The Chrononaut Chronicles: TNA Final Resolution 2006 — Sunday, January 15, 2006
– A video package hyping Sting’s TNA “debut” in tonight’s tag team main event opens the PPV. Nothing special, just your basic hype video, which is strange for a PPV-opening video in TNA. Sahadi must have been on holidays still or something.
– Roderick Strong & Austin Aries & Alex Shelley vs. Matt Bentley & Sonjay Dutt & Chris Sabin
Mike Tenay & Don West discuss the long-forgotten storyline of Aries, Shelley, & Strong banding together and demanding recognition in the X Division, which led to this match. I miss that angle. Sabin and Shelley both debut their new hairstyles here, looking like someone ribbed them by pouring hairdye on their heads while they were asleep. Actually, this is around the time when Shannon Moore was doing his “X Division has been Punk’d” gimmick so I thought maybe that was the angle they were doing, but apparently Shelley and Sabin did that to their hair on purpose. Sabin nails Shelley with a seated dropkick to the back of the head and tags Dutt, who allows Sabin to powerbomb him onto Shelley and lands with a moonsault for a two-count. Sweet double-team. Shelley bites out of a wristlock and tags Strong as Sonjay flips out of Roderick’s backbreaker attempts and tags Bentley, who works over Strong’s arm while Traci bounces at ringside to cheer on her man.
Strong escapes and tags Aries, who doesn’t fare much better as he gets pinballed in the babyface corner and Bentley catches him in a Northern Lights suplex for two. Dutt tags in and walks along the top rope for the Sprinkler, but ends up getting crotched and Generation Next execute a killer triple-team with Strong & Aries holding Dutt in a back-suplex/neckbreaker combo while Shelley leaps off the top with a double-stomp to the gut. Awesome move, but Sonjay kicks out as Dave Hebner is shown watching from the crowd for some reason that was never explained. The heels work over Sonjay’s back with an assortment of slams and suplexes as Jerry Lynn is shown standing in the aisle to watch the match. Another great triple-team sees Shelley catapult Dutt into a dropkick from Strong and Dutt collapses back onto Shelley’s knees as Aries slingshots in with an Eddie-style senton across Sonjay’s gut. Shelley immediately transitions into an STF and hooks both of Dutt’s arms in a Rings Of Saturn.
The three GenNexters grab a body part and slam Sonjay face-first on the mat, earning Strong a two-count. Dutt drops Strong with a multiple-revolution tilt-a-whirl DDT and makes the hot tag to Sabin, who snaps off a huracanrana on Shelley and hangs him in the tree of woe for the hesitation dropkick, then drop-toeholds Aries into the upside-down Shelley. Sabin drills Strong with a tornado DDT and takes out Shelley & Aries with dropkicks along the way. Shelley slips out of the Cradle Shock, but Sabin decks him with an enzuigiri and Bentley drops the elbow off the top for two. A hiptoss gets two and Strong crunches Bentley with a Rock Bottom backbreaker, but Sonjay plants Strong with the standing Sliced Bread #2 and goes to the top. However, Aries shoves Dutt down to the floor and climbs up, but Sabin pushes Austin off the top out to ringside and wipes him out with a suicide dive through the ropes.
In the ring, Bentley drops Shelley with a reverse STO and prepares the superkick, but Strong cuts him off with a dropkick. Traci hops up on the apron to argue with the ref and Strong grabs her by the hair, but Bentley saves his woman by superkicking Roderick. Shelley then sneaks up and rolls up Bentley with a handful of tights for the 1-2-3 to steal the victory. Afterwards, Shelley grabs his own tights to taunt the babyfaces. Great opener as GenNext obviously have a lot of experience together and work well as a unit. I still wish they hadn’t abandoned this storyline when Aries & Strong got suspended.
– A video package recaps the breakup of the short-lived 4 Live Kru last month and the subsequent formation of the Latin American eXchange when Konnan joined forces with Apolo & Homicide to assault Bullet Bob Armstrong. It is also established that BG & Kip are reunited as the James Gang, while the Truth elected to go solo.
