Heading into this pay per view, your writer was all ready to slate this as a terrible match, but it was surprisingly a lot of fun.

Played mostly for comic effect, with referee Andrew Thomas even getting involved and siding with ODB, this was the best match you could have hoped for between the two. Before too long, ODB got the better of the self-proclaimed 'King of the Knockouts' and captured the vacant title thanks to a fireman's carry cutter.
Your Winner and NEW TNA Women's Knockout Championship: ODB 

After the match, ODB celebrated her win during a quick interview with Lauren in which she gave thanks to 'All [her] fans in prison'.

Cameras then moved to Jeremy Borash standing by with Kurt Angle.

The TNA World Heavyweight Champion told Borash that Matt Morgan would never live up to his potential and that AJ Styles' fairytale ending would not take place tonight.

$50,000 Bounty / TNA Legend Championship Match: Kevin Nash defends against Abyss

With Mick Foley joining Tazz and Tenay on commentary, 'The Monster' Abyss looked to capture the TNA Legends championship whilst Nash hoped to claim the $50,000 bounty placed on the head of his opponent by Dr Stevie.

The result was a good, hard-hitting brawl between the two behemoths that got off to a slow start before rattling towards an exciting finale which saw Stevie, Dafney and a taser getting involved. To wrap things up, Nash zapped Abyss in the goolies with the taser to win the match.
Your Winner and still TNA Legends Champion: Kevin Nash 

Afterwards, Dr. Stevie climbed into the ring to get his bag of cash back. Not surprisingly, Nash was none too thrilled about this and delivered a powerbomb before leaving with the money.

Lethal Lockdown Match: Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) vs. The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) vs. Team 3D vs. Scott Steiner & Booker T

Before this match, Jeremy Borash interviewed Booker T and Scott Steiner.

In the biggest display of hypocrisy ever displayed on a wrestling show, Scott Steiner cut a barely coherent promo on the British Invasion, even going so far as to say "If you don't speak our language, get the hell out of our country." Whether or not that was supposed to be so hilarious was never quite made clear.

Yet what Steiner and Booker T lacked in delivering a sensible promo, they more than made up for in the ring as the Lethal Lockdown contest barely scraped past the earlier X-Division bout to claim match of the night honours.

Everyone worked hard to deliver a great match, but it was Beer Money who were particularly outstanding and rightfully earned their victory following a tremendous showing.
Your Winners: Beer Money 

Going backstage, Lauren interviewed a seriously angry Rhino. 'The War Machine' gave a strong, intense performance on the microphone and promised to destroy MMA 'star' Bobby Lashley in their upcoming match.

Rhino vs. Bobby Lashley 

Despite their best efforts, this came across as one of the weakest matches on the card. Both men tried hard, but with no real story behind them, it was hard for anyone to care.

After Rhino hit a gore and the ref took a bump, Lashley ripped off Big Show's Big Fist of Doom to win the match. Now, if Lashley was just going to use that as his finisher, why didn't he just come straight out and punch Rhino right off the opening bell instead of mucking about first? It's the same criticism your writer has of The Big Show; having a punch as a finishing move is just silly.
Your Winner: Bobby Lashley

Backstage once more, Jeremy Borash interviewed AJ Styles and Sting about their role in tonight's main event.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle defends against Matt Morgan, Sting, AJ Styles and Hernandez

As the four advertised competitors (Angle, Morgan, Sting and AJ Styles) were being introduced by Borash, Hernandez' music hit and he made his way to the ring looking to cash in his Feast or Fired briefcase.

Thus, the four-way battle for the biggest prize in the company turned into a five way, though Super Mex really seemed surplus to requirements and was quickly taken out by Eric Young.

That left the original four to carry the bulk of this good main event. The tensions between Angle and Morgan finally exploded whilst Sting and Styles played up their current storyline and finally got the better of the other two combatants.

The end came when Styles and Sting stood over a prone Kurt Angle in the middle of the ring. Sting left to take care of Morgan on the outside, allowing AJ to hit an impressive 450 splash from the middle of the ropes, landing squarely on Angle and pinning him for the one, two, three.
Your Winner and NEW TNA World Heavyweight Champion: AJ Styles

As confetti flooded the Impact Zone, fans flocked to the ring to celebrate with the new champion and his old friend, Christopher Daniels.

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From an in-ring standpoint, TNA Wrestling's No Surrender pay per view was a good show. Even though not every match was first class, none were particularly dreadful and certainly made for an enjoyable event. Yet what really hampered this from being anything more than 'good' were the usual strange and illogical plot points and strange booking decisions.

AJ Styles as the new champion was the right move in this writer's mind and should go a long way to appeasing those fans who complain that the company never gives the younger stars a chance to shine. Hopefully, 'The Phenomenal' one will keep hold of the belt for some time, possibly even bringing the Main Event Mafia to an end during that time.

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I'm slowly working my way through re-publishing all of my old TNA reviews from 2008 - 2009. For now, you can also read:

PPVS: 

• TNA Turning Point 2008 
• TNA Final Resolution 2008 
• TNA Genesis 2009 
• TNA Destination-X 2009 
• TNA Slammiversary 7 
• TNA Hard Justice 2009 

TNA Impact: 

• TNA Impact: January 15th, 2009 
• TNA Impact: January 22nd, 2009 
• TNA Impact: January 29th, 2009 

For more TNA, WCW, and WWE/WWF reviews follow Retro Pro Wrestling on Twitter or hit 'like' on the brand new Facebook page.

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