On Friday, February 13th, TNA Wrestling returned to Nashville, TN, for its big event, “No Surrender.” The event streamed live on TrillerTV+ and TNA+. The main event of the 17th “No Surrender” event saw the TNA World Champion, Mike Santana, team up with the TNA X Division Champion, Leon Slater, to face off with Nic Nemeth and Eddie Edwards.
We also saw The Hardys and The Righteous team up in an eight-man tag match against the Order 4, Lei Ying Lee put the TNA Knockouts Championship on the line against NXT’s Arianna Grace, Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo put the TNA International Championship on the line against Trey Miguel, and so much more. So, what were the top three moments of the night?
3. Dani Luna returns, Arianna Grace wins the TNA Knockouts Championship
Lei Ying Lee has been a fighting champion since winning the TNA Knockouts Championship back at WWE NXT’s “Gold Rush” event in November, where she defeated both the former champion, Kelani Jordan, and Jordynne Grace. Over the course of the next 87 days, Lee has knocked off the likes of Xia Brookside and NXT’s Zaria to reclaim her gold.
Unfortunately, while Lee is a very talented wrestler, she was not able to get the job done against Grace at “No Surrender.” However, to put all the blame on Lee for not keeping the TNA Knockouts Championship in TNA is simply not fair. She had a tough mountain to climb, including a massive return who came out to distract her in the very early going of this match, as well as Grace’s real-life partner, Stacks.
Dani Luna made her return to TNA after missing some time due to ongoing visa issues, the same reason Leon Slater missed. Luna’s distraction of Lee caused Grace to capitalize and never really look back. In the end, Grace lands the Cobra on Lee and follows it up with a facebuster straight onto her knee for the three-count. While it remains to be seen who gets the next shot, one has to assume Elayna Black, TNA’s newest Knockout, is waiting in the wings.
2. Trey Miguel wins the TNA International Championship
Following the Knockouts battle royal, which kicked off the main card of the show, we saw Trey Miguel cash in his “Feast or Fired” briefcase for a shot at Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo and the TNA International Championship. Stacks won the title from Steve Maclin back in December and held onto it for 70 days. He defeated the likes of Shiloh Hill, BDE, Eric Young, and KJ Orso to keep his reign going strong.
While Stacks is a talented young gun on the NXT roster, Trey Miguel had his number in this one. This match was hot and heavy from the very beginning. At times, it looked like Miguel wouldn’t get the job done, especially with Arianna Grace helping Stacks out at all costs. However, in the end, Miguel landed a dropkick into the Lightning Spiral for the three-count.
Oftentimes in professional wrestling, you hear about how wrestlers “deserve” wins or certain titles. In this case, Miguel truly deserved this win, and when that bell rang and the emotion poured out, Miguel truly realized he’s home. Miguel is one of the most talented guys on the TNA Wrestling roster, and even though he’s now on his own, he’s about to reach new heights he’s never seen before.
1. Moose returns, Steve Maclin’s rampage, take center stage in the main event
The main event of the show saw the TNA World Champion, Mike Santana, and the TNA X Division Champion, Leon Slater, join forces to take on Nic Nemeth and Eddie Edwards. This was a champions vs. #1 contenders tag match, with Nemeth being next in line to challenge Santana, and Edwards, thanks to the “Feast or Fired” briefcase, being next in line to challenge Slater.
This match was about as physical as it got. This was an absolutely insane tag match to conclude “No Surrender.” All four men showed up and showed out, looking to send a message to each other, but what I wasn’t ready for in this one was all the chaos that was going to come our way in this main event.
As Santana and Slater were rolling, Steve Maclin burst into the building. Maclin received the “Fired” briefcase in “Feast or Fired,” and he hasn’t been taking it well. He’s arguably the angriest and the most dangerous that he’s ever been. He interferes with the match and takes out the TNA World Champion, leaving Slater all alone.
Slater did a good job at holding his own, but unfortunately, when Eddie Edwards is in the match, The System is never far behind. With The System’s Bear Bronson, Cedric Alexander, and Brian Myers attacking Slater, things looked dire. However, Moose made the save, taking out every member of The System. This caused the match to come down to Slater and Nemeth, and Slater to hit his Swanton 450 to win it.
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Until next time
– Scott Mitchell
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