– Diamonds In The Rough vs. The James Gang
This is billed as the first time BG & Kip have teamed together in TNA and Tenay acknowledges their history as Road Dogg & Billy Gunn as BG goes through his already-tired New Age Outlaws spiel and Kip only has three words for us: “Get it, got it, GOOD!” Well, nobody ever accused Mr. Ass of being smart. The fans react with stunned silence as they contemplate how stupid Kip must be and even Tenay points out that it may have been more than three words. I think it was stupid to even do that Attitude-era micwork anyway because at the time, BG was supposed to be all pissed off over LAX attacking his dad, so it made no sense for him to be the happy-go-lucky crowd-pleasing Road Dogg. Oh well.
Elix Skipper controls BG from the outset until BG hits the dancing punches and the shaky kneedrop, but Primetime matrixes out of the pin and tags David Young after BG tags Kip, who goes for the easy pop with the “Suck that!” crotch-chop. Kip overpowers Young and BG clotheslines Young & Skipper over the top rope before the Gang go to the floor and crack the Diamonds’ heads together as the crowd chants “New Age Outlaws”. Back in, Young slams BG with the Anderson spinebuster and the Diamonds work him over until Young misses a moonsault off the top and BG makes the lukewarm tag to Kip, who unloads on both Diamonds and punches Simon when he jumps up on the apron. BG grabs Elix for the pumphandle and pretends to penetrate his asshole, but Young breaks it up and they go to the floor while Kip blocks the Play Of The Day and plants Skipper with the cobra clutch slam for the three-count. Tenay calls it the “Missouri Boat Ride” which is possibly the dumbest name for a finisher ever, unless there’s some kind of backstory I don’t know about.
– Shane “OOOH” Douglas interviews Christopher Daniels, who denies the accusations that he returned too soon from his concussion. The Fallen Angel claims that there’s a difference between unbeaten and unbeatable, and advises Samoa Joe to say his prayers.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles
Hiroshi wears the “Under-30” championship belt from New Japan as some fans actually chant “Tanahashi” and greet him with multicolored rolls of toilet paper. Tenay explains Tanahashi’s Japanese accomplishments and compares him to the Great Muta as Tanahashi hits a cool somersault back-dropkick in the corner and armdrags AJ into an armbar. Styles replies with a dropkick and lands the jumping kneedrop off the ropes for a two-count, but Tanahashi tosses him with a nasty-looking release German suplex followed by a flying forearm, an elbowdrop, and a somersault splash for two. AJ escapes from an abdominal stretch, but Tanahashi clamps on a dragon sleeper and swings him around before slamming him on the mat. Tanahashi plays a subtle heel by going for the pin with his shin across AJ’s throat and the ref won’t count.
Styles avoids a flying elbowdrop off the middle turnbuckle and cracks Hiroshi with an enzuigiri before unloading with clotheslines and the springboard flying forearm. The suplex-neckbreaker gets two and Styles goes for the springboard inverted DDT, but Tanahashi catches him in a full nelson slam for a near-fall. Tanahashi dodges a spinkick and levels Styles with (what I believe is) his “Sling Blade” finisher for two. They struggle on the top turnbuckle and both men crash to the canvas, but they get up and trade waistlocks until Shannon Moore runs out and slides a chair in. While the ref removes the chair, the Prince Of Punk blasts Tanahashi with AJ’s stolen “Mr. TNA 2005” plaque and Styles nails Moore with the Pele. Shannon rolls out and the ref looks confused as AJ semi-heelishly takes advantage of the circumstances and plants Tanahashi with the Styles Clash for the pin. Afterwards, Styles helps Tanahashi up and the Japanese star hands the plaque to AJ, but Shannon sneaks back in and re-steals it before running away. Good match, but it was hurt by the shortness and the ultimately pointless silliness with Moore.
– A video package recaps the Raven/Zbysko saga.
– Shane Douglas interviews Raven, who explains that his love for wrestling is the one thing that keeps him from blowing his brains out. Great line. Raven wonders if destiny will sculpt him “one last title reign… or a ladder into oblivion?” Either way, somebody’s going to get hurt and Larry better hope it’s Raven. Quote the Raven, nevermore.
