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By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA president Dixie Carter said last month she would like to see TNA drop to six PPVs per year, but existing agreements with PPV companies calls for one PPV event every month. (Read Carter's quotes.)

No Surrender is one of those PPVs that would be getting the axe before the big Bound for Glory PPV next month. Ironically enough, the first banner that readers see on TNA's website is an advertisement for Bound for Glory. It's a not-so-subtle reminder, "Oh yeah, I'm saving my money for next month."

Concerning the main selling point for tonight, we've seen three-ways, we've seen tag matches, and now we're going to see a four-way for the TNA Title in the main event of tonight's PPV. It's typical of TNA trying to get as many wrestlers on the PPV and not focusing on one single match-up that's the premiere feud in the promotion.

Torch readers who voted in our MVP Poll on Impact from three nights ago agreed. Readers were divided in so many different areas on who stood out on the show. TNA put too many people on the lead-in show while focusing on feuds that are all about the same level without anyone standing out.

You know how Angle vs. Morgan vs. Sting vs. Styles is supposed to play out in the PPV main event tonight. Morgan does all the work and Angle gets the pin. Meanwhile, Sting and Styles tease a little tension to build intrigue for Sting's "Final Match Ever...in California" next month with Sting passing the ol' torch to Styles.

Meanwhile, there's a Lethal Lockdown gimmick cage match with four teams and nothing on the line. Instead of a "brawl through the crowd," TNA is going to keep their four top tag teams in a cage to bump around for each other while Steiner & Booker and Team 3D do as little as possible to conserve their bodies to stretch out their careers.

Samoa Joe vs. Daniels for the X Division Title has been an after-thought since Daniels confronted Joe a few weeks ago and they had a terrific mid-ring verbal exchange. On the Impact lead-in show three nights ago, the match was hidden in a crowd of other PPV match-ups. Where were the sit-down interviews and video packages drawing attention to the history of their feud?

Joe vs. Daniels once would have been a selling point for a TNA PPV. Now, Joe and Daniels are banged up and have four more years of bumps on their bodies since the X Division peaked in 2005. They'll hit the three-star level and perhaps gut out a four-star match, but it will be difficult to turn back the hands of time.

The Knockouts division has been knocked down a peg by the ODB and Cody Deaner storyline and Angelina Love's departure. The tag tournament was just an excuse to get more Knockouts on TV, but isn't a selling point for pay TV.

Hernandez vs. Eric Young is just an undercard match that Hernandez doesn't stand to benefit from on paper. If he doesn't win in three minutes and look dominant, then he stands to lose a lot from this match-up. World Elite isn't credible and Eric Young's character is a better heel as a talker than a wrestler.

All of this leads to Bobby Lashley vs. Rhino, which isn't a selling point despite being placed second-from-the-top on the PPV line-up and despite TNA trying to make viewers buy into Lashley as their next newest biggest star from WWE.

The match-up is odd for Lashley's first TNA PPV match. Lashley isn't charismatic as a wrestler and Rhino isn't going to draw that out of him. However, Rhino did the best darn sales job he could on Impact until TNA over-booked his promo.

TNA had people on the verge of buying into Lashley vs. Rhino when Rhino delivered the promo of his life, but they threw it all away. Instead of leaving the focus on Lashley vs. Rhino, TNA involved Brother Devon to sell the audience on Rhino vs. Team 3D.

The product in the box on the store shelf, however, is Rhino vs. Lashley. Proof of purchase and UPC code not necessary to see Rhino vs. Team 3D on free TV in the follow-up. Why would anyone order the PPV if they're getting the advertised Rhino vs. 3D feud on TV the next week?

I want to look at Rhino for a second, though. There was a different aura to him delivering that promo on Impact. Whether it was him hitting the tanning bed, studying facial reactions of the best performers, or having a grittier feel to his persona, that promo he delivered was terrific. (Video is below if you missed it.)



At the end of the day, though, there's no reason for the PPV to take place tonight. Everything we're seeing has been done before on free TV and pay TV. And the better stuff is waiting for us on free TV next Thursday.

Meanwhile, Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara are tag-teaming again as TNA's top two writers starting tonight. TNA acts like they don't cater to you, and you, and you over there in the blue shirt reading this, but they want you to believe in the Russo & Ferrara hype and make a quick decision to order tonight's PPV.

For those of you thinking about skipping this PPV because it's unnecessary, TNA wants you to think about future regret if the event exceeds expectations with the possibility of a TNA Title change, Daniels and Joe tapping into the fountain of youth, the Lethal Lockdown cage match not being the most confusing and over-done gimmick match of all-time, an X Division bonus match, the return of Angelina Love, Taz giving an inspired performance on commentary, the Impact Zone not chanting "This is Awesome" at every highspot, and Nash vs. Abyss and Lashley vs. Rhino not being two gigantic clashes of similarly limited in-ring styles for eight minutes.

If you're not convinced and if you are convinced and want to follow along with our analysis of tonight's PPV, we'll be here live on PWTorch.com and twitter.com/pwtorch covering No Surrender before it disappears in five days when TNA begins hyping Bound for Glory.

The thing is that TNA should have made this PPV disappear instead of watering down the PPV concept that could affect one of TNA's big money-makers of the year next month. We'll see tonight if TNA pulls a rabbit out of their collective hat with Russo & Ferrara back on the job.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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