TNA Final Resolution ‘06

1. Team Canada vs. Lance Hoyt, Jay Lethal, and Kenny King - 3
2. LAX vs. The Naturals - 2
3. Alex Shelly, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong vs. Sonjay Dutt, Matt Bentley, and Chris Sabin - 5
4. James Gang vs. Diamonds In the Rough - 3
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles - 6
6. Sean Waltman vs. Raven - 3
7. Bobby Roode vs. The Truth - 4
8. Abyss vs. Rhino - 3
9. AMW vs. Team 3-D - 4
10. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels - 6
11. Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown vs. Christian Cage and Sting - 6

It’s been at least a month since I watched this, and I wasn’t at my apartment so I didn’t take any notes. From memory, I’ll try to justify the scores I graded the matches brought to us by the TNA execs. Off the bat, I can say it was a so-so pay-per-view, with a couple highlights, but on the other end of the spectrum a lot the stuff just didn’t work.

The six-man tag, and subsequent tag team match were both from the pre-show and ran a minute or two apiece. Both featured equal amounts of nonsensical and rushed wrestling. The show’s official opener, a rather fast-paced six-man tag definitely got the actual show off to a good start. It’s a shame that a few of these guys are now gone from the TNA roster, and the others are all not being utilized to their potential. The following tag match was your typical TV fare, and entirely forgettable.

I’d read reports of Styles not working well with Tanahashi, but I found their match to be largely enjoyable with only a few minor flaws. I applaud TNA for using foreign talent, something the WWE has never done justice with. I was looking forward to seeing Waltman, who drug addled as he’s been, has delivered some pretty inspired performances sporadically the last couple years. Here, he sloppily brawled through a mess of a match with slob Raven, who’s the most deteriorated worked in the industry.

Roode versus Truth and Abyss versus Rhyno – matches we’ve seen countless times before, usually for free on TV, and not given any thought or consequence. An utter waste of talent and time. What could have been the biggest tag team feud in 5 years, the AMW and Team 3-D program has been muddled and hampered by weak writing and unforgiving unimaginative brawling. Daniels and Joe scored the match of the night, with a hard-hitting and physical bout that’s the only thing I’d be too worried about securing for your personal collection on the show. However, the main event, which on the surface seemed like another cliché snooze-fest TNA headliner worked on a few levels, enough so that I immensely enjoyed it. There wasn’t any particular moments of interest; but the general feel and pace reminded me of early 90’s WWE stuff, in a positive way, and I found it hard to dislike for whatever that’s worth.