iMPACT Analysis: TNA Final Resolution 2006
Welcome back to the iMPACT analysis. This columns victim continues our look at the Final Resolution series of Pay Per Views. With this year’s version taking place on Sunday, we’re going to take a look back at last year’s show.
What is the iMPACT Analysis? I take a look back at the given event and I try to provide context for each match. Looking at what each participant had been doing prior to their match with their given opponent and I also look at how the result of the match impacted the future direction of the wrestlers, the titles and the promotion as a whole. Then at the end I rate the show on a number of criteria.
All of these are rated on a scale from 0-10.
Wrestling Quality: How was the in-ring action on the show?
Backstage Quality: How were the promos, backstage skits and other angles?
Crowd Heat: Was the crowd in to the show?
Announcing: Were they on point, humorous, say something completely stupid?
Booking: Did the storyline direction make sense? Did the right man or team go over in the end?
iMPACT Analysis: How did this show iMPACT the company? Was it memorable, a complete throwaway, somewhere in the middle?
Replay Factor: How much of this would you ever want to view a second time?
Average: Taking the score in each of the above categories and dividing it by the number of categories and that determines the show score.
Worth buying the DVD?: Asks if this DVD is worth the purchase or not.
Click Continue Reading for the review.
Event: TNA Final Resolution 2006
Event Date: 01/15/2006
Event Venue: Universal Studios, Orlando Florida
Announcers: Mike Tenay and Don West, Shane Douglas (backstage interviewer)
I’m not watching the preshow matches, but it is interesting to note that a faction would make its PPV-in-ring debut on this preshow and would go on to become one of the hottest acts in the company in 2006. That group would be the Latin American Xchange.
Ok, 1 note on the preshow. LAX come out to the ring and Jeremy Borash announces Apolo even though he’s actually not there and then corrects himself and announcing it as just Konnan and Homicide. If that wasn’t bad enough, the LAX came out to the James Gang’s music. Seriously, we’re the second match in on the preshow and they’re already fucking up. I’ve got a hunch it will be one of those shows.
We start off the Pay Per View with the usual video package. This centers on the fact
that Sting is returning to the ring for the first time in 5 years and making his TNA debut even though he wrestled there in 2003 and 2004. Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown, who main evented the first Final Resolution Pay Per View against one another offer comment. Christian Cage is there to rebut all of their claims. They flashback to the official announcement of Sting’s arrival and Christian’s announcing of the Final Resolution main event.
This show is presented to us by TNAWrestling.com, I wonder how much they got for that sponsorship?
Mike Tenay and Don West open the show. Tonight the face of TNA changes. I predict you’ll hear that a lot throughout 2006. Call it a shot in the dark.
Match 1: Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong and Austin Aries
Vs.
Matt Bentley, Chris Sabin and Sonjay Dutt
This is not a random wacky x-division tag match as Shelley/Strong/Aries were a stable at this point. They were coming off of a win over Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles and Chris Sabin on iMPACT. Complaining about not being on the Pay Per View resulted in this match being signed. It should also be noted that Jerry Lynn was basically playing the same role he is now with Chris Sabin with the heel trio leading up to this match. I said this in the 2005 Final Resolution Analysis, but the more things change the more they stay the same.
On the face side of things you have Matt Bentley in the middle of a short-lived face run that nobody cared about. At Turning Point 2005, Sabin and Dutt were involved in the Basebrawl angle with members of the World Series Champion Chicago White Sox.
The match, I will start out by saying that reading enough of these columns from me you will realize that I favor starting out the show with a fast paced match to get the crowd into the show from the get-go. So of all the matches on the card, this was the best choice to open the show.
Dave Hebner is out in the crowd taking notes. I may have forgotten if this had a payoff but I’m pretty confident that it did not. Jerry Lynn also comes out to take a look.
I guess its an interesting trivia note that both Final Resolution 05 and 06 opened with 6 man tag team matches and that Matt Bentley was in both of them. Think of trivia notes like that as my version of pop-up video.
The match is basically the heel team getting the heat on Sonjay for a few minutes before we devolve into the high-spot-tastic matches that are the trademark of the X-division. Alex Shelley gets the pin with a quick role-up.
Winners: Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong
It was a fun opener but the crowd was not as in to this as they usually are for this kind of thing.
Thumb Position: Up, non-offensive match to open up the show. Clean win for the heels, perfectly acceptable opener.
IMPACT: Minimal as Aries/Strong/Shelley were shortly hereafter split up with Shelley taking on the Paparazzi gimmick full-tilt and Aries/Strong working as a tag team. This would only last for a month as Aries and Strong were suspended in February for not flying in to a show when requested and working a ring of honor show in bad weather. Roderick Strong would come back for 1 more match on iMPACT, a world-x-cup qualifier that he would lose, and Aries would not return until Bound for Glory in October under the name of Austin Starr.
On the face side, Sabin and Dutt would wrestle for the tag titles the next month while Bentley was a heel again by the middle of March.
We go to a video package chronicling the entire 3LK/4LK storyline that set the whole world on fire in 2005. Oh, no it just made the world want to set itself on fire.
Match 2: Diamonds in the Rough Vs. The James Gang
Diamonds in the Rough were coming off of the Basebrawl angle. Kip and B.G. James were teaming as the James Gang for the first time in TNA Wrestling.
B.G. has the mic and he does the very old school introduction. This intro is so old school it was in a 1-room schoolhouse.
Kip James says I’ve only got 3 words for you: “Get it, got it, good”. Yes he actually said he had 3 words for us and then said 5 of them. I hate this man. Even Tenay pointed out that this jackass couldn’t count to 5. Tenay was much nicer pointing out Kip's mistake than I made it sound. He was also much nicer than I would've been if I were calling this match. If you think I’m spending too much time on this, keep in mind that it keeps me from having to pay attention to this match.
Tenay says that Elix Skipper claimed in the locker-room that he would out-wrestle the James Gang. Guess what, it wouldn’t really take much. Like buying a pair of wrestling boots and trunks should be sufficient.
The match, well to say that it sucks would tarnish the good name that sucky matches have acquired over the years. This match makes me curse the fact that videotape was ever invented. At least if I were watching this on VHS there’d be a chance that for the good of my sanity the VCR would try to eat the tape.
The crowd starts a dueling chant of “New Age Outlaws”, and “Lets go Diamonds” and its roughly 98 of every 100 people chanting Outlaws and the remainder chanting for the Diamonds. BTW, a dueling chant for the Diamonds in the Rough may be the lamest thing in the history of matter.
