My World with Jeff Jarrett - No Surrender 2006 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Back on My World today talking about NWA: Total Nonstop Action from 15 years ago. It’s No Surrender 2006. We’re coming off Hard Justice 2006 so be sure to check that out in our archives as we did that show earlier this month. If you haven’t heard it yet … stop and go listen to it … but for now let’s recap it. Jeff you retained your NWA Title over Sting when Christian Cage turned on Sting, AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels retained their NWA World Tag Team Titles over LAX, Senshi defeated Petey Williams & Jay Lethal to retain the X Division Title, and Samoa Joe defeated Rhino & Monty Brown in a falls count anywhere match.

Before this show the Torch reported that Samoa Joe and Scott D’Amore got into it and that you were a mark for yourself. This month...you’re going to main event the pay-per-view against Samoa Joe with a unique stipulation. Fans are the lumberjacks and they’ll have straps. Is this Joe’s punishment?

But this show is better remembered for what happened after the main event...but let’s start back to following up Hard Justice.

It’s reported in the Observer there are talks of trying to get Hector Garza back after his 10 year ban from America for crossing the border with steroids. Supposedly it comes after a mandate from Dixie that the latin market is something to focus on and a top babyface is necessary for it. What do you remember of this?

ODB was backstage looking for work according to the Observer and So Cal Val was signed to a deal. Talk about two different ends of the spectrum huh Jeff?

From the Observer: “. There was a funny story going around where Kid Romeo was back in the dressing room pitching his Exterminator gimmick, and I guess he was doing a mock promo where he was going to kill a live spider, and Jim Cornette, who has phobias about a lot of things, saw the live spider and went off”

Tell me you were there for that and saw it all Jeff!

From the Observer: “Jarrett taped a segment for Fox News Network

on the Wake Forest 1999-2000 study. Jarrett was heavily coached before he went on.”

Tell me how coached you were to talk about the Wake Forest 1999-2000 study on wrestling and how this all went down?

Impact is taped on Monday the 14th and it tapes the first 3 weeks of the build that night. This is a unique time situation for you though. You have 6 weeks of TV between pay-per-views. Do you know why that ended up having that way on the calendar?

On the August 17th edition of Impact Sting declares that it wasn’t you that beat him for the NWA Title...it was Christian Cage. You in turn challenge Sting to a title vs. career match at Bound for Glory. Jeff you got 6 weeks between pay-per-views and you’re already building for the pay-per-view after that. I get long term planning and WWE is always knocked for plans change pal but there’s a lot of creative going on that’s all over the place here is it not?

I have to put this in here because it tickled me. From the Torch recap of the August 17th edition of Impact: “(1) Jay Lethal & Chris Sabin & Sonjay Dutt beat Alex Shelley & Johnny Devine & Petey Williams in 7:00. Early, Earl Hebner, dressed in rags, ran into the ring and choked referee Slick Johnson with his belt. Security guards hit the ring, but Hebner showed the strength of ten men by knocking the hired security guards to the mat with his belt. After the break, six-way brawling ensued. Sabin hit Devine with a top rope guillotine leg drop for the win. (*1/4)”

Superman Earl Hebner!

Also on the August 17th edition the match that was cancelled off the pay-per-view because of the fire - the 4-way #1 contender’s tag match … happens and it’s a 4-way alright...but it’s not a tag match. The Naturals get the win and there’s a tease beginning of the breaking up of AMW. Why the choice to do a 4-way singles match for a tag team title #1 contender’s match and did you feel it was time for AMW to break up?

Airing on the August 24th edition LAX defeat AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles. So you have this match the week before for the #1 contenders … and they’re not even in this match and then the titles change hands. Kind of renders the previous match useless does it not?

Oh those #1 contender’s...the Naturals...they lose in the match after that to Alex Shelley & Johnny Devine. What in the hell is going on here?

Christian bloodies up Rhino here to really cement his heel turn.

The professional wrestling world changes on August 25th though when it’s announced the WWE and Kurt Angle have parted ways. Jeff this comes as a shock to the industry. When did you first hear about it?

How quickly does it start to formulate getting Kurt and how much did you and Dixie have to do with it?

