TNA’s last pay-per-view event of the year, Final Resolution, comes to us live tonight from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. Eight matches have been booked for the event, which includes the return of the Feast or Fired match. Three titles are also on the line with the TNA World Championship, Tag Team Championship and the Knockout Championship being defended.
- AJ Styles vs. Daniels (TNA World Championship)
- Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle (Three Degrees of Pain)
- Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner (Last Man Standing)
- Raven & Dr. Stevie vs. Mick Foley & Abyss
- The British Invasion vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns (TNA Tag Team Championship)
- ODB vs. Tara (Knockouts Championship)
- Feast or Fired
- Team 3D/Rhino/Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan/Hernandez/D’Angelo Dinero/Suicide
AJ Styles vs. Daniels (TNA World Championship)
Styles and Daniels met at Turning Point as part of a three way match that also included Samoa Joe. Daniels had Joe beat after hitting the BME, but Styles hit a 450 on top of both of them and won the pin fall to retain his championship. Daniels said he had the match won and is ready to toss their friendship out the window in order to get his due time in the spotlight.
Expectations should be high for the main event as both Styles and Daniels work well together and they should put on one of the better matches of the year for TNA. I don’t know if it will exceed the main event for Turning Point, but it should come close as long as it is not overbooked with run-ins, particularly from the masked man who has been attacking Styles.
In the end, AJ Styles will walk into 2010 as the TNA World Champion as it seems the cards have been set in place for a feud between Daniels and Desmond Wolfe.
Starman’s Prediction: AJ Styles to retain the TNA World Championship.
Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle (Three Degrees of Pain)
Wolfe issued this challenge to Angle which is a best 2-of-3 match. The first match will be a regular match, the second will be a submission match, and the third, if necessary, will be a steel cage escape match. Angle agreed to the match and said that while Wolfe is a great wrestler, Wolfe will not defeat him as he will climb his way back to the top of TNA.
As with most 2-of-3 matches, this one is almost guaranteed to go to the final match, which is the elimination cage match. Angle and Wolfe had a great back-and-forth match last month at Turning Point and the first two bouts should deliver. The third fall is a bit different as you win by escaping the cage. Due to this, I have to give the advantage to Wolfe, who can claim a victory over Angle without getting a decisive pin fall. At any rate, this should be one of the better matches of the night.
Starman’s Prediction: Desmond Wolfe to escape the cage and get the win.
Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner (Last Man Standing)
Scott Steiner is still coveting Bobby Lashley’s wife and their feud has evolved to this – a last man standing match. These two meet at Turning Point in a no disqualification falls count anywhere match in which Scott Steiner surprisingly won. This time, however, they will need to beat their opponent to the point where he cannot answer to a 10-count.
I feel this type of match suits both Lashley’s and Steiner’s skill set. Go out there, brawl and power each other around until the other cannot get back up. Seeing as Steiner won their first encounter, I have to say that Lashley will come out on top to even the score.
Starman’s Prediction: Bobby Lashley to be the last man standing.
Raven & Dr. Stevie vs. Mick Foley & Abyss
Raven and Dr. Stevie have shown the sadistic side as of late by brutally choking out Abyss and Mick Foley with camera cables. They even turned it up a notch by setting Abyss on fire in a scene that was deemed too graphic to be shown on television. Abyss wasn’t the only one burned as Foley was also recently blinded by a fireball that Raven tossed in his face.
Foley has been more focused on Hulk Hogan and his status in TNA than this match. Foley told Abyss that he will have his back in their match but with Foley’s focus on other places and Abyss’ leg injured after being set on fire, it doesn’t look good for the two. Even though Raven and Stevie cannot defeat Kurt Angle in a handicap match, they should be able to defeat Foley and Abyss.
Starman’s Prediction: Raven & Dr. Stevie to win the match.
The British Invasion vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns (TNA Tag Team Championship)
The Motorcity Machine Guns won an opportunity to face the British Invasion for the tag team titles by defeating Lethal Consequences in an Ultimate X match. Unfortunately for the Guns, the match was turned into a three-way match with Beer Money at Turning Point. The British Invasion retained the gold but the Guns finally get their one-on-one shot at the titles, which is how it should have been in the first place.