Don West, you don’t realize how big Kip James is until you stand next to him. Myself, you don’t realize how little I care about how big Kip James is at the point I’m standing next to him or any other time on earth.
The James Gang walk away with the victory with something; I must confess to not paying attention.
Winner: The James Gang
This was not good. James Gang had to win because they were facing glorified jobbers in their first match back as an official team.
Thumb Position: Down, boring match due largely to the involvement of the James Gang.
IMPACT: Minimal, this did nothing for the Diamonds as once a jobber team always a jobber team. As for the James Gang this was a warm-up match for their next feud against the early incarnation of LAX, which was also not good.
Match 3: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. AJ Styles
Tanahashi was on loan from New Japan Pro Wrestling, and that’s about it for him. AJ Styles had dropped the X-division title to Samoa Joe at Turning Point and was briefly sidetracked from that feud with Joe and Daniels in to a small program with Shannon Moore who stole his Mr. TNA 2005 plaque. If I were AJ, I’d have let him keep it.
The Match, Jeremy Borash announcing AJ as Mr. TNA 2005 makes him sound like a gigantic transvestite porn star. The crowd starts the dueling chants for AJ and Tanahashi and I’ll bet dollars to donuts most chanting for Tanahashi were watching him for the first time.
Tenay is in his glory spouting out facts, figures and notes about Tanahashi and his wrestling background. The announcers cover for the fact that these 2 don’t seem to be jelling by the tried and true method of pointing out that this is their first meeting and that they have a Clash of Styles.
The crowd has become less vocal as the match has progressed, I’m no Vince Russo or anything but to me that’s not a real good sign.
Shannon Moore runs out and hits AJ with the plaque but that doesn’t stop AJ from hitting the Styles Clash for the victory.
Winner: AJ Styles
They brought Tanahashi in for this?
AJ had reacquired the plaque but Moore stole it again.
Thumb Position: In the middle, match was ok but not great. Hurt by the weight of high expectations going in and the interference of Moore in the finish.
IMPACT: None. Tanahashi’s appearances were limited to this show. The win did nothing for AJ Styles and the Shannon Moore feud was blown off shortly after this match, as his tenure in TNA was short-lived before he headed back to the WWE and what would eventually be a spot in the new ECW.
Video package for the Raven Vs. Zbyszko feud airs and then we have an interview with Shane Douglas and Raven. Raven’s promo is, uh, interesting in a creepy sort of way.
Match 4: Raven Vs. Sean Waltman
Raven was in the midst of a feud with Zbyszko who was bringing in wrestlers from Raven’s past to screw with him. These included PJ Polacko (Justin Credible) in November and Chris Kanyon in December. Sean Waltman was last seen in TNA in the Chris Candido memorial tag tournament, which he won along with Alex Shelley.
Raven and Sean Waltman wrestled at the May 2005 Hard Justice PPV in which Waltman substituted for Jeff Hardy. They also competed against 1 another at June’s Slammiversary in the King of the Mountain match in which Raven would win his first and thus far only NWA world heavyweight championship.
The Match, Raven doesn’t wait for the bell as he attacks Waltman right away. A Kendo Stick gets involved in the very early stages. The Kendo stick wasn’t the only weapon to be used, as this became the first weapons filled brawl of the night.
The ref gets bumped, that’s the first one of the night. Raven hits the Raven-effect DDT but no ref. Crowd counts to 7 or so but the crowd isn’t the referee. Zbyszko is the ref now and gives Raven a slow-count.
Zbyszko also gives Waltman a 2 count. I feel I should ask that if Larry wanted to screw Raven over in this match why not just count to 3 anyway? It is questions like this that will keep me from ever booking a wrestling company.
Dave Hebner is out observing again as Raven gets another very slow count from Zbyszko.
A ladder gets involved and Zbyszko helps Waltman who gives Raven an X-factor through a table. Zbyszko counts to 3 but Raven has his foot on the ropes. Raven’s TNA career is over according to Tenay.
Winner: Sean Waltman
This was so stupid, why did Zbyszko wait so long to screw Raven over?
Zbyszko taunts Raven after the match.
Thumb Position: Down, booking made no sense whatsoever and the match was not that good anyway.
IMPACT: Middle of the Road, Waltman was gone after this show. Raven would be off of TV until being reinstated at April’s Lockdown event. That would eventually culminate in Raven Vs. Zbyszko hair-vs. -hair match at Victory Road in July.
Raven waves goodbye as the announcers talk about him being robbed.
Shane Douglas backstage with Ron Killings getting ready for his match with Bobby Roode. The shits just keep on coming. Konnan interrupts Killings’ interview protesting that Killings never called him back. Hey Konnan, that’s called a 1-night stand where I come from. Sorry you got used.
Tenay uses the serious voice to talk about Raven’s exit from TNA. As the minutes pass, I hate this show more and more.
Cameras head to the back as Zbyszko taunts Raven further on his way out of the building. Jackie Gayda shows up and talks to Larry and Raven. Jackie hints at being screwed over just like Raven was, and this angle would go nowhere. If I keep pointing my thumbs down they may get stuck in that position.
Match 5: Ron Killings Vs. Bobby Roode
Ron Killings doesn’t ask “What’s Up?” because that’s not his song yet.
Bobby Roode and Ron Killings were in a mini-feud here that was an extension of the 3LK Vs. Team Canada feud that Dumbinated TNA throughout 2005. They had a match on iMPACT that Killings won in 10 seconds. Roode wanted an immediate rematch, got it and lost in less than a minute. He wanted a third match, got it and thanks to Coach D’Amoore was victorious. If this sounds lame, you’ve come to the right storyline.
The match, periodic bursts of offense from Killings typically ended by interference from Scott D’Amoore. The crowd did give a halfhearted TNA chant at 1 point for a Killings dive on to Roode who was teasing walking out on the match. I wish he hadn’t been teasing. I should not that this is the third consecutive match to feature interference and as I’ve seen this show a time or 2 previously I can confidently say this won’t be the last.
Roode hits a crossbody which Killings roles through for a 2 count. Konnan is out soon after to prove to Truth that he has his back. The distraction allows Roode to hit the Northern Lariat and get the pin.
Winner: Bobby Roode
This was also not good.
Thumb Position: Down, so pointless it hurts.
IMPACT: None, this at least ended the feud between Roode and Killings. Roode gained nothing from this win and nothing came of the Killings/Konnan dynamic for another few months.
B.G. James comes out and attacks Konnan but Homicide nails him from behind. Kip James makes the save as Ron Killings decides to walk out on this mess. Perhaps he’s smarter than I give him credit for?