Who makes the first contact with Kurt Angle? You, Dixie, someone else? Does Kurt’s management team reach out to you?

On the August 31st edition … mind you we’re still 3 weeks away from No Surrender … AJ & Daniels challenge LAX to an Ultimate X match for the NWA World Tag Team Titles. Eric Young pins Shark Boy and then Earl Hebner attacks Slick Johnson after the match which has Larry Zybysko at ringside saying he’s not going to take the fall and he’ll expose the secret? Abyss beats Brother Runt in a 1,000 thumbtack match. Raven puts Abyss in the tacks afterwards.

From the Torch: “– Jeff Jarrett closed the show with a “public execution” of Sting’s career in preparation for their NWA Title Match at the October Bound for Glory PPV. In the ring, there was a noose hanging from the ceiling, a contract sat on a table, and a makeshift tombstone. Jarrett said capital punishment is alive and well on Planet Jarrett. Jarrett talked about various ways he could have Sting’s career executed. He pulled out a pen and signed the contract to face Sting. The crowd chanted, “You suck! You suck!” He vowed it would be Sting’s final match. Suddenly, the red Batman phone rang at the announcers’ desk. Don West answered it and Jim Cornette’s voice came on the line. He asked to be patched in to the live audience. He said he’s going to take up Jarrett on his offer to take a lie detector test. He said next week, if he passes the test, he can take a break from wrestling until Bound for Glory. He said that if Jarrett fails any part of the test, he would give the fans a chance to get even with Jarrett in a very personal way. Cornette told Jarrett to think about whether he fears Sting in the ring or the fans in the building more. Jarrett stood near the ropes, folded his hands solemnly, and made the “I’m scared/my head hurts/this can’t be happening to me/my plan is foiled/whatmigonnado” face”

Jeff...what the hell is going on here? Does any of this make sense to you?

Scott Steiner … who was heavily pushed in the run up to Hard Justice … is not on the TVs here. Do you know why that is?

Jeff you’re in a ratings battle. It’s reported in the Torch that while TNA is asking for a 2-hour time slot you’re still right under a 1 rating with the Ultimate Fighter as a lead in. Is there pushback from Spike saying … “If we give you the Ultimate Fighter as a lead in and you can’t get over a 1 why are we going to give you two hours in prime time?” The Torch also says, “Jeff Jarrett and Sting continue to be the top pushed acts in the company, and main events not featuring Jarrett and Sting end up not getting promoted on TV as prominently.”

Do you think you & Sting on top was the reason for the soft ratings?

Was Sting delivering in his role considering how much he was being paid?

Did TNA creative suffer when you had long times in between big shows?

Bobby Roode is being repackaged coming out of Team Canada as the hottest free agent on the market and all the managers are going to compete for his services like we’ve seen so many times in the past. Jeff, what did you think the ceiling was for Roode at this point?

You also bring in Bobby Heenan & Sherri Martel to be a part of those segments. What was it like bringing in two hall of famers and what were they like to deal with?

Austin Aries … soon to be repackaged as Austin Starr … comes in and shoots vignettes for his return to TNA. What was it about Austin that’s made him come in and out of companies so much in his career and who’s idea was it behind Austin Starr?

There’s promotion out there for a UWF/TNA house show which will feature you vs. Samoa Joe. Jeff explain what UWF was and how it came to be part of the TNA house show loop?

On September 1st this message is posted on the TNA website: “A Message From TNA President Dixie Carter To The TNA Fans: ‘In the course of history, there are defining moments that change the fabric of a company forever. These are moments that are spoken about for years, not days, and serve as benchmarks in the annals of a company’s growth. And on occasion, those moments transcend the individual company and re-write the history of an industry. This Sunday at the No Surrender PPV, an announcement will be made that will do just that. You will not want to miss the No Surrender PPV.’”

What exactly is the announcement supposed to be at this point? Was it Kurt Angle? Did you think you had a deal with Bill Goldberg? Impact expanding? The rumor and innuendo at the time was it was about Impact expanding time or moving to a new time slot. Do you have Kurt locked up when this message is posted?

Was the message too big and set up for failure like so many of WCW’s previous change the business announcements?

Now it’s time for the second part of the tapings for Impact in the run-up for No Surrender.

