In my most humble opinion, while TNA has not had perfect programming as of late, they have put together what could be some very good rivalries. They have also set up a quality PPV on December 5. One that could set up some of their best young stars in such a manner that they can truly begin to take the reins of the company – one of the few things on which TNA supporters and detractors seem to agree should happen.
Given that, I thought we would take a look at what would happen in some key matches if DR. TNA was booking Final Resolution. The scheduled matches are as follows:
TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Jeff Hardy of Immortal (c) vs “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan
SUBMISSION MATCH
Jeff Jarrett vs “The Samoan Submission Machine†Samoa Joe
CASKET MATCH
“The Monster†Abyss vs “The Pope†D’Angelo Dinero
1st BLOOD MATCH
Rob Van Dam vs “The War Machine†Rhino
TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH
FULL METAL MAYHEM
Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs Generation Me
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH
Tara vs Mickie James
TNA TELEVISION TITLE MATCH
“The Phenomenal†AJ Styles (c) vs Douglas Williams
TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH
COOKIE SUSPENDED ABOVE THE RING IN SHARK CAGE
Robbie E (c) vs Jay Lethal
#1 CONTENDER’S MATCH – TAG TEAM
Beer Money vs Ink Inc.
(If it is not already abundantly clear, the following thoughts are NOT spoilers. In no way, are these scenarios based on anything other than the opinion of the author.)
I’m not going to do the full show. Rather, my goal is to detail the outcome of some matches that I believe would best advance TNA’s best talent and explain why I would book it in this manner.
First let’s start with Beer Money versus Ink Inc. The Motor City Machine Guns are great champions and a very fun tag team to watch. I’d like to see them worked into more storylines and a feud with Beer Money is a great way to do that. I’m not looking for a feud isolated from the rest of TNA angles, but rather one that integrates them with some of your more traditional main eventers. To accomplish this, Beer Money and MCMGs need to win their matches. While Ink, Inc.’s speed seems to take control, Beer Money wins via a trademark Storm bottle smash.
Skipping ahead to the AJ Styles versus Douglas Williams match, I would have Styles drop the belt. By doing this, the TV title could be defended on a more regular basis. Williams had a quality segment with Morgan on Thursday’s iMPACT. I was not sure that the crowd would really get behind Williams, but he appeared to have support. Given that, I’d let him run with the TV belt as a face for a while. I would first put him in a feud with Kazarian, which could set up some quality matches. If Styles is no longer TV champ, one could see a scenario in which he could be in for a face turn.  Depending on the timelines for a return of Mr. Anderson and Kurt Angle, this may or may not be needed. However, either way, Styles is now free to become more involved in more main event feuds. Because of this, despite interference from Kazarian and Flair on behalf of Styles, Williams gets the pin.
This brings us to what I consider the most important parts of the show – Abyss versus Pope and Jeff Jarrett versus Samoa Joe. If you watched iMPACT on Thursday you saw that the Pope and Samoa Joe were picked to team with Morgan and Williams in the main event, which was an 8 man tag with Fortune. Including Joe and Pope was a good call by TNA. Having them get in a fight and basically take themselves out of the match, was not the best move, in my opinion. However, it shows me that TNA may finally be ready push these guys. This would be a great move. I like Joe and think he can really contribute. I really like the Pope.  The Pope is a guy around whom you build a company. He is ready to take that mantle and it is time to see what he can do with it. As such, there are only two requirements for these matches: 1) Pope and Joe win, and 2) it is clean.
Finally, we have the main event. Matt Morgan has been very impressive the last few weeks. One month ago, I didn’t see him as a guy who should be in main event matches. In the span of a few weeks he went “one of the guys†in Fortune, to a main event face who has major crowd support. While I couldn’t a few weeks back, I can now see Matt Morgan as TNA Champion, just not now.
Turning Hardy heel was a big risk for TNA and one that appears to be working quite well. The detractors who felt Hardy would not be able to sell himself as a heel, seem to have been off base. While Hardy still hears some cheers, it difficult to credibly say the crowd has not taken to his heel turn. Having successfully turned their biggest start into the guy their fans love to hate, now is not the time to have him lose the belt. That said, Morgan has come far enough that he doesn’t deserve to cleanly get his behind handed to him again. As such, Hardy wins and retains the belt, but with the aid of Immortal.
Following the match the beat down of Morgan ensues. However, unlike the end of recent iMPACTs, this time Morgan is not left on his own. Not surprisingly Williams comes to Morgan’s aid, what is a bit more surprising is that this time the Pope and Samoa Joe soon follow. Immortal scatters. Morgan, Williams, the Pope and Samoa Joe remain in the ring, credits roll and the crowd goes home happy.
That’s how I’d do it. How would you?