Shane Douglas interviews Abyss with James Mitchell.
First Douglas asks Mitchell about Sting. I don’t know why he brought this up to Mitchell and nobody else previously. Mitchell cuts another pretty great promo against Rhino. I’d transcribe these but they don’t do him justice and oh yeah, I don’t want to transcribe them. Abyss has Rhino scheduled for Extinction, better not tell PETA.
The next thing to air is a video package for our next match. This feud started because Rhino was looking for revenge against those that cost him the World title. He was primarily talking about Team Canada but the Canadians hired Abyss to do some dirty work for them. You can tell who was booking during this period based on the number of feuds in which the Canadians figured prominently.
Match 7: Abyss Vs. Rhino
Abyss was coming off of a feud with Sabu that culminated at Turning Point with a Barbed Wire match. Rhino was coming off of a feud with Jeff Jarrett over the world heavyweight championship. I don’t need to tell you who came out the loser in that one.
Borash announces Abyss as “Weighing in excess of 350 LBS.” I don’t think the NSAC would approve of TNA’s weight measuring techniques.
The Match, it may surprise you to know that a match between Abyss and Rhino quickly broke down in to a brawl involving the plunder but I swear that’s exactly how it happened.
Tenay asks if it is too simplistic to break this down as a battle between the black hole slam and the gore? I say that TNA wouldn’t know simplicity if it came up and introduced itself as such.
There’s a repeated chant of “Rhino” coming from maybe 6 people in the front row.
Mitchell distracts Rhino and Abyss gets a steel chain and that gets 2. A Rhino spinebuster gets a 2 count on him. Mitchell continues to distract and grabs the leg of Abyss to prevent Rhino from hitting the Rhino-driver. Rhino uses a kick to block a choke slam but Abyss hits the Black Hole slam on a chair for the win.
Winner: Abyss
This was fine I guess, but this is the fifth consecutive match that contained outside interference.
Thumb Position: In the Middle, it was ok but not great but the interference and the fact the crowd wasn’t into it really hurt.
IMPACT: Minor, this was the first match in a feud which spanned a couple more pay per views.
Shane Douglas is with Team 3D. Shane Douglas compares 3D to men who served in World War II.
Brother Ray runs down a list of teams that have held the NWA titles and he says that tonight it is time for them to add their names to that list. The promo was actually pretty good in getting over the value of the belts.
The video package for this feud airs. The mention of the WCW tag titles gets some loud boos from the crowd, but the mention of the WWE tag titles gets an even larger chorus of boos.
Match 8: Team 3D Vs. America’s Most Wanted – NWA World Tag Team Title Bout
These 2 teams had been feuding since 3D’s arrival in TNA in October of 2005. Team 3D defeated AMW in a tables match at Turning Point to set this title match up.
We get the UFC style introductions for this one. Borash makes a big deal of the Team 3D quest to win the grand slam. Its almost as if they are setting something up.
The best thing I can say before this match starts is that Gail Kim is at ringside.
The match, we’re off to a strong start as something is wrong with Don West’s microphone. Some might consider this to work in favor of this match.
Team 3D dominates the action in the early stages of the match. The crowd insists that tables be gotten so the tables are gotten. A nearfall is scored by Team 3D after the use of a Doomsday Device which Mike Tenay says is a tribute to the Road Warriors. AMW miscommunication results in another 3D nearfall. Gail Kim is in and hands powder to one of AMW. The ref takes the powder and the 3D gets the pin for the former Dudley Boys.
The crowd pops huge for the title win, but get this. Team Canada come out and attack Team 3D with the hockey stick. The Canadians put Harris on top of the fallen Team 3D and when the referee’s eyes clear, the referee awards AMW the match.
That was a unique finish and profoundly stupid. First, the referee could see well enough to count a pin but couldn’t see well enough to know who was actually scoring the pin? I continue to wonder how it is that TNA doesn’t make a billion dollars a day. When I first saw this match I thought the finish was so unique that I never wanted to see it again. Now the only thing I need to add is that this is proof that unique is not always good.
Winners: America’s Most Wanted
Booking killed this match.
Thumb Position: Down, the match was fine but that horrid finish was beyond all realms of sane thought. This is the 6th match in a row that involved outside interference.
IMPACT: none, the feud would be forgotten about for months after this and Team 3D wouldn’t really get close to the tag titles until this year’s Final Resolution.
Backstage we have Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown. They tease that Sting and Christian Cage can’t get along. Monty Brown impersonates an alarm clock and Elmer Fud in the same promo. This was a decent promo actually if only because I’m entertained by Monty’s wackiness.
A video package airs to set up the next match between Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels.
Match 9: Christopher Daniels Vs. Samoa Joe – X-division title bout
Daniels was making his singles return after a couple of months off after Samoa Joe turned on him at Genesis and left him laid out. In December at Turning Point, Joe defeated AJ Styles for the X-division title and was going to do the same to Styles when Daniels made his return.
We get the UFC style introductions for the second consecutive match. Samoa Joe is the undefeated, undisputed X-division champion at this point. What would happen if someone like, oh say, Shark Boy ran out and disputed his claim to the X-title? Would the announcers call him the disputed x-division champion?
The match, the crowd livens up a bit with a dueling chant of “Fallen Angel”, “Lets Go Joe”. Nice Joe TNA did of turning Samoa Joe heel. I’d think the crowd would’ve been completely deflated by that last match and its wacky and nonsensical conclusion.
The main theme of this match is that Joe works on the head area of Daniels due to the Concussion Daniels was suffering from. Joe drops Daniels on his head and to emphasize the danger involved, Mike Tenay shrieks like a little girl. Tenay shrieks like a girl a second time when Samoa Joe hits a hurricanrana. A light “This is awesome” chant breaks out but a majority of the crowd doesn’t pick up on it and the chant dies out quickly. A sustained TNA chant does start a minute or so later. This has been the most active the crowd has been all night. Nice to see them finally wake up.
Joe just continues to attack Daniels with moves to his head and Daniels tries to answer back with his more high-flying offense. Tenay references the multiple concussions that Bret Hart suffered in WCW. Every time Daniels fails to do something or Joe counters, Tenay screams about a concussion. Its like he’s trying to make a point or something. Joe hits the musclebuster to the shriek of the announcers. Joe hooks the Kokina Clutch but Daniels gets his foot on the ropes. This just serves to piss Joe off and he goes for the steel chair. West is talking about career ending injuries as the crowd is chanting “Joe’s gonna Kill You”. Don’t these people know how serious this is supposed to be? Joe drops Daniels on the chair and the crowd is so concerned for his well being that they chant “One more time”.
