I haven’t reviewed many TNA events for this VHS Memoirs series, mostly because they are still modern, but also because those shows can be very frustrating to watch, especially with the benefit of hindsight. Furthermore, it becomes somewhat ironic when you see the same mistakes, in some form or fashion, being repeated by All Elite Wrestling today.
The biggest takeaway from much of the TNA product in its heyday, particularly the early years of its run on Spike TV, is that the company, for all of its faults and the rightful criticism of it, had a chance to be much bigger than it actually became during that era. In some ways, the pay-per-view that I decided to review for this edition of the series, Final Resolution 2006, is a microcosm of that dynamic that ultimately prevented more progress for the organization.
It’s also extremely ironic that twenty years to the day since this pay-per-view happened will be the debut of Impact on AMC tonight, a new era for the organization with its return to a mainstream cable network, which would have been completely unbelievable two or three years ago.
By January 2006, TNA had debuted on Spike TV, which looked for a replacement when it lost the rights to WWE Raw to USA Network, a few months prior in October of 2005. Granted, the late-night time slot on Saturdays wasn’t ideal, but it was a much better spot on the line-up than the infamous Fox Sports deal that put them on at 3 PM on Fridays to a minimal audience, simply because it wasn’t a time slot traditionally used for pro wrestling. As we know, TNA eventually added a second hour to Impact and moved to Thursdays as complimentary programming to The Ultimate Fighter reality show. There’s no doubt that TNA did have a period of time when they had the platform to grow the audience, but if the content was productive for that goal is a different matter.
The show opened with a nondescript division six man tag match with Sonjay Dutt, Michael Shane, and Chris Sabin against Rodrick, Strong, Austin, Aries, and Alex Shelly. The bout started off with the team that would be the Motor City Machine Guns in the years that followed, Sabin and Shelly, with a very good technical exchange. In truth, the biggest aspect of the segment that stood out was, it was interesting to consider where they were at this point and then knowing where their careers took them. The match itself was essentially what you would expect from a multi-man X Division match from this era. The athleticism was very impressive, but it was extremely rushed, and truthfully, it took away from what could’ve been a much better segment had the match slow down a step or two. On the positive side, outside of the Sabin and Shelly exchange, Rodrick Strong was very impressive here, and all things considered. It’s amazing that 20 years later, he’s just as solid in AEW, everything he does is crisp and smooth. On the other end of the spectrum, Austin Aries should probably be considered an underachiever, considering there was a time in TNA that looked like he could’ve been a main event guy, but his attitude and mindset, or lack thereof, prevented him from truly cemented himself at a higher level. it was somewhat puzzling that Michael Shane never made it further up the ladder until watching this match back, as he was essentially a cheap imitation of his cousin, Shawn Michaels. That’s not to say that Michael Shane didn’t have talent, but rather to point out that, he was just a lesser version of a carbon copy of HBK. After a dazzling 10-minute spot fest, Alex Shelly got the pin when he used the trunks to steal the victory. Side note, it’s disappointing that Alex Shelly didn’t find a more permanent spot somewhere on the national scene throughout his career because he was much more talented than he was given credit for, even if his size would’ve prevented him from a credible WWE run throughout the majority of that time. Some of the same could be said for Sabin as well. It’s nice that they finally got a chance to sign a contract with the WWE, but they are obviously at the latter stages of their careers.
The next segment was one of the flaws that probably put a ceiling on TNA‘s progress. After the X Division six man tag match, there was a video package that featured the James Gang /LAX feud, which would make you think that the video package was a set up for that match, but LAX competed on the pre-show against The Naturals. The James Gang, the reunion of the New Age Outlaws, were booked against David Young and Elix Skipper, the pair that were managed by Simon Diamond. Skipper was incredibly athletic so taking nothing away from him, this seven-minute tag match on pay-per-view was completely pointless, as it was a glorified TV match that did absolutely nothing for the angle that the James Gang were involved in on television. TNA TV at the time was building a feud between BG and Kip against Konnan with the new formation of LAX, but this show that the fans had to pay to watch had a glorified enhancement match on the lineup. The match itself was fine, but it wasn’t a contest that should’ve been on PPV. The James Gang got the win.
In a similar fashion in the way that the LAX angle was miscast and not used on the pay-per-view, I think the same argument could be made that the way that AJ Styles was booked. Here was also an example of someone being miscast. Styles, the franchise guy for the company, was scheduled to wrestle New Japan, standout, Hiroshi Tanahashi, who, as we know in the time since this pay-per-view became an absolute legend in the Japanese organization, carryinging promotion on his back during some of the bleak periods before it was rescued by Bushi Road. The fact that the Japanese league moved more than 40,000 tickets for the traditional Tokyo Dome event a few weeks ago for his retirement is proof of his status as a box office draw. Make no mistake, when this match happened years later, it was a major bout that fans took notice of, but that was after Tanahashi reached legendary status in his native country, and AJ had already had his run in TNA that cemented him as one of the best athletes of the decade. The context of this contest is very important as Hiroshi Tanahashi was a virtual unknown at this point, especially because this was years before the expanded distribution for New Japan. Quite simply, in 2006, very few American fans were familiar with Hiroshi Tanahashi, and even if they were, his name didn’t carry nearly as much cache as it did years later because he simply wasn’t put in the position to be the top guy in New Japan yet. The 10-minute match was very well wrestled and entertaining, but again, It really seems like there could’ve been a better use of AJ Styles on a pay-per-view.
