TNA Final Resolution Review - December 5, 2010

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Beer Money def. Ink Inc. in a TNA World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

TNA had such a deep tag team division back in 2010, to the point where they could do number one contender's matches on some pay-per-views while also holding a match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Granted, this wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but they had a quality contest to kick off the show. It's a shame Ink Inc. was short-lived because they were a talented tandem.

Tara def. Mickie James in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Not only was TNA's tag team division stacked at the time, the women's scene was also in much stronger shape than WWE's, especially with the amount of gimmick matches they were given. James and Tara made the most of the stipulation by brawling all around the arena and ending it in the men's bathroom of all places. They got a little too cute with the comedy right before the finish with multiple guys rushing out of the bathroom (including one being caught not washing his hands), but this was fun otherwise. Madison Rayne attacked James to help her pick up the win.

TNA X-Division Champion Robbie E def. Jay Lethal by Disqualification (Cookie Was Locked in a Shark Cage)

Good lord, Cookie was unbearable while screaming from the shark cage, but I guess that was the point. Thankfully, she got her comeuppance afterward by eating a Stunner from Shark Boy, but I don't know if that was enough to make up for the lame finish with Lethal accidentally getting himself disqualified by spraying Robbie with the hair spray that Cookie threw to Robbie. It made Lethal look like an absolute idiot. The match itself was decent otherwise, but the crowd wasn't happy with that ending and understandably so.

Rob Van Dam def. Rhino in a First Blood Match

I loved the story that Rhino only targeted RVD because his contract had legitimately expired a month prior and agreed to do Eric Bischoff's bidding in taking out RVD (an enemy of Immortal at the time). Granted, they rushed right into doing a First Blood match, but I believe that's because Rhino was indeed done with TNA after this. It was the hardcore war you'd expect from these two, but it was what it needed to be.

Douglas Williams def. AJ Styles to Win the TNA Television Championship

This was the only straightforward singles match on the entire show and it was among the best. Styles is obviously awesome and Williams is still criminally underrated. I always enjoyed the chemistry these two had together and this was the expected excellent match from them. Williams beating Styles with his own finisher to win the title was a nice moment, but the reign didn't last long.

TNA World Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns def. Generation Me in a Full Metal Mayhem Match

Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me (a.k.a. The Young Bucks) had such a stellar series of matches in 2010, and it's insane that Generation Me weren't able to win the tag titles even once. Then again, Motor City Machine Guns were fresh off beating Team 3D in Team 3D's "retirement" as a team, so I understand why they retained the titles here. This was a hell of a war and a blast to watch, successfully setting the bar for tag team wrestling.

Abyss def. D'Angelo Dinero in a Casket Match

Dinero had just lost to Abyss at Turning Point the month prior, so you'd think he would've avenged that loss here. Well, apparently not. That pretty much became the story of Dinero's TNA run where he got hot and then gradually fizzled out due to bad booking. I have no idea why this needed to be a Casket match, but it was decent. Abyss punching through the casket was stupid, though.

Jeff Jarrett def. Samoa Joe in a Submission Match

Jarrett's gimmick around this time was that he was pretending to be a submission specialist, specifically as an MMA fighter. It was building toward him rekindling his rivalry with Kurt Angle, so he had to rack up some wins over Joe first. Unfortunately, it was a terrible spot for Joe to be in and a waste of what he could do. This was plodding and not very interesting. The interference from the Immortal stooges down the stretch only made matters worse.

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy def. Matt Morgan in a No Disqualification Match (Mr. Anderson Served as Special Guest Referee)

On a show filled with hardcore matches, doing a regular No Disqualification match in the main event was underwhelming. Okay, so it had a special guest referee, but it's not like that mattered since Anderson was eventually taken out and replaced by an actual referee (who was later revealed to be Bischoff's son). This was a dull main event that made Morgan look like a moron for getting outsmarted again. Even prior to the weak finish, this paled in comparison to almost everything that preceded it.

Overall Show

I remember watching this event when it originally aired but didn't recall that it was basically TNA's version of WWE Extreme Rules with so many damn gimmick matches. Was that par for the course for TNA back then or just this show because so many rivalries were being wrapped up? I'm assuming the former, but I'd have to rewatch more TNA pay-per-views from back then to confirm that. Regardless, I thought the positives outweighed the negatives here. Sure, there was a ton of overbooking and the Immortal stuff was overexposed, but there was also enough entertaining action to make the event worthwhile, despite the dud of an ending.

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