AJ Styles is looking on as Samoa Joe nails several soccer style kicks and drops several knees across Daniels’ face. Shot after shot until AJ Styles throws in the towel. Its nice to know that in TNA a match can end by someone just throwing a towel in the ring regardless of whether or not they’re your official manager.
Winner: Samoa Joe
I liked the psychology of Joe working the head but the announcers went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to selling it.
Thumb Position: Up, but with AJ throwing in the towel that’s another not so clean finish on a show full of interference and bad finishes.
iMPACT: Profound, This continued the Styles/Joe/Daniels triangle feud that lasted through April and would also result in the formation of the Styles and Daniels tag team that dominated the summer and fall of TNA.
A video package airs setting up our main event match. It is more talking from Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown.
Shane Douglas is backstage and he wants words with Christian Cage. Cage says that Sting can trust him, and if you don’t believe him jump on the phone and ask his brother or Chris Jericho if he can be trusted. Christian then thinks better of it and says that you should ask the peeps in the zone.
Christian is excited that Sting is in TNA and that he is Christian’s partner. I’ll be he’s less excited around August or so.
Match 10: Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown Vs. Christian Cage and Sting
Jarrett had just concluded a feud with Rhino. Christian and Monty Brown wrestled a number 1 contenders match for the title at Turning Point, which was won by Christian. Sting was making his return to TNA after a 2-year absence.
Individual introductions and they are not UFC style. Jarrett comes out with Gail Kim. I still hate Jarrett and still love Gail.
The crowd pops huge for Sting’s introduction which proves that he was who they were there to see.
The Match, Christian would start out against Monty Brown. Sting got a big “Welcome back” chant before the bell rang. Jarrett is in and Christian mocks him with the Jarrett strut. Christian asks if the people want Sting in the ring and they give him an emphatic yes.
Sting and Jarrett pose for the support of the crowd and Sting wins that battle. Sting blocks a hiptoss, hits one of his own and then hits a dropkick. A chant of “You still got it” breaks out. This may be the easiest crowd that Sting has ever worked in front of in his career. Jarrett hits a cheapshot on Sting to take control of the match. It wouldn’t last long as Sting drives Jarrett face first to the mat.
Gail distracts Christian, which allows Jarrett to send him to the floor. Gail hits Christian with a Hurricanrana which makes him a lucky man in my book. However, that is the 8th consecutive match that had outside interference of 1 form or another. Its like Russo wrote this show in secret or something.
Jarrett and Monty keep the heat on Christian with a series of quick tags. The crowd chants “Alpha female”, which just sounds stupid for a number of obvious reasons. Christian eventually gets back in the match, hits a frog splash and that prompts chants of “Eddie” from the crowd.
Christian goes to tag Sting but Jarrett pulls him off the apron to prevent the tag. A chair comes in to play but fortunately for Christian he avoids it and nails both men with double DDT. He crawls to Sting and makes the tag to Sting to a nice pop. Sting hits Jarrett with a Stinger splash and if you guessed that a ref bump was soon to follow you’d be correct. Sting locks Jarrett in the scorpion but of course there is no ref. Jarrett makes the ropes, but Sting pulls him back so of course Jarrett taps with still no ref. Monty breaks up the hold but Sting thinks it was Christian. They have words and Monty goes for a belt shot but Sting will have none of it. Sting and Christian put aside the issues and work together. Team Canada comes out to interfere because we haven’t had nearly enough of it on this show. Sting uses a double scorpion Death Drop to dispose of Team Canada. Christian nails Monty but Gail distracts Sting. Jarrett hits Sting with the belt and finally the referee recovers in time to count 2 for Jarrett. A few seconds later Sting starts to Hulk up and that’s bad news for Jarrett. Jarrett goes to hit Sting with the guitar but Sting hits the guitar with the baseball bat. Scorpion Death Drop for Jarrett and its all she wrote.
Winners: Sting and Christian Cage
We had ref bumps; weapons involved, we had multiple run-ins…if I didn’t know better I’d think Jeff Jarrett were somehow involved in this match.
Sting soaks in the admiration of the crowd as Christian fades to the background.
Thumb Position: Slightly up, the formula did this match no favors especially since we saw interference on 80% of this show. However, the result sent the crowd home happy and was what they came to see so it was a success in that respect if just barely.
IMPACT: Profound, this match set up the following feuds. It set up a Christian title shot against Jarrett next month and eventual defense against Monty Brown. It also set the stage for the Sting vs. Jarrett feud that for better or worse, mostly worse was the focus of TNA throughout 2006. It also indirectly set up Christian’s eventual turn on Sting in August of 06 which would set the stage for events that are playing out leading into this year’s Final Resolution.
Final Thoughts: This show stands as an excellent example of why I don’t trust my initial judgment. I originally gave this event a favorable review, but watching it again so far after the fact made me realize how much of a cluster it really ended up being. Interference in 8 of 10 matches, wacky finishes that didn’t help anyone in the end and arguably hurt some of those involved chiefly Team 3D. I don’t know who booked this show but they should not be allowed anywhere near a book again so as to prevent a repeat of this disaster.
The Judgments:
Wrestling Quality: 4 (1 pretty good match, 2 ok matches and a bunch of forgetfulness)
Backstage Quality: 4 (A couple of good video packages, a couple of good promos and a lot less garbage than last year)
Crowd Heat: 3 (They came to see Sting, and Samoa Joe kill someone and barely reacted to anything else outside of 3D’s apparent title win)
Announcing: 3 (they way over-sold tonight and didn’t make me laugh in the least)
Booking: 1 (This gets 1 point because Sting going over in the main event made sense. The abundance of screwy finishes and run-ins however made this a booking disaster)
IMPACT Analysis: 3 (It didn’t have nearly the iMPACT that the prior year’s did in terms of setting up things throughout the year but it did have a profound iMPACT on the main event scene so there is at least that much)
Replay Factor: 1 (I would recommend Joe Vs. Daniels to fans of either man but that match can be found on other DVDs. The main event was enjoyable for Sting fans but is found on his DVD. The only reason to even consider watching this show again is to see the horrid booking and to instruct future bookers as to what to avoid.)
Average: 2.71 Beyond horrible
Worth Buying the DVD?: no way
What is the iMPACT Analysis? I take a look back at the given event and I try to provide context for each match. Looking at what each participant had been doing prior to their match with their given opponent and I also look at how the result of the match impacted the future direction of the wrestlers, the titles and the promotion as a whole. Then at the end I rate the show on a number of criteria.
All of these are rated on a scale from 0-10.