– In the ring, Zbysko is surrounded by TNA Security as he explains that if Raven wins tonight, he’ll get an NWA Title shot, but if he loses, he’s fired. Larry then introduces the mystery opponent: “X-Pac” Sean Waltman. The crowd responds with raging indifference as the commentators actually remember his last appearance in TNA at Sacrifice against Jerry Lynn.
– No Disqualification: Sean Waltman vs. Raven
Raven brings out a shopping cart full of weapons and pushes it down the ramp into Waltman before chasing Zbysko around the ring. Waltman cuts Raven off with a trashcan lid to the face and canes him in the ring, knocking Raven out through the ropes with a trashcan shot that busts open the former NWA Champion. Raven goes after Zbysko, but TNA Security restrain him as Waltman dives over the top rope and takes him out. Waltman repeatedly rams Raven with the shopping cart, driving him up the ramp to the stage, where Raven bashes Six-Pac with the trashcan lid and sits him in the cart before pushing it off the stage. Nasty landing as the cart turned and Waltman slipped out and hit the stage on the way down. Waltman crawls on the floor as Raven rams the cart into his head and takes him in the ring, retrieving a table and a ladder along the way.
Waltman ducks a clothesline and Raven inadvertently hits the ref, but misses a spinkick and Raven DDTs him. Raven covers Sean but there’s no ref, so the fans count the pin. Zbysko checks on the ref and yells at Raven, who kicks a trashcan back into Waltman’s face when he charges and covers the former 1-2-3 Kid. Zbysko comes in and administers a slow count, allowing Waltman to kick out and lowblow Raven before planting him with the X-Factor, but Larry counts just as slow for Waltman and Raven kicks out. Strange booking there. Waltman lays Raven on the ladder and whips him with a weightlifting belt, but when he charges for the Bronco Buster, Raven moves and Sean’s gonads meet the steel. Raven covers and Waltman kicks out of Larry’s slow count, so Raven sets up the ladder beside the table and drags Waltman by the hair up the ladder. Zbysko tugs on Raven’s shorts to complain about the hairpull, allowing Waltman to lowblow Raven and X-Factor him off the ladder through the table for the three-count as Larry ignores Raven’s foot over the bottom rope.
Afterwards, Zbysko gloats over Raven’s loss and orders TNA Security to remove him from the building because he is out of TNA. The crowd chants “Raven” and Cassidy Riley comes out to call bullshit, but Raven puts up his hand and leaves peacefully as one of my all-time favorite TNA moments occurs: when Raven passes the announce table, Don West stands up and shouts “YOU GOT ROBBED!” three times as he slaps Raven on the back, but Raven totally ignores him. Something about that made me laugh really hard. This would become a running joke between my buddy and I.
– Shane Douglas interviews Ron Killings, who calls himself a history-maker for scoring two quick wins over Bobby Roode on Impact and promises to run through the Canadians, but Konnan interrupts him and asks why he hasn’t returned his calls. Truth replies that he’s free of drama and Konnan tries to convince him that he wouldn’t do to him what he did to the Jameses, but Truth doesn’t know what to believe. K-Dawg promises that LAX has his back against Team Canada.
– Raven is shown leaving the Impact Zone as Zbysko taunts him until Jackie Gayda appears and informs Raven that they’ve both been screwed, but it’s bigger than he thinks. Jackie says she has a bone to pick with Larry and heads inside with him. I love how this was all completely forgotten a couple of months later.
– Bobby Roode vs. Ron “The Truth” Killings
The Truth tries to recreate his Impact victory with a quick roll-up, but Roode kicks out and shoves Killings. Truth shoves back and rolls up Roode for another two-count, but Roode bails out and shouts that it won’t happen tonight. Back in, they engage in some crisp chain-wrestling and exchange two-counts with a series of kick-outs and reversals before Roode bails out again and goes to leave. Coach D’Amore tries to talk some sense into his Enforcer as Truth dives over the top rope with a somersault plancha on Roode. D’Amore distracts Truth, allowing Roode to ram his back against the ringpost and score a two-count in the ring. Roode controls Killings and applies an abdominal stretch, but the referee catches D’Amore giving extra leverage with the hockey stick flagpole and Truth rolls up Roode for two. Roode lands the flying kneedrop off the middle turnbuckle for two and works over the back, but Truth catches him charging into the corner with a pair of boots to the face and connects with a flying dropkick off the top.