On the September 7th edition of Impact the AMW split is continued to be pushed during an 8-man between AMW, “Maverick” Matt Bentley and Kazarian who end up winning over the James Gang (BG & Kip), Shark Boy & Norman Smiley. Yeah that’s a real team. It’s also pushed in commentary that at No Surrender there will be a 8-team a Triple Chance tag team Battle Royal. The rules are it starts as a Battle Royal. If a man is

eliminated, he goes outside the ring, but his teammate stays in the ring. When it comes down to the final two, the people left get their partner to return and they do a tag match. for new #1 contenders. Jeff...the guys who won the last #1 contenders match aren’t even getting a tag shot. Is it easy to see why stipulation matches didn’t really mean much at the time? And who the hell came up with that mess of a match?

In the back the X-Division guys are watching Jackass 2 and acting like … well jackassess … when Jerry Lynn comes in and acts disgusted. How did the Jackass 2 thing come to be and how did the guys feel about promoting it?

From the Torch: “The show closed with Jeff Jarrett in the main event angle for the second consecutive week. TNA authority figure Jim Cornette revealed the results for Jarrett’s polygraph test. He said one question was whether Jarrett acted in collusion with Christian at the previous PPV. Jarrett said no and the polygraph test confirmed Jarrett’s answer. Cornette said the next question was whether Earl Hebner was involved with Jarrett in his NWA Title victory. Jarrett said no and the polygraph test confirmed Jarrett’s answer. Cornette said the third question was about working with Larry Zbyszko to gain an advantage on the roster. Cornette said Jarrett said no and he’s a damn liar. Jarrett went blank. Eric Young, who spent the majority of the show preparing Jarrett for the lie detector test, gulped then Jarrett chased him out of the ring. Cornette said you could tell Jarrett is lying because his lips are moving. Cornette said he can’t force Jarrett to defend the NWA Title at the next PPV, but he make him wrestle. Cornette announced a lumberjack match with fans standing ringside to whip Jarrett. He named Jarrett’s opponent as Samoa Joe. Joe walked out with a strap in hand and pointed it at Jarrett, who did a look of disbelief.”

Who’s idea was the whole lie detector and fans lumberjack match? This sounds like Jim Cornette all day long does it not?

What was the plan with Eric Young being involved in these segments?

From the Torch regarding some of the talent that we talked about in our Hard Justice episode:

“Ron Killings was looking to get out of his new three–year contract and sign with the MTV start–up instead because he was so disgruntled with his push, but after indications were given to him that a release might be an option, TNA management is holding him to his contract. He has seemed less upset at recent shows than he had just a month ago…”

From the Observer regarding Ron: “Killings was said to be not in a good

mood at the tapings, and was described as being half-hearted out there. Worse, he was mad because when he wrestled Christian, it appeared nobody in the crowd thought he could win, as they didn't pop for his offensive runs that much. To keep Killings happy and not wanting to leave, an idea was proposed to add him to LAX, but Jarrett nixed it, saying he wanted to push Killings when they got two hours. Killings was also standoffish with Terry Taylor.”

The MTV startup was known later on as Wrestling Society X. Did Ron come to you or anyone about getting out of his contract? In the Observer it’s reported how “Jeff Jarrett was really mad that it got out…” regarding Ron. What was the frustrating part for you? What was the real crux of the issue here?

The Torch reports that it sounds like Monty Brown was leaning towards staying with TNA. We know that’s not how it’ll end. Did you think you were close to a deal with Monty and what was the final straw in your mind?

The Observer reports Daniel Puder was in talks with TNA about coming in. Do you remember this and do you think there was anything there?

On the September 14th edition of Impact Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin faced off in a one-on-one X division match. There was no mention of Kevin Nash. What was Kevin’s status after not working the Hard Justice pay-per-view?

The match ends when Sonjay Dutt & Jay Lethal wheel Johnny Devine down the ramp in a shopping cart limiting a Jackass stunt and Sabin gets the pin with Shelley distracted. Come on Jeff … tell me Vince Russo isn’t booking this shit.

You’re in the back with Larry Zybysko & Eric Young. You dispatch Eric to find out how Sting is preparing for the NWA World Title match at Bound for Glory and you task Zybysko with getting you out of the fan lumberjack match against Samoa Joe. What was Larry like to work with these days?