Wrestling Quality: How was the in-ring action on the show?
Backstage Quality: How were the promos, backstage skits and other angles?
Crowd Heat: Was the crowd in to the show?
Announcing: Were they on point, humorous, say something completely stupid?
Booking: Did the storyline direction make sense? Did the right man or team go over in the end?
iMPACT Analysis: How did this show iMPACT the company? Was it memorable, a complete throwaway, somewhere in the middle?
Replay Factor: How much of this would you ever want to view a second time?
Average: Taking the score in each of the above categories and dividing it by the number of categories and that determines the show score.
Worth buying the DVD?: Asks if this DVD is worth the purchase or not.
Click Continue Reading for the review.
Event: TNA Final Resolution 2006
Event Date: 01/15/2006
Event Venue: Universal Studios, Orlando Florida
Announcers: Mike Tenay and Don West, Shane Douglas (backstage interviewer)
I’m not watching the preshow matches, but it is interesting to note that a faction would make its PPV-in-ring debut on this preshow and would go on to become one of the hottest acts in the company in 2006. That group would be the Latin American Xchange.
Ok, 1 note on the preshow. LAX come out to the ring and Jeremy Borash announces Apolo even though he’s actually not there and then corrects himself and announcing it as just Konnan and Homicide. If that wasn’t bad enough, the LAX came out to the James Gang’s music. Seriously, we’re the second match in on the preshow and they’re already fucking up. I’ve got a hunch it will be one of those shows.
We start off the Pay Per View with the usual video package. This centers on the fact
that Sting is returning to the ring for the first time in 5 years and making his TNA debut even though he wrestled there in 2003 and 2004. Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown, who main evented the first Final Resolution Pay Per View against one another offer comment. Christian Cage is there to rebut all of their claims. They flashback to the official announcement of Sting’s arrival and Christian’s announcing of the Final Resolution main event.
This show is presented to us by TNAWrestling.com, I wonder how much they got for that sponsorship?
Mike Tenay and Don West open the show. Tonight the face of TNA changes. I predict you’ll hear that a lot throughout 2006. Call it a shot in the dark.
Match 1: Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong and Austin Aries
Vs.
Matt Bentley, Chris Sabin and Sonjay Dutt
This is not a random wacky x-division tag match as Shelley/Strong/Aries were a stable at this point. They were coming off of a win over Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles and Chris Sabin on iMPACT. Complaining about not being on the Pay Per View resulted in this match being signed. It should also be noted that Jerry Lynn was basically playing the same role he is now with Chris Sabin with the heel trio leading up to this match. I said this in the 2005 Final Resolution Analysis, but the more things change the more they stay the same.
On the face side of things you have Matt Bentley in the middle of a short-lived face run that nobody cared about. At Turning Point 2005, Sabin and Dutt were involved in the Basebrawl angle with members of the World Series Champion Chicago White Sox.
The match, I will start out by saying that reading enough of these columns from me you will realize that I favor starting out the show with a fast paced match to get the crowd into the show from the get-go. So of all the matches on the card, this was the best choice to open the show.
Dave Hebner is out in the crowd taking notes. I may have forgotten if this had a payoff but I’m pretty confident that it did not. Jerry Lynn also comes out to take a look.
I guess its an interesting trivia note that both Final Resolution 05 and 06 opened with 6 man tag team matches and that Matt Bentley was in both of them. Think of trivia notes like that as my version of pop-up video.
The match is basically the heel team getting the heat on Sonjay for a few minutes before we devolve into the high-spot-tastic matches that are the trademark of the X-division. Alex Shelley gets the pin with a quick role-up.
Winners: Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong
It was a fun opener but the crowd was not as in to this as they usually are for this kind of thing.
Thumb Position: Up, non-offensive match to open up the show. Clean win for the heels, perfectly acceptable opener.
IMPACT: Minimal as Aries/Strong/Shelley were shortly hereafter split up with Shelley taking on the Paparazzi gimmick full-tilt and Aries/Strong working as a tag team. This would only last for a month as Aries and Strong were suspended in February for not flying in to a show when requested and working a ring of honor show in bad weather. Roderick Strong would come back for 1 more match on iMPACT, a world-x-cup qualifier that he would lose, and Aries would not return until Bound for Glory in October under the name of Austin Starr.
On the face side, Sabin and Dutt would wrestle for the tag titles the next month while Bentley was a heel again by the middle of March.
We go to a video package chronicling the entire 3LK/4LK storyline that set the whole world on fire in 2005. Oh, no it just made the world want to set itself on fire.
Match 2: Diamonds in the Rough Vs. The James Gang
Diamonds in the Rough were coming off of the Basebrawl angle. Kip and B.G. James were teaming as the James Gang for the first time in TNA Wrestling.
B.G. has the mic and he does the very old school introduction. This intro is so old school it was in a 1-room schoolhouse.
Kip James says I’ve only got 3 words for you: “Get it, got it, good”. Yes he actually said he had 3 words for us and then said 5 of them. I hate this man. Even Tenay pointed out that this jackass couldn’t count to 5. Tenay was much nicer pointing out Kip's mistake than I made it sound. He was also much nicer than I would've been if I were calling this match. If you think I’m spending too much time on this, keep in mind that it keeps me from having to pay attention to this match.
Tenay says that Elix Skipper claimed in the locker-room that he would out-wrestle the James Gang. Guess what, it wouldn’t really take much. Like buying a pair of wrestling boots and trunks should be sufficient.
The match, well to say that it sucks would tarnish the good name that sucky matches have acquired over the years. This match makes me curse the fact that videotape was ever invented. At least if I were watching this on VHS there’d be a chance that for the good of my sanity the VCR would try to eat the tape.
The crowd starts a dueling chant of “New Age Outlaws”, and “Lets go Diamonds” and its roughly 98 of every 100 people chanting Outlaws and the remainder chanting for the Diamonds. BTW, a dueling chant for the Diamonds in the Rough may be the lamest thing in the history of matter.
Don West, you don’t realize how big Kip James is until you stand next to him. Myself, you don’t realize how little I care about how big Kip James is at the point I’m standing next to him or any other time on earth.
The James Gang walk away with the victory with something; I must confess to not paying attention.
Winner: The James Gang
This was not good. James Gang had to win because they were facing glorified jobbers in their first match back as an official team.
Thumb Position: Down, boring match due largely to the involvement of the James Gang.
IMPACT: Minimal, this did nothing for the Diamonds as once a jobber team always a jobber team. As for the James Gang this was a warm-up match for their next feud against the early incarnation of LAX, which was also not good.
