Richard Reacts To TNA Final Resolution 2008

TNA Wrestling held their final pay-per-view of 2008 last night with Final Resolution from the Impact Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Widely regarded as a throwaway effort, TNA used the pay-per-view to continue angles and further develop the new company-wide feud between the Main Event Mafia and the TNA Frontline. Below are my thoughts on last night’s pay-per-view:

The show opened with the “Feast or Fired” match where four participants were awarded briefcases – three contain title shots, one contains a pink slip. The match was good and more than decent for an opener although I am not a big fan of the “Feast or Fired” stipulation. I do not like the idea of paying to watch who wins the cases, only to have to watch Impact to see what they contain. After all, only the loyal TNA fans are watching the pay-per-view, so shouldn’t they be rewarded for spending their money? Nonetheless the four case winners were Hernandez, Curry Man, Homicide, and Jay Lethal. Jeremy Borash came to the ring after the match and announced that they would open one case at the pay-per-view which turned out to be Lethal’s case that contained a TNA Tag Team Championship shot. The case win was contested by the Motor City Machineguns which resulted in some very good mic work from Alex Shelley last night. Shelley had several good segments during last night’s pay-per-view although they teased a Borash/Shelley feud and that’s more than scary. Did anyone else find it ironic that Curry Man was working the same match that got him “fired” last year? Only in pro wrestling folks.

TNA did the 6 Knockout Tag Match next and there isn’t a whole lot to say about it. Velvet Sky & Angelina Love did the majority of the work for their team, limiting the inexperienced Sharmell to some pretty weak spots with ODB. The finish was pretty well done with Angelina Love going off the top rope with a cross-body only to connect and have Taylor Wilde roll through the pin, reversing it for the victory. The match more or less just kind of happened and was more of a standard Knockout match.

Eric Young vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir with Shane Sewell as the referee for the X Division Championship was up next and given the storyline with Bashir and Sewell, this had gimmick written all over it. TNA creative didn’t disappoint as they did some pretty goofy booking in this match. Sewell, who Mike Tenay and Don West put over for being the bigger man for calling the match straight, predictably interfered to give Eric Young the win and the X Division Championship. Bashir got up furious and took out Young and then Sewell in which Sewell added color to his forehead. After biting the bloody forehead of Sewell, Bashir retreated to the back with the X Division title only for Jim Cornette to stop him. It’s nice to see Cornette back on TV; he’s got great mic skills. Cornette took the belt from Bashir and said that an official announcement regarding the X Division Championship would be made on Impact. Paying to watch a match for the title isn’t enough as now I have to watch Impact to find out who’s the champion. Could you imagine ordering a UFC fight or a boxing match and having to watch a weekly TV program to find out who won? It would be one thing if TNA’s pay-per-views were ordered by more people that watched Impact, but only a select portion of TNA’s viewing audience orders the pay-per-views. I said it before and I’ll say it again – TNA should be rewarding fans who order their pay-per-views, not using them as a commercial.

The booking went from bad to worse in the TNA Knockout Women’s Championship match. Awesome Kong dominated, with Christy Hemme booked to look like she had a fighting chance. That wasn’t my issue with creative; it was how the finish was booked. Hemme, who had gained some type of control in the match, was taken out by Raisha Saeed in the ring after a confrontation on the outside leading to Kong being disqualified. Kong weighs approximately 156 pounds more than Hemme, who doesn’t even weigh 120 pounds herself, so why did Kong need interference to retain the Women’s Championship? Am I the only one that thought that finish was ridiculous?

Prior to the TNA Tag Team Championship match, Kurt Angle cut a very entertaining promo. Angle was serious and somber and it was some very good mic work. There was a lot of good mic work on this pay-per-view. The TNA Tag Team Championship match with Beer Money, Inc. retaining the belts against Matt Morgan & Abyss featured some very good in-ring work. Storm & Roode have developed into one of the best tag teams in the industry today, completing some very good tag sequences. I didn’t like how long it took this match to get started, the interference, or the overbooked finish that featured brass knuckles being involved but I have to give credit for the stellar ring work. Abyss & Matt Morgan seem to be coming along as well.

There was an in-ring segment with the Motor City Machineguns who came out and demanded that Mick Foley come out and reverse the “Feast or Fired” decision from earlier in the night (the storyline is, they got the case and didn’t understand the rules that their feet had to be touching the floor, not the mat so they should have the TNA Tag Championship shot not Jay Lethal). Instead of Foley, Jim Cornette came out and told them that they better get out of the ring or he would have them removed. This is when the new masked character, Suicide (Frankie Kazarian), made his debut with a spectacular entrance. The crowd liked it and I thought that it came off really well with him taking out both Sabin and Shelley to a big pop from the live audience.

While this is sure to be contested, I think that Kurt Angle is the best wrestler in the world right now. Last night was no different as he had a very good match with Rhino. All of Angle’s matches are a work of art as they start slow, feature submission holds and mat wrestling, only to conclude with high risk spots, near falls, and breath-taking finishes. I don’t mind marking out for Angle because there is no doubting his in-ring abilities. Mick Foley’s role in the match was limited although he made the final three count to give Angle the victory with Al Snow coming out to make a cameo. After the match, Angle cut another very realistic profile, laced with profanity and aimed right at Jeff Jarrett.

The main event for the TNA Championship was very good, but as I noted in my coverage last night, how could it have been bad with all the talent included? Kevin Nash was the weakest link in the match but he wasn’t that bad considering that he only has a move set of about five moves. I wish they would have gave AJ Styles a little more work as he seemed limited with Samoa Joe and Team 3D working the majority of the match. Steiner was decent for what he brings to the table with Booker T and Sting shining for the Main Event Mafia. It amazes me that Sting can still go at such a high level despite his age, it’s literally like watching another Ric Flair out there. The finish was well done with Samoa Joe getting Sting up for the Muscle Buster but Kevin Nash coming in and hitting a low blow, allowing Sting to hit the Scorpion Death Drop for the victory and to retain his title. They had a weird conclusion to the match as Sting got out of the ring and went to the back as the Main Event Mafia celebrated. I hope that wasn’t meant to be taken as dissension already.

In conclusion, TNA Final Resolution was a mediocre effort from the company. While the two main event matches made it worth ordering, I would not label this show as something that you need to see. Diehard TNA fans will want to see it to see the angle continuations, but the show didn’t really mean anything other than it was a pay-per-view. There was some good mic work with Alex Shelley and Kurt Angle standing out and some good wrestling with the Feast or Fired, Tag Team Championship match, Angle vs. Rhino, and of course the main event. The Knockout matches were forgettable and the weaknesses of TNA creative were far too evident once again. I just think that it’s unfair to the workers to have good ring work and weak booking. Some people may say that I’m overly critical of Vince Russo, Dutch Mantel, and the rest of the Creative Team but I have to call it how I see it and last night there were a lot of times were the booking just didn’t make sense.

Richard can be contacted at richard [at] grayinternet.com

Richard Gray is a professional wrestling journalist and frequent contributor to Rajah.com. He has been covering the world of professional wrestling since 1999 and has had the opportunity to cover ground breaking stories such as the demise of ECW, the WCW buyout, the Benoit tragedy, Bobby Lashley leaving WWE, and more. For more on Richard check out his web site, Wrestling News World.

– “Richard Reacts” Archive By WrestlingNewsWorld.com’s Richard Gray