Abyss defeats Raven in a Hangman’s Noose match where the object is to put your opponent in the noose until he goes unconscious. Whoo boy the shit we could get away with in 2006 huh?

Before the main segment which we’re about to get to, clips are shown of fans who sent in their “Why I Hate Jeff Jarrett?” videos on TNAwrestling.com about why they hate you. Sounds like a new t-shirt or AdFreeShows.com gimmick to me…

Now for the main event segment...from the Torch, “this episode closed with yet another Jeff Jarrett main event angle related to his fall-out from the polygraph test the previous week. It was designed to establish Samoa Joe as the man to represent the fans against Jarrett at the Sept. 24 PPV. Instead, the segment broke down into an unintentionally comedic finish with Jeff Jarrett whipping several defenseless “fans”. The segment began with Jim Cornette inviting fans to line the ringside area for his town hall meeting. Cornette then introduced Samoa Joe, who came to the ring and cut a basic promo on Jarrett. Larry Zbyszko, whose mandate from Jarrett was to force Cornette to cancel the PPV match with Joe, interrupted Joe and ran down Cornette. After Zbyszko talked aimlessly for several moments, Joe chased him out of the ring with a strap. Jarrett then came out on stage as fans lined the entrance ramp to get a clean shot at him. One “fan,” who was a referee for Dory Funk Jr.’s promotion, approached Jarrett. He whipped her to the ground then he whipped some of Funk’s wrestlers, who were fronting as fans. The show closed with these images and firmly shifted the focus away from Jarrett-Joe at the PPV to Zbyszko-Cornette and Jarrett-planted fans.”

Whoo boy Jeff a lot to unpack here. Tell me all about this.

There’s talk in the Torch that you’re negotiating with Jake Roberts but that his price was too high. What was the plan for Jake and why didn’t he ultimately come in?

On the go-home edition of Impact on September 21st the focus of the show was to promote LAX against AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels in the tag team title Ultimate X match. There’s some controversy coming out of the show for the scope of the main event angle. From the Torch: “NWA tag champs LAX came to the ring to celebrate Hispanic heritage month. In the ring were several piñatas, an Uncle Sam doll hanging from the ceiling, several bottles of tequila, and females who were dancing with Homicide and Hernandez. Konnan spoke about racial inequality in TNA. He then said America was built on the simple phrase “All men are created equal” then he threw in the clause “...If you are white.”

Jeff where does this creative come from and is it art imitating life with how Konnan would feel considering his exit from the company and future lawsuit?

Also on the show Jay Lethal & Petey Williams continued the Jackass angle which infuriated super serious X Division champion Senshi and boy on the pay-per-view are we in for it.

Eric Young has a video tape in his tights in his match against Norman Smiley. Yup.

Monty Brown and Rhino go to a no contest in a Falls Count Anywhere match when Christian interferes to push his match against Rhino at No Surrender. It is Monty’s last match with the company before he signs with the WWE.

But Jeff you open the show! From the Torch, “OTHER NOTES The show began with, who else, Jeff Jarrett. He walked out with his guitar and NWA World Hvt. Title belt. He said, “Welcome to Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Jarrett SVU; that stands for Jeff Jarrett, Special Victims Unit.” He claimed he has been a victim of bad management from TNA officials, unjustified investigations, and all the viewers. He said they’ve pelted him with bottles, rocks, and golf balls. He said it comes to a stop tonight. He said he is looking for his first victim tonight. Samoa Joe’s music played and he charged at the ring. Jarrett bravely met him and they brawled at ringside. Jarrett reverse whipped Joe into the railing and whipped him with the Toys-R-Us quality leather straps. Joe selling those wasn’t credible. A fan grabbed Jarrett, so Jarrett pulled him over the railing and whipped him. Joe then threw Jarrett into the crowd and brawling ensued. Joe punched Jarrett few times then he gave him the running boot to the face, knocking him over the railing back to ringside. When Joe took too much time to play to the crowd, Jarrett grabbed his guitar and KO’d Joe. Jarrett then choked Joe and spit up mucus. Joe came up bleeding. Half hour later, Joe was still bleeding to death in the locker room. He stared straight ahead, presumably waiting for Borash to find him so he could get his promo out of the way. Joe started with icy words about spilling a bucket of Jarrett’s blood for every drop that Jarrett draws from him. He told Jarrett he doesn’t have to worry about the fans, he needs to worry about him at No Surrender. Joe screamed into the camera, “Joe is going to kill you! Joe is going to kill you! When I face you at No Surrender, you will die.”