Match 3: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. AJ Styles
Tanahashi was on loan from New Japan Pro Wrestling, and that’s about it for him. AJ Styles had dropped the X-division title to Samoa Joe at Turning Point and was briefly sidetracked from that feud with Joe and Daniels in to a small program with Shannon Moore who stole his Mr. TNA 2005 plaque. If I were AJ, I’d have let him keep it.
The Match, Jeremy Borash announcing AJ as Mr. TNA 2005 makes him sound like a gigantic transvestite porn star. The crowd starts the dueling chants for AJ and Tanahashi and I’ll bet dollars to donuts most chanting for Tanahashi were watching him for the first time.
Tenay is in his glory spouting out facts, figures and notes about Tanahashi and his wrestling background. The announcers cover for the fact that these 2 don’t seem to be jelling by the tried and true method of pointing out that this is their first meeting and that they have a Clash of Styles.
The crowd has become less vocal as the match has progressed, I’m no Vince Russo or anything but to me that’s not a real good sign.
Shannon Moore runs out and hits AJ with the plaque but that doesn’t stop AJ from hitting the Styles Clash for the victory.
Winner: AJ Styles
They brought Tanahashi in for this?
AJ had reacquired the plaque but Moore stole it again.
Thumb Position: In the middle, match was ok but not great. Hurt by the weight of high expectations going in and the interference of Moore in the finish.
IMPACT: None. Tanahashi’s appearances were limited to this show. The win did nothing for AJ Styles and the Shannon Moore feud was blown off shortly after this match, as his tenure in TNA was short-lived before he headed back to the WWE and what would eventually be a spot in the new ECW.
Video package for the Raven Vs. Zbyszko feud airs and then we have an interview with Shane Douglas and Raven. Raven’s promo is, uh, interesting in a creepy sort of way.
Match 4: Raven Vs. Sean Waltman
Raven was in the midst of a feud with Zbyszko who was bringing in wrestlers from Raven’s past to screw with him. These included PJ Polacko (Justin Credible) in November and Chris Kanyon in December. Sean Waltman was last seen in TNA in the Chris Candido memorial tag tournament, which he won along with Alex Shelley.
Raven and Sean Waltman wrestled at the May 2005 Hard Justice PPV in which Waltman substituted for Jeff Hardy. They also competed against 1 another at June’s Slammiversary in the King of the Mountain match in which Raven would win his first and thus far only NWA world heavyweight championship.
The Match, Raven doesn’t wait for the bell as he attacks Waltman right away. A Kendo Stick gets involved in the very early stages. The Kendo stick wasn’t the only weapon to be used, as this became the first weapons filled brawl of the night.
The ref gets bumped, that’s the first one of the night. Raven hits the Raven-effect DDT but no ref. Crowd counts to 7 or so but the crowd isn’t the referee. Zbyszko is the ref now and gives Raven a slow-count.
Zbyszko also gives Waltman a 2 count. I feel I should ask that if Larry wanted to screw Raven over in this match why not just count to 3 anyway? It is questions like this that will keep me from ever booking a wrestling company.
Dave Hebner is out observing again as Raven gets another very slow count from Zbyszko.
A ladder gets involved and Zbyszko helps Waltman who gives Raven an X-factor through a table. Zbyszko counts to 3 but Raven has his foot on the ropes. Raven’s TNA career is over according to Tenay.
Winner: Sean Waltman
This was so stupid, why did Zbyszko wait so long to screw Raven over?
Zbyszko taunts Raven after the match.
Thumb Position: Down, booking made no sense whatsoever and the match was not that good anyway.
IMPACT: Middle of the Road, Waltman was gone after this show. Raven would be off of TV until being reinstated at April’s Lockdown event. That would eventually culminate in Raven Vs. Zbyszko hair-vs. -hair match at Victory Road in July.
Raven waves goodbye as the announcers talk about him being robbed.
Shane Douglas backstage with Ron Killings getting ready for his match with Bobby Roode. The shits just keep on coming. Konnan interrupts Killings’ interview protesting that Killings never called him back. Hey Konnan, that’s called a 1-night stand where I come from. Sorry you got used.
Tenay uses the serious voice to talk about Raven’s exit from TNA. As the minutes pass, I hate this show more and more.
Cameras head to the back as Zbyszko taunts Raven further on his way out of the building. Jackie Gayda shows up and talks to Larry and Raven. Jackie hints at being screwed over just like Raven was, and this angle would go nowhere. If I keep pointing my thumbs down they may get stuck in that position.
Match 5: Ron Killings Vs. Bobby Roode
Ron Killings doesn’t ask “What’s Up?” because that’s not his song yet.
Bobby Roode and Ron Killings were in a mini-feud here that was an extension of the 3LK Vs. Team Canada feud that Dumbinated TNA throughout 2005. They had a match on iMPACT that Killings won in 10 seconds. Roode wanted an immediate rematch, got it and lost in less than a minute. He wanted a third match, got it and thanks to Coach D’Amoore was victorious. If this sounds lame, you’ve come to the right storyline.
The match, periodic bursts of offense from Killings typically ended by interference from Scott D’Amoore. The crowd did give a halfhearted TNA chant at 1 point for a Killings dive on to Roode who was teasing walking out on the match. I wish he hadn’t been teasing. I should not that this is the third consecutive match to feature interference and as I’ve seen this show a time or 2 previously I can confidently say this won’t be the last.
Roode hits a crossbody which Killings roles through for a 2 count. Konnan is out soon after to prove to Truth that he has his back. The distraction allows Roode to hit the Northern Lariat and get the pin.
Winner: Bobby Roode
This was also not good.
Thumb Position: Down, so pointless it hurts.
IMPACT: None, this at least ended the feud between Roode and Killings. Roode gained nothing from this win and nothing came of the Killings/Konnan dynamic for another few months.
B.G. James comes out and attacks Konnan but Homicide nails him from behind. Kip James makes the save as Ron Killings decides to walk out on this mess. Perhaps he’s smarter than I give him credit for?
Shane Douglas interviews Abyss with James Mitchell.
First Douglas asks Mitchell about Sting. I don’t know why he brought this up to Mitchell and nobody else previously. Mitchell cuts another pretty great promo against Rhino. I’d transcribe these but they don’t do him justice and oh yeah, I don’t want to transcribe them. Abyss has Rhino scheduled for Extinction, better not tell PETA.
The next thing to air is a video package for our next match. This feud started because Rhino was looking for revenge against those that cost him the World title. He was primarily talking about Team Canada but the Canadians hired Abyss to do some dirty work for them. You can tell who was booking during this period based on the number of feuds in which the Canadians figured prominently.
