Impact No Surrender recap, reactions: Josh Alexander can’t be beat

Josh Alexander can’t be beat. The reigning Impact world champion once again proved his greatness in a title defense against Rich Swann at No Surrender.

Alexander and Swann rumbled for roughly 20 minutes. It started friendly, but Swann had a chip on his shoulder to regain the glory of world champion status. He made sure Alexander knew this was going to be a fight by slapping Alexander across the face.

It was a competitive bout throughout with Swann scoring the closer near falls, then boom! Alexander hit the C4 spike piledriver. The champ was too slow to capitalize on a pin, and that allowed Swann just enough time to roll out of the ring to safety.

Alexander corralled Swann back inside the ropes for a second C4. This time, Swann escaped and landed a barrage of spinning kicks. Swann had his best moment to win off a Phoenix splash. Alexander kicked out. Swann went for a second Phoenix splash. Alexander moved out of the way and snatched a grapevine ankle lock. Swann fought to survive and punched Alexander’s headgear off his head. That was enough to break free.

Fisticuffs erupted into a higher gear of intensity as Alexander and Swann exchanged strikes in the center of the ring. Both men ran the ropes with Swann getting the upper hand for a backspring cutter. Swann went for a second cutter, however, Alexander caught him for a counter piledriver. The champion added a C4 piledriver to finish the job.

Alexander’s reign stands at 305 days and counting. His upcoming schedule of title defenses includes KENTA, Kushida, and Steve Maclin. I don’t see a new champion emerging from that group. It will be interesting to see who Impact brings in for fresh blood to challenge Alexander in the future. Don’t mistake this as a stale sign it is time for a new champion. Not at all. We are witnessing greatness, and it is going to be a dramatic shocker when Alexander finally drops the title.

Let’s jam through the rest of the No Surrender results.

Knockouts Championship: Mickie James retained against Masha Slamovich. This match was aggressive. Mickie bit Masha’s tongue for crying out loud. The story was the counter game. Slamovich always had an answer to prevent James’ jumping DDT finisher. James was prepared to minimize any damage from the rear naked choke. In the end, Slamovich hit repeated running attacks in the corner. Masha went for a monkey flip, but James held on tight to trap the challenger’s shoulder on the mat for the win. (Full details here.)

Bullet Club defeated Time Machine. KENTA debuted in Impact with Chris Bey and Ace Austin on his side to represent the Bullet Club. Kushida, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley represented the trio known as Time Machine. Time Machine were in the groove down the stretch, but Bullet Club outsmarted them setting up a backslide for Ace to pin Sabin. (Full details here.)

#1 contender: Steve Maclin defeated Brian Myers, Heath, and PCO. Four-way fight. PCO had the win in his pocket on a moonsault to Myers, but Eddie Edwards ran in to hit PCO with a shovel to break the pin. Heath nailed the Wake Up Call on Myers, then Maclin executed a double underhook DDT on Heath for the win. Maclin’s shot for the Impact World Championship will come at Rebellion on April 16.

Afterward, Trey Miguel ran his mouth about the disrespect of leaving the X-Division champ off the card. Trey trash talked PCO, so the French-Canadian Frankenstein chokeslammed him onto the apron.

Busted Open Live with Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray. Each man had time to air their grievances. Bully apologized. He realized that life is too short and would feel horrible if Dreamer died unexpectedly with bad blood still lingering. Dreamer was impressed that someone like Bully would admit that. Bully took offense and threw hot coffee in Dreamer’s face. (Full details here.)

Impact Digital Media Championship: Joe Hendry retained against Moose in a Dot Combat Match. Hardcore combat with weapons on a dot com theme. Foreign objects included a Dreamcast, a keyboard, chairs, a table, remote control cars, a sack of keyboard keys, and a gaming chair. Highlights were Moose with a uranage through a table, Hendry aiming a remote control car at Moose’s groin but the controller didn’t work so he threw it at Moose’s crotch, Hendry with a superplex onto the plastic keys, and Moose dancing frisky wearing a virtual reality headset. The finish came down to an exchange of roll-ups. Moose tried to grab the tights, however, Hendry got top position and grabbed the tights to secure the win.

Knockouts Tag Team Championship: Death Dollz retained against the Hex. Taya Valkyrie and Jessicka represented with the Death Dollz with Rosemary ringside. Allysin Kay and Marti Belle represented the Hex. Competitive bout breaking down in the end. The Hex went for their teamwork finisher, but Jessicka saved Taya by shoulder blocking Belle. Jessicka executed the choke bomb to dispose of Kay. The Death Dollz planted Belle on a teamwork piledriver to win.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Kon. Callihan and Angels were ringside, while Deaner observed from the stage. Kaz hammered the hoss working for a chickenwing submission. When he was finally near to securing the grip, Angels distracted the referee. Kaz popped Angels on the apron. Callihan lurked low with a chair. The plan was an Irish whip into the ropes for Callihan to strike. Kaz reversed to send Kon running, and Callihan hit Kon by accident. Kaz slingshot Kon over the ropes for a cutter to win. Deaner was incensed at Callihan’s blunder and slapped him.

Over to the free pre-show.

Jonathan Gresham defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Hard striking, technical savvy, aggressive intensity for a ten-minute blitz of action. Gresham worked the leg. Bailey collapsed trying his tornado kick, but he managed to execute a poison rana when Gresham was within his grasp. Bailey picked up steam to hit the tornado kick. Speedball went to finish with the Ultima Weapon, however, the Octopus dodged out of the way. Gresham hopped up for a victory roll to earn the win. Very good match considering the amount of time given to work.

Gisele Shaw defeated Deonna Purrazzo. Jai Vidal distracted the referee when Purrazzo went for the Gotch piledriver on Shaw. Savannah Evans ran in for a full nelson slam on the Virtuosa. Shaw finished with a running knee. This seemed more like Evans acting on her own to join Shaw rather than a master plan from the Quintessential Diva.

No Surrender was a good show. Not great, but good. It provided a satisfying evening of entertainment, however, nothing hit that next level of amazement for me. Aside from Mickie James biting Masha Slamovich’s tongue, it was business as usual and on to the next batch of tapings.

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