Did you feel the creative between you & Joe was setting you up for success?

Was there ever any talk of having the tag team title match be the main event instead of you vs. Joe due to the nature of the match and having to follow it?

From the Observer: “A fan hopped the rail (this is a funny one, as everyone in the arena thought he was a plant, but he was not. Jarrett

front facelocked the fan, who was wearing a mask, believe it or not. Harris & Storm ran out and took several shots at the guy as he was being held by several people. Storm in particular did a lot of damage. Apparently the fan was bloodied up and there was a lot of concern about a lawsuit. That wasn't the only concern, as apparently a member of the Orlando police department was there, and wasn't happy about both that and Konnan's promos, thinking they were too racially charged for an amusement park audience.”

What do you remember of the fan jumping the rail and the police department complaining?

Is No Surrender being treated as a throw-away show compared to Bound for Glory in your mind?

In the week leading up to the pay-per-view though everything about TNA is about to change. Kurt Angle is signed and his vignette is shot in an empty warehouse for his debut. Were you at the shoot? What do you remember of Kurt’s signing? How excited were you for it? Were there any talks of creative or how he would be introduced?

Did anything have to change in the budget to bring Kurt in?

Vince Russo is brought back to be head of creative and Scott D’Amore is “demoted.” How does all this happen and was this part of Angle coming in?

Why Vince? How did the conversation go with Jim Cornette regarding the return of Russo?

Was he staying up on the product at the time and was aware of everything going on?

From the Observer: “From the Observer: “Vince Russo, if nothing else, is rarely subtle. That's why it was a shock that his return was never even mentioned on the TNA No Surrender PPV on 9/24. Russo is one of three on the committee. The negativity of the five-man committee is that it was nobody's pure view. You got more ideas, but a lot came down to voting. Generally, Jarrett was steering the direction, as he will be now. Anything he wanted, he was going to get the automatic approval of Mantel and Bo rash, and it wasn't like it was a lot of 3-2 votes as much as everyone contributing ideas with Jarrett usually making the final choices. It will be the same thing here. For the most part, the TV ended up based around Jarrett, and if that changes, it's going to be Jarrett making the call, not Russo.”

What say you Jeff? Were you the man to be Russo’s editor and make him successful again?

Dave brings up a point later on. You have Jim Cornette in the company. Why not him?

From the Torch: “Regarding the booking committee changes, one wrestler was overheard saying: “The monster still lives. They cut off both of his arms and one of his legs (Scott D’Amore, Jeremy Borash, Mike Tenay), but left his other leg (Dutch Mantel) and his head attached (Jeff Jarrett)”

Jeff...why does everyone hate you?

TNA Impact is moving to two hours! How does this come to be? Is Angle a major part of this? How excited are you for the move?

Well we’re at the show now Jeff. TNA No Surrender from the Impact Zone in front of 900 fans at a $0 gate as usual. There’s some controversy regarding the pre-show match which is an odd thing to have happened.

From the Torch: “There was quite a stir afterward since it was a competitive four minute match in which Roode looked ordinary, clashing with the image they’ve been presenting of him on TV as “wrestling’s hottest free agent.” The match was competitive because booking committee member D’Amore was high on (Vaughn) Doring (known later as Joe Doering who’s in Impact now) and wanted him to have a chance to show his offense to others. Despite some pointing out the potential damage to Roode if the match went as he requested, D’Amore didn’t change his mind…”

What do you remember of this and do you think there was any residual heat from Scott regarding Russo coming back?

Let’s get to the actual show now.

1. Eric Young pinned A-1 in 6:14. Fans were chanting “steak sauce” at A-1. Ref Slick Johnson is now in pants. He has been removed as a TV character, as has Earl Hebner, as both are simply anonymous refs again. Young won with a wheelbarrow diamond cutter. A-1 is pretty green. Meltzer would give it *.