They both struggle to their feet and Truth unloads with punches and the spinning forearm off the ropes for two. Truth does the splits to duck a clothesline and hits Roode with a heelkick for two, then sits him on the top turnbuckle. Roode counters a superplex by front-suplexing Truth down to the mat and dives with a bodypress, but Killings rolls through and scores a near-fall. Konnan comes down to ringside as Truth dodges the Northern Lariat and kicks Roode in the gut, but K-Dawg gets up on the apron and distracts Killings, allowing Roode to surprise Truth with the Northern Lariat for the pinfall. Afterwards, Konnan tries to smooth things over with Truth until BG James runs out and threatens to beat Konnan’s ass. Truth holds BG back as Homicide sprints out and attacks BG, but Truth just leaves the ring while Konnan & Homicide pummel BG until Kip James makes the save with a chair. Some friend Killings is.
– Shane Douglas interviews James Mitchell in a dark room with Abyss. The sinister minister comments that Sting’s arrival in TNA has drawn the battle lines, then mocks Rhino’s misfortunes with his estranged wife and daughter, noting that there aren’t any awards for “fulfilling your genetic mandate”. Mitchell refers to Rhino’s impending slaughter at the hands of Abyss as “the lead float in your ongoing parade of personal failure” and warns that Rhino is an endangered species scheduled for extinction. Awesome promo as usual.
– A video package recaps the Rhino/Abyss feud, which began when Rhino targeted Team Canada for their interference in his World Title bout at Turning Point and D’Amore arranged with Mitchell for the Monster to take care of the War Machine.
– Abyss vs. Rhino
Rhino roars out and takes the fight right to Abyss to kick off the match as they slug it out until Rhino clotheslines Abyss over the top rope and slingshots out with a plancha. Abyss strikes back with chairshots to the back and neck and brings some chairs into the ring, but Rhino snapmares him and hits a seated dropkick to the back, then legdrops him for a two-count. Abyss reverses a whip into the corner and wedges a chair in the turnbuckles before ramming Rhino’s head into it and choking him. Rhino fights out of a neckvice, but eats a big boot and Abyss gets two. Abyss goes back to the neckvice, but Rhino battles out again and drops the Monster with the TKO fireman’s cutter. Rhino spears Abyss in the corner and cracks him with several chairshots as the crowd chants “One more time”. Rhino prepares the Gore, but Mitchell distracts him and the referee while Abyss retrieves his chain and smashes the War Machine. Abyss covers, but Rhino kicks out just before three. Mitchell gets up on the apron and does the “Doomsday” bit, but Rhino reverses an Irish-whip and spinebusters Abyss for a near-fall. Rhino stacks up two chairs and drags Abyss to the turnbuckles for the Rhinodriver, but Mitchell grabs Abyss’ leg to block it and Rhino yells at the sinister minister. Abyss grips Rhino for a chokeslam and Rhino kicks him in the Monster’s Balls, but Abyss catches Rhino in the Black Hole Slam on the chairs for the 1-2-3. These two really work well together and put on a solid match.
– Shane Douglas interviews Team 3D and rambles on about how they were forged in the fires of WCW, ECW, and WWE. Ray namedrops the great teams that have held the NWA World Tag Team Championship and promises to add their names to the list in tribute to the fans who have stuck by them. Devon testifies.
– A video package uses the “Adrenaline Rush” song now used at the end of Impact to recap Team 3D’s quest for the NWA belts and their feud with AMW. Great line by Ray as he says that they would give up all 18 ECW/WWF/WCW/WWE tag titles just to hold the NWA gold once.