Match 7: Abyss Vs. Rhino
Abyss was coming off of a feud with Sabu that culminated at Turning Point with a Barbed Wire match. Rhino was coming off of a feud with Jeff Jarrett over the world heavyweight championship. I don’t need to tell you who came out the loser in that one.
Borash announces Abyss as “Weighing in excess of 350 LBS.” I don’t think the NSAC would approve of TNA’s weight measuring techniques.
The Match, it may surprise you to know that a match between Abyss and Rhino quickly broke down in to a brawl involving the plunder but I swear that’s exactly how it happened.
Tenay asks if it is too simplistic to break this down as a battle between the black hole slam and the gore? I say that TNA wouldn’t know simplicity if it came up and introduced itself as such.
There’s a repeated chant of “Rhino” coming from maybe 6 people in the front row.
Mitchell distracts Rhino and Abyss gets a steel chain and that gets 2. A Rhino spinebuster gets a 2 count on him. Mitchell continues to distract and grabs the leg of Abyss to prevent Rhino from hitting the Rhino-driver. Rhino uses a kick to block a choke slam but Abyss hits the Black Hole slam on a chair for the win.
Winner: Abyss
This was fine I guess, but this is the fifth consecutive match that contained outside interference.
Thumb Position: In the Middle, it was ok but not great but the interference and the fact the crowd wasn’t into it really hurt.
IMPACT: Minor, this was the first match in a feud which spanned a couple more pay per views.
Shane Douglas is with Team 3D. Shane Douglas compares 3D to men who served in World War II.
Brother Ray runs down a list of teams that have held the NWA titles and he says that tonight it is time for them to add their names to that list. The promo was actually pretty good in getting over the value of the belts.
The video package for this feud airs. The mention of the WCW tag titles gets some loud boos from the crowd, but the mention of the WWE tag titles gets an even larger chorus of boos.
Match 8: Team 3D Vs. America’s Most Wanted – NWA World Tag Team Title Bout
These 2 teams had been feuding since 3D’s arrival in TNA in October of 2005. Team 3D defeated AMW in a tables match at Turning Point to set this title match up.
We get the UFC style introductions for this one. Borash makes a big deal of the Team 3D quest to win the grand slam. Its almost as if they are setting something up.
The best thing I can say before this match starts is that Gail Kim is at ringside.
The match, we’re off to a strong start as something is wrong with Don West’s microphone. Some might consider this to work in favor of this match.
Team 3D dominates the action in the early stages of the match. The crowd insists that tables be gotten so the tables are gotten. A nearfall is scored by Team 3D after the use of a Doomsday Device which Mike Tenay says is a tribute to the Road Warriors. AMW miscommunication results in another 3D nearfall. Gail Kim is in and hands powder to one of AMW. The ref takes the powder and the 3D gets the pin for the former Dudley Boys.
The crowd pops huge for the title win, but get this. Team Canada come out and attack Team 3D with the hockey stick. The Canadians put Harris on top of the fallen Team 3D and when the referee’s eyes clear, the referee awards AMW the match.
That was a unique finish and profoundly stupid. First, the referee could see well enough to count a pin but couldn’t see well enough to know who was actually scoring the pin? I continue to wonder how it is that TNA doesn’t make a billion dollars a day. When I first saw this match I thought the finish was so unique that I never wanted to see it again. Now the only thing I need to add is that this is proof that unique is not always good.
Winners: America’s Most Wanted
Booking killed this match.
Thumb Position: Down, the match was fine but that horrid finish was beyond all realms of sane thought. This is the 6th match in a row that involved outside interference.
IMPACT: none, the feud would be forgotten about for months after this and Team 3D wouldn’t really get close to the tag titles until this year’s Final Resolution.
Backstage we have Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown. They tease that Sting and Christian Cage can’t get along. Monty Brown impersonates an alarm clock and Elmer Fud in the same promo. This was a decent promo actually if only because I’m entertained by Monty’s wackiness.
A video package airs to set up the next match between Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels.
Match 9: Christopher Daniels Vs. Samoa Joe – X-division title bout
Daniels was making his singles return after a couple of months off after Samoa Joe turned on him at Genesis and left him laid out. In December at Turning Point, Joe defeated AJ Styles for the X-division title and was going to do the same to Styles when Daniels made his return.
We get the UFC style introductions for the second consecutive match. Samoa Joe is the undefeated, undisputed X-division champion at this point. What would happen if someone like, oh say, Shark Boy ran out and disputed his claim to the X-title? Would the announcers call him the disputed x-division champion?
The match, the crowd livens up a bit with a dueling chant of “Fallen Angel”, “Lets Go Joe”. Nice Joe TNA did of turning Samoa Joe heel. I’d think the crowd would’ve been completely deflated by that last match and its wacky and nonsensical conclusion.
The main theme of this match is that Joe works on the head area of Daniels due to the Concussion Daniels was suffering from. Joe drops Daniels on his head and to emphasize the danger involved, Mike Tenay shrieks like a little girl. Tenay shrieks like a girl a second time when Samoa Joe hits a hurricanrana. A light “This is awesome” chant breaks out but a majority of the crowd doesn’t pick up on it and the chant dies out quickly. A sustained TNA chant does start a minute or so later. This has been the most active the crowd has been all night. Nice to see them finally wake up.
Joe just continues to attack Daniels with moves to his head and Daniels tries to answer back with his more high-flying offense. Tenay references the multiple concussions that Bret Hart suffered in WCW. Every time Daniels fails to do something or Joe counters, Tenay screams about a concussion. Its like he’s trying to make a point or something. Joe hits the musclebuster to the shriek of the announcers. Joe hooks the Kokina Clutch but Daniels gets his foot on the ropes. This just serves to piss Joe off and he goes for the steel chair. West is talking about career ending injuries as the crowd is chanting “Joe’s gonna Kill You”. Don’t these people know how serious this is supposed to be? Joe drops Daniels on the chair and the crowd is so concerned for his well being that they chant “One more time”.
AJ Styles is looking on as Samoa Joe nails several soccer style kicks and drops several knees across Daniels’ face. Shot after shot until AJ Styles throws in the towel. Its nice to know that in TNA a match can end by someone just throwing a towel in the ring regardless of whether or not they’re your official manager.
Winner: Samoa Joe
I liked the psychology of Joe working the head but the announcers went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to selling it.