The Motorcity Machine Guns have been the one tag team in TNA that no matter how talented they were or how much fans were behind them, they have never held the TNA Tag Team Championships. I really like the British Invasion as the tag champs, but if one team deserves the titles, it is the Guns. I have to say that 2010 should be the year of the Machine Guns and what better way is there than to start the new year with the tag team gold?
Starman’s Prediction: The Motorcity Machine Guns to win the TNA Tag Team Championship.
ODB vs. Tara (Knockouts Championship)
Tara won a 10-Knockout battle royal on Thanksgiving to earn a shot at the Knockouts Championship. Since then, Tara and ODB have been at each other’s throats and ODB even scored a victory over the challenger in a Trailer Park Throw Down match in which both competitors faced off after drinking a six pack of beer. ODB, though, has shown that she can be defeated after losing to Roxxi in a non-title match this past week on Impact.
ODB’s run with the championship hasn’t done much for me. For starters, it really got off on the right foot with the whole Cody Deaner fiasco. I hope this match signifies the end of her run as the champion, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part. With that said, I still have to go with Tara on this one, who will start her second reign as the Knockout Champion.
Starman’s Prediction: Tara to win the Knockouts Championship.
Feast or Fired
The controversial Feast or Fired match is back and will have Samoa Joe, Beer Money, Kevin Nash, Sheik Abdul Bashir, Eric Young, Kiyoshi, Homicide, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed and Cody Deaner fighting for one of four briefcases. With a new title in the mix, I’m not sure what title matches will be in the cases, but one can assume it will be for the World Championship, Tag Team Championships and either the X Division or the Global Championship. The last case will hold a pink slip.
This is the third time TNA has held this match and they finally got it right by having the winners open the cases at the pay-per-view instead of waiting for Impact. Samoa Joe and Beer Money has been the most vocal about being part of the match but the World Elite has stacked the deck by having four people plus Kevin Nash in the mix. It is hard to predict what can happen here, but I will go out and say that Cody Deaner picks the unlucky case that holds the pink slip.
Team 3D/Rhino/Jesse Neal vs. Matt Morgan/Hernandez/D’Angelo Dinero/Suicide
Team 3D and Rhino have been paranoid of late with the possibility of losing their spot to the younger generation of stars. They have taken the fight to a group of younger wrestlers and have been given a boost of youthful energy by having Jesse Neal, who was mentored by Rhino and Team 3D, join them to help their cause.
The veterans also have an advantage in this elimination tag team match as they won an 8-man tag team match on Impact which means that Hernandez will have to fight alone for the first five minutes of the match. Not to mention that Team 3D and Rhino already have a victory over Morgan, Hernandez and Dinero in a 6-man tag last month at Turning Point.
A few months ago, Morgan and Hernandez seemed to be getting a well deserved push but it seems to have been derailed. It would be good to see the two to get back on track with a win in this match, which would even mean more as Hernandez will be battling the odds in the first five minutes. I am hoping that youth prevails here, but knowing TNA they will most likely be defeated once again. I’m still picking Team Morgan, though.
Starman’s Prediction: Matt Morgan/Hernandez/D’Angelo Dinero/Suicide to win the elimination tag team match.
There are a few potentially good matches on the card for Final Resolution. There are a few throwaway matches as well, but the good should outweigh the bad. One glaring hole, though, is that there is no true X Division match on the card. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Amazing Red?
Aside from the two big main events, it will be interesting to see who comes up with what in the Feast or Fired match. I have to give credit to TNA for finally opting to reveal the contents of the cases at Final Resolution instead of waiting until Impact, which of course will not air again until January 4th, which will also be their first live show on a Monday night.
Unfortunately for Final Resolution, that live Monday night show has gotten more attention and publicity than this pay-per-view, but there should be at least three or four good matches at the show. It won’t be nearly as good as their previous PPV event, but it won’t be as bad as some of the other shows in 2009.
As always, live coverage of Final Resolution will take place on Gerweck.net at 8PM EST.