– NWA World Tag Team Title: Team 3D vs. America’s Most Wanted [champions]
Jeremy Borash performs the Super Special Ring Introductions after the entrances. The “Brokeback Mountain” chant makes its PPV debut and the fates smile upon us as Don West’s microphone stops working. Another miracle occurs when Devon dropkicks James Storm and coincidentally, West’s mic starts working again. AMW take control when Chris Harris sneaks in and blindsides Devon, but Devon double-clotheslines Harris & Storm and tags Ray, who pounds the Wildcat and gets a one-count. They trade shots until Ray misses the senton backsplash off the middle turnbuckle and Harris tags Storm, who chokes Ray with the tape from his wrist. Ray back-bodydrops Harris over the top and tags Devon, who hits Storm with the spinning back-elbow off the ropes and a neckbreaker for a two-count. Spinebuster gets two and Ray comes in to bodyslam the Cowboy as Devon dives off the top turnbuckle with the “Whazzup” headbutt and Ray leads the crowd in ordering Devon to get the tables.
Team 3D retrieve a table and Storm tries to dropkick it in their faces, but they lift the table so that Storm slides out to the floor, then smash the table into his face. However, Harris succeeds in dropkicking the table in their faces and Storm sets up the table at ringside while Harris chokes Devon with the tape in the ring. AMW isolate Devon, but he escapes and makes the hot tag to Ray, who cleans house and sideslams Harris for two. Harris accidentally knocks Storm off the apron and Ray DDTs the Wildcat, but the Cowboy breaks the pin and AMW level Ray with the Hart Attack for a near-fall. Devon comes in and receives a double-suplex, but when AMW set up Ray for the Death Sentence, Devon shoves Harris off the top and climbs up himself. Harris catches Devon on top, but Ray snatches Harris away on his shoulders and 3D trigger the Doomsday Device for a near-fall. Harris hits Ray with a foot to the face and gets two as Storm readies a chair at ringside with his back to the ring so that when Harris comes over to get him, Storm thinks he’s a Dudley and waffles him without looking. Harris staggers back into the back-suplex/neckbreaker double-team from 3D for a near-fall.
Storm superkicks Devon and goes up for a moonsault, but Ray shoves him off the top and the Cowboy crashes through the table on the floor while Ray rolls up Harris for two. Harris clotheslines Ray and Gail Kim sneaks in some powder right in front of the ref, but Ray hits their hands and the powder flies into the ref’s face, blinding him as the Wildcat eats the 3D and Ray covers him. Devon throws the ref on the mat and he counts to three before crawling over to the ropes to clear his eyes. Meanwhile, Team Canada storm the ring and assault Team 3D, placing Harris on top of Ray so that when the ref looks back, he thinks that Harris pinned Ray and declares AMW the winners to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Afterwards, the Canadians help AMW up the ramp and West thinks the decision is ridiculous. I didn’t have as much of a problem with the finish as most people since it was different than the usual Dusty Finish and was semi-logical. The main complaint was that Ray wore a shirt and Harris was bare-chested, so if the ref could see the shoulders to count the pin, why couldn’t he tell the difference? I looked at it like this: the ref couldn’t see anything and made the count anyway, but didn’t want to admit he made a mistake in counting the pin so he made what he thought was the correct decision when he regained his eyesight. Your mileage may vary.
– Shane Douglas interviews Monty Brown & Jeff Jarrett, who stumbles through a promo insinuating that Sting shouldn’t trust Christian in tonight’s tag team main event, even mentioning Cage turning on Chris Jericho and “his own brother” in WWE. I don’t mind acknowledging history, but continuing the WWE storyline of Christian and Edge being brothers is just asinine. The Alpha Male adds some of his dumb cartoonish voices and promises that somebody will feel the PPPPOOOOUUUUUUNNNNNCCCCCCEEE…PERIOD.
– A really good video package recaps the Joe/Daniels storyline and includes Joe’s line from Impact about bringing a “blank canvas” to paint with the Fallen Angel’s blood as he holds up a clean white towel.
– TNA X Division Title: Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe [champion]
We get JB’s Super Special Ring Introductions after the entrances and neither guy seems to get much of a pop, which is odd. Daniels bobs and weaves, but makes a mistake when he gets too close and Joe knees him repeatedly. Daniels dodges a headbutt and hits a forearm off the ropes, but Joe won’t go down so Daniels knees him in the corner, armdrags him down, and snaps off a tilt-a-whirl headscissors followed by a huracanrana. Joe avoids the heelkick and unleashes a series of kicks and chops in the corner, but Daniels takes him down in a cradle for a two-count. Roll-up gets another two, but Joe kicks out and hooks on a Rings Of Saturn variation. Daniels gets his foot over the rope to break the hold and goes for an Asai moonsault, but Joe calmly walks out of the way and Daniels splats on the mat. Joe fires off a vicious kick to the jaw and snapmares Daniels before chopping him across the back, kicking him in the chest, and dropping the jumping knee off the ropes, but Daniels covers his head so Joe drops it on his chest. Nice. Cover gets two.