Thumb Position: Up, but with AJ throwing in the towel that’s another not so clean finish on a show full of interference and bad finishes.
iMPACT: Profound, This continued the Styles/Joe/Daniels triangle feud that lasted through April and would also result in the formation of the Styles and Daniels tag team that dominated the summer and fall of TNA.
A video package airs setting up our main event match. It is more talking from Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown.
Shane Douglas is backstage and he wants words with Christian Cage. Cage says that Sting can trust him, and if you don’t believe him jump on the phone and ask his brother or Chris Jericho if he can be trusted. Christian then thinks better of it and says that you should ask the peeps in the zone.
Christian is excited that Sting is in TNA and that he is Christian’s partner. I’ll be he’s less excited around August or so.
Match 10: Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown Vs. Christian Cage and Sting
Jarrett had just concluded a feud with Rhino. Christian and Monty Brown wrestled a number 1 contenders match for the title at Turning Point, which was won by Christian. Sting was making his return to TNA after a 2-year absence.
Individual introductions and they are not UFC style. Jarrett comes out with Gail Kim. I still hate Jarrett and still love Gail.
The crowd pops huge for Sting’s introduction which proves that he was who they were there to see.
The Match, Christian would start out against Monty Brown. Sting got a big “Welcome back” chant before the bell rang. Jarrett is in and Christian mocks him with the Jarrett strut. Christian asks if the people want Sting in the ring and they give him an emphatic yes.
Sting and Jarrett pose for the support of the crowd and Sting wins that battle. Sting blocks a hiptoss, hits one of his own and then hits a dropkick. A chant of “You still got it” breaks out. This may be the easiest crowd that Sting has ever worked in front of in his career. Jarrett hits a cheapshot on Sting to take control of the match. It wouldn’t last long as Sting drives Jarrett face first to the mat.
Gail distracts Christian, which allows Jarrett to send him to the floor. Gail hits Christian with a Hurricanrana which makes him a lucky man in my book. However, that is the 8th consecutive match that had outside interference of 1 form or another. Its like Russo wrote this show in secret or something.
Jarrett and Monty keep the heat on Christian with a series of quick tags. The crowd chants “Alpha female”, which just sounds stupid for a number of obvious reasons. Christian eventually gets back in the match, hits a frog splash and that prompts chants of “Eddie” from the crowd.
Christian goes to tag Sting but Jarrett pulls him off the apron to prevent the tag. A chair comes in to play but fortunately for Christian he avoids it and nails both men with double DDT. He crawls to Sting and makes the tag to Sting to a nice pop. Sting hits Jarrett with a Stinger splash and if you guessed that a ref bump was soon to follow you’d be correct. Sting locks Jarrett in the scorpion but of course there is no ref. Jarrett makes the ropes, but Sting pulls him back so of course Jarrett taps with still no ref. Monty breaks up the hold but Sting thinks it was Christian. They have words and Monty goes for a belt shot but Sting will have none of it. Sting and Christian put aside the issues and work together. Team Canada comes out to interfere because we haven’t had nearly enough of it on this show. Sting uses a double scorpion Death Drop to dispose of Team Canada. Christian nails Monty but Gail distracts Sting. Jarrett hits Sting with the belt and finally the referee recovers in time to count 2 for Jarrett. A few seconds later Sting starts to Hulk up and that’s bad news for Jarrett. Jarrett goes to hit Sting with the guitar but Sting hits the guitar with the baseball bat. Scorpion Death Drop for Jarrett and its all she wrote.
Winners: Sting and Christian Cage
We had ref bumps; weapons involved, we had multiple run-ins…if I didn’t know better I’d think Jeff Jarrett were somehow involved in this match.
Sting soaks in the admiration of the crowd as Christian fades to the background.
Thumb Position: Slightly up, the formula did this match no favors especially since we saw interference on 80% of this show. However, the result sent the crowd home happy and was what they came to see so it was a success in that respect if just barely.
IMPACT: Profound, this match set up the following feuds. It set up a Christian title shot against Jarrett next month and eventual defense against Monty Brown. It also set the stage for the Sting vs. Jarrett feud that for better or worse, mostly worse was the focus of TNA throughout 2006. It also indirectly set up Christian’s eventual turn on Sting in August of 06 which would set the stage for events that are playing out leading into this year’s Final Resolution.
Final Thoughts: This show stands as an excellent example of why I don’t trust my initial judgment. I originally gave this event a favorable review, but watching it again so far after the fact made me realize how much of a cluster it really ended up being. Interference in 8 of 10 matches, wacky finishes that didn’t help anyone in the end and arguably hurt some of those involved chiefly Team 3D. I don’t know who booked this show but they should not be allowed anywhere near a book again so as to prevent a repeat of this disaster.
The Judgments:
Wrestling Quality: 4 (1 pretty good match, 2 ok matches and a bunch of forgetfulness)
Backstage Quality: 4 (A couple of good video packages, a couple of good promos and a lot less garbage than last year)
Crowd Heat: 3 (They came to see Sting, and Samoa Joe kill someone and barely reacted to anything else outside of 3D’s apparent title win)
Announcing: 3 (they way over-sold tonight and didn’t make me laugh in the least)
Booking: 1 (This gets 1 point because Sting going over in the main event made sense. The abundance of screwy finishes and run-ins however made this a booking disaster)
IMPACT Analysis: 3 (It didn’t have nearly the iMPACT that the prior year’s did in terms of setting up things throughout the year but it did have a profound iMPACT on the main event scene so there is at least that much)
Replay Factor: 1 (I would recommend Joe Vs. Daniels to fans of either man but that match can be found on other DVDs. The main event was enjoyable for Sting fans but is found on his DVD. The only reason to even consider watching this show again is to see the horrid booking and to instruct future bookers as to what to avoid.)
Average: 2.71 Beyond horrible
Worth Buying the DVD?: no way
Labels: DVD Reviews, Final Resolution, Final Resolution 2006, iMPACT Analysis, OCC Opinion, TNA
posted by Casey Trowbridge at 1/13/2007 09:50:00 PM
2 Comments:
Keep in mind, this was before Russo had anything to do with the booking (again). How scary is that?
Its horrifying. How do you have a run in in 7 out of 10 matches and a man throwing in a towel in a match he's not involved in during an eighth. The truth is I'm not sure that Simon Diamon didn't do any interfering in the Diamonds match or it may have been 9 of 10...and I'm not going back to find out.
This show wasn't booked by Russo as Ric mentions it was like someone decided to have a Vince Russo tribute show and the only thing they forgot was a match with a poll.
A hint as to what is to come, I can honestly say that for as bad as this show was this is not the worst TNA Pay Per View I've ever seen...we'll get to that abomination in March.
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