What was the change in creative behind Slick & Earl considering you spent all that time on TV building it up?

Who was A-1 and why would anyone care about him with that name?

1. Jay Lethal pinned Petey Williams in 7:24. This was some kind of awful. First, Lethal’s music played with Williams in the ring and he never came out. They went backstage and showed him playing videogames and Jerry Lynn had to yell at him to go to the ring. The story was Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin had put a laxative in Williams’ water. After a few minutes, the announcers and wrestlers were selling that it stunk, like Williams had shit in his pants. Williams looked embarrassed and panicked, would try to do moves and grab his stomach like he was cramping. None of this got over to the live audience, which made it even more painful. There is nothing worse than comedy, done live, that nobody laughs at. Eventually the crowd chanted “Hold it in” realizing what was going on, but not realizing everyone was playing he’d already shit. Lethal schoolboyed Williams to win, and Williams ran to the back. Meltzer gave it -*.

Jeff...a lot of shit to unpack here. How was this ever cleared to air? Who’s idea was this and why was it Vince Russo? Who thought this was a good idea? Can you explain why the guy poisons the other guy’s drink but isn’t paying enough attention to know when his match is to take advantage of the GUY HE POISONED. WHY DOES NONE OF THIS MAKE ANY GOD DAMN SENSE? YOU’RE DEBUTING AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST AFTER THE MAIN EVENT AND THIS...THIS IS WHAT YOU GOT BEFORE HAND!

1. Abyss won a three-way weapons match over Runt and Raven in 11:34. Pretty much what you’d expect. This stuff means nothing, but it was better done than a lot of similar matches with some crazy spots by Runt. Raven put a dog collar on Runt and climbed up to a scaffold, and hung Runt. Raven pulled him up to the scaffold with him and Runt ended up going through two tables. Later, in the ring, after Raven laid out Runt, Abyss pinned Raven with a black hole slam. Meltzer would give it **½.

I know. There’s a place for everything. But this is a lot of punishment for these guys but they’re really going nowhere. What was their future at this point?

1. Andy Douglas & Chase Stevens won a tag team Battle Royal in 14:05. The teams were Shark Boy & Norman Smiley, Johnny Devine & Alex Shelley, David Young & Elix Skipper, AMW, Naturals, Ron Killings & Lance Hoyt, Maverick Matt & Kazarian, and the James Gang. The deal was it would be a regular battle royal until two men were left. The only thing memorable about the Battle Royal is Stevens was standing on the top rope for a springboard move and Storm shoved him. He flew over the guardrail into a row of fans, who I assume were Dory Funk students since they knew to catch him and break his fall. Even though there were three refs, two were distracted by a brawl on the ramp and the third was distracted in the ring, and missed Kip James getting rid of Harris when those two and Andy Douglas were the only guys left. Harris came back in and threw Kip James out and it was stopped so it came down to AMW vs. Naturals. Of course, Stevens was still injured. The James Gang came back out. It ended with Storm taking over Douglas with the whirley bird. He went to do the same thing on Stevens, but Stevens schoolboyed him out of nowhere. Fans did pop for the Naturals winning and Shane Douglas came out to congratulate them. **

So the #1 contenders from earlier this month re-earned themselves a shot. Jeff...that was a paragraph summary to get back right where we started from. AMW having issues and the Naturals as the #1 contenders. My goodness.

1. Senshi pinned Chris Sabin to keep the X title in 16:57. This blew away everything on the undercard, but the finish ruined it. Senshi beat Sabin’s chest raw and did his trademark high intensity spots. Senshi was on the top rope for another double foot stomp when Lethal & Dutt came out with a blowup doll that they threw in the ring and dragged Sabin out. Senshi came off like he was going to give the doll a double foot stomp, but pulled short. That’s when the “This is Stupid” chants started. Sabin was holding the doll and Senshi did the Suwa style running dropkick adn got the pin. So not only did the babyface do something the people hated, he got outsmarted by the heel. Meltzer gave it **½

Jeff...two great workers. Low Ki is one of the most serious wrestlers in the history of wrestling. How the hell did you sign off on this and how did you get him to go along with it?