Daniels fights back with a clothesline and a dropkick, but Joe won’t go down and snap-powerslams the Fallen Angel for two. Joe charges into the corner, but Daniels gets the boot up and drops Joe with a chestcracker. Dueling chants from the fans as Daniels scores with a running knee and the STO before landing a split-leg moonsault for two. Daniels somehow props Joe on the top turnbuckle, but Joe blocks a chop and grips Daniels in a rear-choke while still sitting on the turnbuckles, so Daniels counters by bringing Joe down with a shocking Death Valley Driver for a near-fall. Joe counters a huracanrana with a powerbomb for two, but Daniels double-legs him and punches away. Joe counters by trapping him in a triangle choke, but Daniels escapes and misses a kick, allowing Joe to lock him in an STF. In an awesome touch, Joe grinds his knuckle against Daniels’ temple in the STF to capitalize on the concussion storyline. The Fallen Angel grabs the rope to break it so Joe sits him on the turnbuckles and climbs up with him. Daniels drops down to powerbomb Joe out of the corner, but Joe counters with an ugly huracanrana. Great effort though.
Running lariat gets a near-fall for Joe, who looks frustrated because he can’t put Daniels away. Daniels catches Joe off the ropes in a standing STO and lands the Best Moonsault Ever for a near-fall before Joe bails out to ringside. Daniels comes out on the apron and avoids Joe’s legsweep, then levels Joe with a kick to the head and slingshots all the way down to the floor with an elbowdrop. Ouch. Daniels rolls Joe in the ring and tries to climb in himself, but Joe kicks him back to the floor and creams him with the Ole Kick to bust him wide open as Tenay & West mention Steve Young, Troy Aikman, and Bret Hart to put over the seriousness of Daniels’ recent concussions. Back in the ring, Joe kicks and punches the head as AJ Styles makes his way down the ramp to observe. Daniels battles back with slaps and punches and ducks an enzuigiri, but he can’t lift Joe for the Angel’s Wings and Joe hits a flying kick to the head. Joe crunches Daniels with the running knee to the head in the corner and drills him with the Muscle Buster before applying the choke, but Daniels quickly gets his foot over the rope to break it.
Joe retrieves a chair and intimidates referee Slick Johnson as Daniels flops around on the mat. Some fans chant “Joe’s Gonna Kill You” and Joe indeed kills Daniels with a Muscle Buster on the chair as AJ yells at the Samoan Submission Machine from ringside. Joe destroys Daniels with kicks to the head as he taunts Styles and begins smashing the motionless Fallen Angel with repeated knees to the head until Styles throws in the towel for Daniels and the ref calls for the bell, awarding the decision to the X Division Champion. Afterwards, AJ pushes Joe away and checks on Daniels as Tenay explains that Daniels has two young kids at home and his career was in peril if Styles hadn’t thrown in the towel. This finish was criticized online quite a bit at the time too, but I thought it was built up perfectly. Great match with a great story.
– A video package builds up the main event of the evening. The irony of Jarrett warning Sting that he doesn’t belong in TNA because it’s 2006 is so delicious that it makes me sick.
– Shane Douglas interviews Christian, who says that if you don’t trust him, ask his “brother” or Chris Jericho, but reconsiders and says that’s probably not such a good idea. Cage claims that he’s excited to have Sting in TNA as his partner and promises to one day win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jarrett, because THAT’S… “how WE roll”.