Sean Waltman made a surprise return to the company on behalf of Larry Zbyszko, who was in an authority role as a part of a feud against Raven, a performer that definitely didn’t get a fair shake in TNA. In a prime example of that, about six months earlier, he won the NWA world championship before he dropped it to Jeff Jarrett at a Boarder City Wrestling show a month later when TNA was between TV deals. If Larry Z could get paid to show up in TNA for a few years, God bless him, but for Raven to go from a legitimate main eventer to a rivalry against a retired legend in such a short span speaks volumes to the lack of long term planning of the organization. The match was fine for what it was, a mostly sloppy brawl, but this definitely wasn’t a prime Waltman, who struggled with addiction at various points in his career. There was a scary spot where Raven went to push Waltman off the stage in a shopping card and the cart flipped so Waltman looked to clip his back on the edge of the stage. Waltman took a brutal bump on a ladder when he missed a bronco buster. There was a ref bump so Larry Z somehow became the official. The finish saw Waltman nail and X-factor through a table from the top of the ladder, and when Zbyszko counted the three, Raven got his foot on the rope, but the ref didn’t see it. Based on the stipulation, if Raven lost, he would be gone from TNA, but as we know, he continued to work there, which is why they did the spot where his foot was on the rope for the pin fall. This segment had its moments, but it wasn’t anything too spectacular.
Bobby Roode vs. Ron Killings was a solid 10-minute bout, but it was essentially a TV match on pay-per-view. Everything they did was fine, but it just didn’t get out of first gear or build any drama toward the finish. Konnan made his way to ringside and inadvertently cost Killings the match. The post-match segment was a lot of Russo overbooking when BG James confronted Konnan before he was attacked by LAX, Killings just left, and Kip James made the save. Again, this entire segment could’ve been put on television, as it offered nothing of substance to the pay-per-view.
Abyss vs. Rhino was another 10-minute contest and it was a fun match. These were two agile big men and they sequences were fast-paced and hard-hitting. The only criticism would be the series of unprotected chair shots that Abyss took, which are tough to watch, especially in retrospect. Abyss used a chain before he hit a black hole slam on a pile of chair for the victory.
The Team 3D vs. America’s Most Wanted tag title match had a solid series of peaks and valleys as the advantage tilted back and fourth throughout the segment, but this was taken down a notch by the gimmicks that were used, specifically by this point of the card. There was a spot with a chair, even though we just saw chairs used in the previous match. There was also a spot where the ref got powder in his eyes and was taken out of commission similar to the conclusion of Raven/Waltman earlier in the night. In another example of Russo antics, while the ref still couldn’t see what was going on, Team Canada interfered so that after Team 3D got the three count, it was made to look like AMW got the victory. This was also similar to the previous Raven/Waltman finish. So, America’s Most Wanted retained in one of the most outlandish finishes in TNA history.
Thankfully, the card took an upswing from there as Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels had a very entertaining X-Division title match. In hindsight, this contest featured a lot of signature spots that these two became known for, but everything they did was crisp and smooth. You might’ve seen the playbook in the time since this took place, but it’s still quality action. The biggest takeaway from this segment was that Samoa Joe in his prime, as he was here, was on a different level. Sure, weight gain at different points and sometimes a rudderless TNA product might’ve hindered his presentation, but make no mistake about it, when Joe was at the top of his game, he was a special athlete. Christopher Daniels is a guy that probably won’t ever get the credit he truly deserves, but he was such a quality performer on such a consistent basis that he was often the “glue” of the X-Division because he could be booked in any scenario and get the most out of it. This was an example of that and he made Joe look like a monster. The finish was designed to do the same thing after Daniels was bleeding, and Joe dropped knees to his head before AJ Styles threw in the towel to stop the match.
The main event was more or less the selling point of the entire pay-per-view. While Sting had worked about half a dozen matches between a four-match stint in TNA in 2003 and a few bouts in the notorious WWA promotion in Australia, the viewership for those ventures was minimal. For all intents and purposes, this was The Icon’s return to the business since WCW folded five years earlier. With TNA back on mainstream cable tonight, it’s important to point out that the reason that Sting agreed to a full-time deal with TNA at the time was because Spike TV agreed to pay a portion of his contract. The Christian and Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown tag match was certainly more sizzle than substance, which was fine. This bout was basically the greatest hits and very predictable, but it was the right decision. Of course, there was yet another ref bump, another page from the Russo playbook to have the same thing happen multiple times on the same card, to set up for the finish. Jarrett tried to use the guitar, but Sting smashed it with his signature bat before he nailed the Scorpion Death Drop to get the win.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