Meltzer would report in the Observer the plan going in was for Sabin to win but the committee changed it last minute. Any idea why?

1. Christian Cage pinned Rhino in 16:26. Crowd was kind of tired after that finish laid waste to them. These two had a good match, but it was the “every week on Raw” spots with the same exact ref bumps, false finishes and such. Ref Andrew Thomas got bumped. Christian got two chairs for a concerto, but Rhino moved and he missed the chair shot. Rhino gored him, but no ref. The finish saw Christian use a low blow and an unprettier on a chair for the pin. Meltzer gave it ***¼

The heel turn for Christian was to see if he could be that top guy as he didn’t really deliver when he first came over to TNA. Was Christian in TNA in your mind a success?

1. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels regained the tag titles beating Homicide & Hernandez in 15:29 of an Ultimate X match. Actually in the first few minutes, it didn’t look all that good. Hernandez is still pretty green in spots, but working with small guys and being so strong enables him to do great power moves. Homicide was climbing across and Styles ran up after him. With both hanging by the cable, Homicide used a diamond cutter and they both fell down. Crowd was very hot from this point forward. Homicide was climbing again, and Styles pulled him down. Then Styles splashed him and used a moonsault into a reverse DDT on him. Another sequence came, in order with Hernandez laying there taking a frosh splash from Styles, a moonsault by Daniels and a spinal tap by Styles. With both on the apron, Styles used a Styles clash off the apron through a table on the floor with Homicide. Konnan laid out Styles with a slapjack on the floor. Daniels then, in a spectacular move, climbed to the top of the stand where the cables were hanging from. Basically it was if he was farther away than the ringpost, and about 12 feet in the air. He was standing on top and jumped to the center and had to grab the cables, in the middle, so he had to jump I’d say 10 feet or more. I was told they came up with the spot, they never practiced it once, and when putting the match together, had no back-up plan in case Daniels didn’t catch the cable, in which case he’d have crashed onto the mat with a decent risk of injury. But all went smooth, he grabbed the cable, grabbed the belt, unhitched it, and fell into the ring. Big pop as Daniels & Styles went into the crowd to celebrate. Meltzer gave it ****.

My goodness these guys Jeff. To do that finish with no practice or run through is amazing. These 4 really did click together. Was this the type of action you envisioned when you put TNA together?

This was also reported in the Observer as being a changed finish day of. The plan was for Styles & Daniels to go back to the X Division to continue to rebuild it. What happened here?

7. Samoa Joe beat Jeff Jarret in a non-title fans with straps match in 11:03. After all the build-up, this was really a nothing match. Jarrett wore three layers of clothes early. Most of the lumberjacks that were purported to be fans were actually wrestlers from the local BANG promotion. Jarrett’s role should be to make Joe look special, and instead, he made Joe look average, even though he put him over in the end. Joe took the clothing off Jarrett, who got whipped many times. People weren’t into it like a main event match. Joe ducked a guitar shot and got a choke, but Jarrett made the ropes. Jarrett used a low blow and used the stroke, but Joe kicked out. The finish was Jarrett on top and Joe leaping up and giving him an enzuigiri, and then taking him off the top with a muscle buster for the pin. Meltzer gave it **.

Jeff losing the month before the big match before Sting...why do it for Joe here? To build up Joe for a future title match? Do you think that hurt you vs. Sting?

Do you think following the Ultimate X hurt the match? It’s reported in the Observer that LAX was promised the main event spot and they were furious it was changed. How do you remember that conversation going?

What was it like to work with Joe?

Who were the lumberjacks that you kept talking about last week? Were they from BANG?

How do you think this match went and do you have an issue with Dave saying you made Joe look average?

After this Jim Cornette announces the big announcement which hurts Joe as Joe takes the NWA Title with him but it’s barely mentioned on air and then the Kurt Angle debut vignette plays. What do you remember being in the ring for that and the pop that came with it?

The Wrestling Observer readers were satisfied with the show giving it a 51% thumbs up. What say you Jeff?

Do you think the last minute hype of the big announcement helped?

No Surrender does a reported 25,000-30,000 buys compared to Hard Justice which did 30,000-35,000 buys. Do you think it was the 6 week lag and creative had issues getting you ther