– Monty Brown & Jeff Jarrett vs. “Captain Charisma” Christian Cage & Sting
Sting has some cool theme music he hasn’t used ever since and gets a “Welcome Back” chant, and responds by pointing at the fans and telling them they’re awesome. Awww. Christian starts with Monty as the crowd chants “Let’s go, Christian” (or is it “Let’s go Christian” for a mass conversion in honor of Sting?) and Cage double-legs him for a quick one-count. Monty takes him to the heel corner and tags Jarrett, who misses a clothesline and Christian mocks the Jarrett Strut before catching the NWA Champion in a drop-toehold and tagging Sting. Jarrett quickly backs off as the fans pop and “WWWOOOOOOO” (I thought it was “OOOWWWWW” in WCW? does WWE own the trademark to that too or is somebody dyslexic?) with Sting, but boo Jarrett. Sting shoulderblocks and hiptosses Jarrett and surprises me with a standing dropkick to knock Jarrett out of the ring. The crowd chants “You’ve still got it” and Sting survives a brief flurry from Jarrett to faceplant him, doing the same to Monty when he comes in to help. Christian tags himself in and squashes the heels with Stinger Splashes, but Jarrett lowblows him when Gail Kim provides a distraction.
Jarrett tosses Cage to the floor, where Gail dives off the apron with the HuraKimrana and Monty drops him throat-first on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Jarrett dropkicks Christian and tags Monty, who pulls off a nice backbreaker/backbreaker/t-bone suplex combo for a series of two-counts. Jarrett tags back in and we get the Ray Traylor tribute, but Christian moves and Jarrett crotches himself on the middle rope. However, Monty cheapshots Christian from the apron and Jarrett grounds him in a front-facelock on the mat until Cage powers toward his corner and tags Sting. Unfortunately, the referee didn’t see the tag and forces Sting out while the heels drop Christian’s midsection on the top rope and Monty scores a pair of near-falls. The Alpha Male chokes Captain Charisma and suplexes him for two, but Cage blocks a superplex and knocks Brown down to the mat before landing the frogsplash for an “Eddie” chant and a near-fall. Cage almost makes the tag, but Monty drags him by the foot while Jarrett runs around the ring and yanks Sting off the apron.
The ref stops Sting from entering the ring while Jarrett & Brown retrieve chairs and attempt a Conchairto, but Christian ducks and plants them with a simultaneous DDT and reverse STO. Christian crawls over and makes the hot tag to Sting, who unloads on the heels and Stinger Splashes the NWA Champion. The ref takes a nice flipping bump on his head when Sting ducks a clothesline from the Alpha Male. Sting throws Monty over the top rope and applies the Scorpion Deathlock on Jarrett, who taps out but the ref is down. Monty breaks the Scorpion by tossing Christian at Sting with a fallaway slam from behind and Sting questions Cage, but Cage proves himself by pulling Sting down when Monty tries to hit him with the NWA belt. Christian dumps Brown out and backs up into Sting, who almost hits him with the gold but crotches Jarrett on the turnbuckles instead. Sting & Christian ram Monty’s head into Jarrett’s groin and hurl him over the top as Bobby Roode & Eric Young run in and receive a pair of Scorpion Death Drops before rolling back out.
Christian goes to the top and dives out onto Brown on the floor as Gail distracts Sting and allows Jarrett to whallop the Stinger with the NWA belt, but Sting kicks out of the pin. All four men are in the ring and Sting & Christian miss their Stinger Splashes as Jarrett retrieves the guitar and Monty holds Cage. However, Sting makes the save by smashing the guitar with his baseball bat and Christian dumps Monty out while Sting plants Jarrett with the Scorpion Death Drop for the 1-2-3. Afterwards, Christian presents Sting with the baseball bat in a symbolic gesture and steps out of the ring, allowing Sting to enjoy the spotlight as the PPV ends.
Afterthoughts: Although I had remembered this PPV as a good show marred by a bunch of screwy finishes, it was actually a lot better than I thought and the finishes mostly made sense, although not as clean as you’d expect on a show called Final Resolution. I might recommend dropping that as a PPV name in the future unless they’re planning on making it a blowoff PPV to end feuds. Still there’s a lot of really good stuff here, like the opening X Division six-man, Joe/Daniels, Abyss/Rhino, and even the tag title match. The main event was pretty solid too and actually planted the seeds for Christian’s heel turn eight months later, so that’s kinda cool. All in all, another highly recommended show.
