IMPACT WRESTLING’S NO SURRENDER PPV HITS & MISSES 2/24: Alexander vs. Swann for Impact Title, Hendry vs. Moose, Bullet Club vs. Time Machine, Slamovich vs. Mickie James

PRE-SHOW: Countdown to No Surrender

•Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw (with Jay Vidal) – HIT: Barely. This was a perfectly fine match, it did what it was supposed to, allow the commentary team to really sell the upcoming event while a match happened. This would not have been out of place on just a regular episode of Impact. The ending with Savannah Evans coming out and giving Purrazzo a full nelson slam so that Shaw could hit the denouement was a surprise. It really works to put Purrazzo on the back foot in this feud, and I hope it leads to more for Evans and Vidal to do.

•Jonathan Gresham vs. Speedball Mike Bailey – HIT: Much like the Crazzy Steve vs Tre Miquel monster’s ball match from the 2/23 episode of Impact, this was very much a ‘Why is Impact giving away a main event level match on the pre-show?”. Gresham spent most of the match working Bailey’s right leg. This was a fast paced match by a pair of quick wrestlers. They wove an amazing story in the ring that was hard to take your eyes off. The “This is Awesome” chant before the almost surprise roll up of Bailey by Gresham seemed like it was a surprise.

MAIN PPV: No Surrender

•Frankie Kazarian vs. Kon – MISS: This really should have been on the pre-show, and there should have been an X-Division match or the Gresham vs Bailey match instead. Like the Purrazzo vs Shaw match earlier, this would not have been out of place on a regular episode of Impact. The Design was working as a unit…up until Callahan smacked Kon with a chair.

•Brian Meyers Backstage & Death Dollz Video Package – HIT: Nice little review of the storylines up to this point. Sinister Minister James Mitchell is probably the last of the old school managers, and helps get the Hex over.

•The Death Dollz vs. The Hex – MISS: This was the worst sound during the whole show, especially during the Death Dollz entrance. It made the match hard to follow because it was very distracting. This was a great showcase of Hex, they controlled the match and expertly distracted the ref. Overall, this felt like the start of something, which had already happened with the Valkyrie vs Kay match on the 2/23 episode of impact.

•Joe Hendry vs. Moose – HIT: One thing I love about Impact compared to WWE or AEW that they buy into the absolute weirdness of wrestling. This was not the most technically proficient match, but it was entertaining, which is the point. The DotCombat hardcore rules were played up with video game consoles, remote control cars, and a bag full of keyboard keys. I found the virtual reality segment hilarious, and all in the good fun of the DotCombat theme.

•Busted Open Radio Segment – MISS: Big miss. If this had taken place backstage, I would have understood that it was to have time to clean up after the DotCombat match. It wasn’t, it was right in the middle of the ring. I’m an old ECW head from back in the day, but I don’t need these two men eating up time talking during a special. Mid Card match on a regular show, sure, go for it. I had invited over a few people to watch the show who don’t normally watch Impact, and the response to this segment was to go to the kitchen and get tacos. One person said “This makes me want to change the channel”. That says more than I ever could.

•Maclin vs. Myers vs Heath vs PCO – MISS: This was the least surprising match on the card. Edwards interfering with PCO was going to happen. Maclin getting the pin on Heath was all but a foregone conclusion. As far as the match itself goes, it was fine, and well executed, but could have been the main event of the 2/23 regular show. PCO as always just took all the hits, and after the match Tre Miguel came out to offer PCO a shot at the X-Division title. I really like the change to Miguel on this current X-Division run. He’s got swagger and is willing to do more dangerous matches.

•Bullet Club vs. Time Machine – HIT: This was for me the match of the night. Bey and Austin have become a well oiled tag machine, and the addition of Kenta was *chef’s kiss*. I really like the MCMG theme remix for Time Machine. This match made me really want Impact to have a Trios title. Every person in this match got the chance to show off their individual style, along with their tag team work. As with any trios match, it broke down into mayhem at points. The ending was a bit of a surprise, because the camera was focused on Bey and Shelley, but Austin managed to roll up Sabin, a slight mar on an otherwise amazing match.

•Masha Slamovich vs. Mickie James – HIT: This was a great match. Impact does a great job with elevating Mickie James as the revered veteran that she is. This was a great back and forth match that kept you guessing until the final roll up at the end. I was taken off guard when Mickie bit Masha’s tongue. It was gross and totally unexpected. It’s perfect, because I think they are building Mickie up for a heel turn- a do anything to win to stay relevant type of heel. She’s been doing some questionable things, like not admitting she tapped in her match with Grace. It’s been subtle, and it will make Mickie’s eventual title loss more important.

•Josh Alexander vs. Rich Swann – HIT: I was a bit surprised by this, but I really shouldn’t have been. Both of these men are great in the ring, and have a history of putting on bangers. They both pulled out all the stops, to the point that Alexander’s headgear got knocked off. I’m not going to say it’s never happened before, but I can’t remember an instance of it happening. Fantastic match, and I think many would have called it their match of the night.

OVERALL

•MISS: Sound. Like with several previous Impact live events, the sound took until half way through the first full show match to get ironed out. It is this type of thing that feeds the lolTNA crowd. It makes Impact seem like they don’t know what they are doing.

•MISS: The squeaking. The ring crew needed some WD40. I’ve never heard a ring squeak that much. If I had to guess, this was an offshoot of the sound issue. I think a ring mic was placed where it shouldn’t have been and caught a lot more ring noise than it should have.

•MISS: I really don’t know how to put it, but the Feb. 23 Impact show had some amazing matches that should have been on this card, and No surrender had a couple matches that should have been on the TV card.

•HIT: There are building specials and resolution specials. This was a building special. Lots of things happened that will pay off down the road. The crowd was hot, and was getting into several matches.

(John Laslo is the newest PWTorch contributor. He’ll be tracking the highs and lows of Impact every week on PWTorch.com with his Impact Hits & Misses columns plus joining Darrin Lilly on the PWTorch VIP podcast series “PWT Impact Pod.”)