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I was somewhat surprised to read that the opening contest - Generation Me (aka the Young Bucks) vs. The Motor City Machines Guns for the Guns' TNA Tag Team Championship belts only got 3 stars from Meltzer and a sub-8 score on Cagematch because, to me, this would seem like the type of match that fans of both teams would go ga-ga over. While it only goes a little over 10 minutes, the action is very good from beginning to end. I really liked how this started fairly straight-forward before building to the crazy spots and superkicks and double-team maneuvers. I also thought the post-match heel turn by the Bucks was effective and foreshadowed nicely by how frustrated they were throughout the contest. If this is considered one of the "lesser" matches these teams had, I'm excited to see what their betters one are like. (3.5/5)
Doug Williams vs. Sabu for Williams' X-Division Championship was next. I'm a sucker for "Sabu vs. Random Guy" matches like this where you can almost guarantee there will be some serious clashes of style and ability and it will result in a one-of-a-kind match. Now, in 2010, that didn't mean the match would be technically sound or a mat classic or even a crazy spotfest like the ones Sabu had 15 years earlier, but it would be interesting. Its what makes a match like Big Show vs. Sabu appealing in a way that, say, Big Show vs. John Cena rarely was. Here, you have Doug Williams, master technician, going up against the unpredictable Sabu and, from the very start, its clear that Williams is going to have to slow things down and work his way through a match built around Sabu's often-sloppy spots. Ultimately, though, it is this looseness, this ramshackle quality that makes the match more interesting and more fun to watch than any of the Williams/Kendrick matches from the previous few months. This isn't a great match - and certainly not "must see" - but with Sabu, the thrill is partially watching to see when things will fall apart (which they inevitably do). (3/5)
Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Skye follows. The story here is that everyone involved is either a current or former member (or rival?) of The Beautiful People. Angelina Love is there to support Skye, while Madison Rayne (who had dropped the Knockouts Champion to Love), is backed up by Tara, who she had retired a few months prior. I don't know the details of that storyline but it sounds convoluted on its face. Rayne and Skye had a very bad 4 minute match, borderline unwatchable. Considering that these women ostensibly trained fairly extensively with each other, one would've expected a better outing and better chemistry between them, but it just isn't there. This isn't offensive, but its not good at all. (1/5)
Rhyno vs. Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match followed. Nothing fresh or exciting here. Abyss was in the midst of a storyline where he claimed he would reveal, on 10.10.10, something or other about some group that was coming for Dixie Carter. I don't remember where this goes, but I am a little intrigued. Really not much to say about this aside from it not being as hardcore and violent as it probably needed to be to work. With Abyss, you need the glass and the tacks and tables and the barbwire and this was tame compared to what he'd done in the past. (1/5)
Sting and Kevin Nash teamed up against Samoa Joe and Jeff Jarrett in the next match. Another unremarkable contest. The Sting/Jarrett story had started really hot with Sting as a vicious and violent heel and Jarrett selling the hell out of the ass-kicking he received. Nash and Joe being involved feels like it was shoe-horned in and an unfortunate retread of a rivalry that had seemingly ended months earlier once Nash's boys (Waltman and Hall) got fired and Joe had nothing going on either. Joe gets the W but it doesn't feel important or like this story has progressed. This felt meaningless and like everyone was just going through the motions. (1/5)
AJ Styles vs. Tommy Dreamer followed in an "I Quit" match. This was part of the EV2.0 vs. Fourtune feud. Styles bumps and sells big for Dreamer and while this match certainly isn't a carry job - Dreamer gets inventive with a light he pulls from the ramp, there's a great cane-assisted crossface spot, and takes some good bumps on the ramp himself, plus he gets a ton of color during the finish - it is AJ that keeps things moving and takes the majority of the punishment. The crowd is split 50/50, which wasn't the intention as Fourtune were clearly positioned as heels, but AJ Styles had built up such a tremendous reputation as a great worker that it is no surprise he was beloved by the audience. The second half of the match built around a fork that Styles had brought into the match and eventually used to force Dreamer into submission by "stabbing" him in the eye. Overall, not a bad match at all, but uneven and a bit boring at times. (2.5/5)
Kurt Angle faced Jeff Hardy in the next match. This was part of the tournament for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Despite too very good performances from Angle and Hardy, including an absolute vicious powerbomb by Angle and then Hardy hitting a Swanton Dive to the floor later on, this match suffered a bit from not having a clear "story" driving it from point A-to-point B. Things got better towards the end as Angle started focusing 100% on Hardy's ankle, limiting Hardy's agility, speed, and high-flying and making the story more about Hardy's ability to withstand a ton of punishment. When Hardy did hit one of his big signature moves, Angle's kickouts at 2.9 were great...until they became a pattern and more predictable. I liked the double overtime, but like the fans in attendance, was disappointed by the lack of a (spoiler alert) clear winner. Angle being nearly submitted with his face on the mat in a pool of blood was a fantastic visual, even if it wasn't the most original one ever. Without a definitive ending, its hard to recommend this match. I'm curious how good this match could've been with someone with more of a "story-driven" mind guiding the ship and helping to lay it out, something that I think is overlooked when people discuss Angle's TNA run and how, while he was physically at his peak and capable of some incredible feats, he doesn't necessarily have a ton of matches at the same overall level as the matches he had in the WWE. (3/5)
Main event time - "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Ken Anderson in the other semi-finals of the TNA World Championship tournament. You have to give credit to TNA for trying to make Dinero a star, but he just wasn't at the level necessary to be a PPV headliner at this point in his career (and he never got there later on either). The match isn't bad, but its not great either and, coming after a 30-minute Angle/Hardy match, this match feels "overworked," like their main goal here was to make this feel "epic" just by going close to 20 minutes instead of thinking about how this match could stand out and offer a different flavor than the match that came before it. The right guy wins, sure, but it feels like a step back when Anderson gloats and acts like a heel after the victory. I guess Anderson was supposed to be a "tweener," but its a sour note to end a show on. As one commenter noted on Cagematch, neither guy comes out of this match better than they were going in. Dinero was once again exposed as not being "main event ready" while Anderson's half-and-half lovable asshole/despeciable asshole continued to be presented as murky in a way that feels more indecisive than interesting. (2.5/5)
With an overall Kwang Score of 2.19-out-of-5, No Surrender 2010 is one of the weaker shows that TNA put on in 2010 but did feature a very good opener and a solid Angle/Hardy match that fans of those particular wrestlers would probably consider a near-classic. The Doug Williams/Sabu match is an interesting match and Dreamer/AJ is probably about as good a match as Dreamer could, well, dream of having in 2010, but everything else on this show was pretty weak.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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