83 Weeks - TNA Final Resolution 2010 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today is all about the tenth anniversary of TNA Final Resolution 2010. The event was held on December 5, 2010 from the Impact Zone in Orlando Florida before the usual audience of about 1,100 fans. It was the seventh event under the “Final Resolution” title and it’s TNA’s last pay-per-view event of the year.

Were you a fan of the Final Resolution brand of events? Numbers show they were, traditionally, a weaker performing PPV show than others. Why might that be?

The poster for the event features the group Fortune, with Ric Flair in the center.

We got some questions about the poster on social media. Do you know who designed these, during this era? Were you involved in approving the designs?

Tonight’s show features nine matches..including first blood, casket, falls count anywhere and NO DQ matches. Also, we have a Full Metal Mayhem match - basically TNA’s version of the TLC match. So, we’re gimmick match-heavy going into the show tonight!

News and Noteworthy Events

Curtis Iaukea, one of pro wrestling’s biggest stars of the 60s and 70s and a fixture in the culture of the city of Honolulu for more than a half century, passed away on 12/4 at his home in Papakolea, also known as Green Sand Beach on the island of Hawaii. He was 73.

Iaukea was arguably the biggest pro wrestling star in the history of the 50th state and one of the biggest stars on an international basis during the 60s and 70s. While he was a main eventer in every territory he appeared in, outside of his native state, he was probably best known in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

A huge man for his time, Iaukea had a reputation during the 60s and 70s of being perhaps the best promo man in the business. His reputation got him jobs as a manager, as The Wizard in WWF, managing Kamala and Sika; and later as The Master in WCW as the head of the Dungeon of Doom. But he was suffering during both of those times from a virus that ended his active career in 1979 and led to his deteriorating health, and was not the same. The virus led to his death this past week, surrounded by family.

What are your memories of Curtis Iaukea?

TNA Wrestling is scheduled to be moved to one of the Sky Channels in the U.K., which is interesting since WWE and Sky have always been exclusive and it wasn’t even easy for UFC to get on Sky. Details of what channel and what time slot have not been announced.

What happened here? Talk about your efforts to make inroads in the UK.

We’ve heard you say there were requirements by some countries, such as Canada, that meant you had to include certain things in the show (more Candians, for example). Were there any such requirements like that in the UK or Europe that you remember dealing with?

Even though in storyline Rhino signed a new contract offered by turning on his teammates, unless things changed the past few days, in real life he did not sign a new deal and the belief is that he may not be signing. Actually, in watching Impact this week, they clearly stated that Rhino’s contract expired and he had turned heel to please Bischoff to earn a new contract as opposed to formerly acting as if Bischoff had given him the new contract to turn heel.

What was the situation with Rhyno and why were there problems getting him to sign a deal?

The Bubba vs. Devon match is not going to be on Final Resolution and is instead being held off for a later date, probably on the January PPV.

Why was that done? More build?

VH-1 has decided to pass on doing another season of “Brooke Knows Best.”

Do you remember Hulk’s reaction to this news? Or Brooke’s, maybe even? Did you enjoy or have any memories of Brooke Knows Best?

TNA ran three shows on 11/28 to 11/30 in Abu Dhabi. They were sold shows, and I suspect TNA was paid a sizeable percentage if not all in advance because when it comes to taking the word of overseas promoters, well, you’re asking for problems. Before the crew left, they were told by the local promoters that all three shows were already sold out. One person noted that “We’ll see when we get there.” According to one reader in the country, there was only three weeks of promotion and most people in Abu Dhabi had no idea pro wrestling was even coming, and the belief is if it had been well promoted, there would have been enough of an audience to pack the 4,000-seat arena. In Abu Dhabi, the promoters were saying the day the tour started locally that all three events were close to being sold out. We didn’t get a report on day one. Day two did 350 fans, but tickets were also $270 each. Day three drew 250 fans. The only noticeable advertising was posters at some of the malls. The Royal Family came to the second show. On the second night, Jay Lethal pinned Brian Kendrick in 3:00 with a stunner. Because of local customs, the women were heavily covered up. Unfortunately, those who paid for the show were hoping for something different.

Tell us what you recall about running shows in Abu Dhabi. Any ideas what the company was paid for doing them? Are the reports of just a few hundred fans in attendance accurate and if so, was that a disappointment? Or were the shows held specifically for VIPs...

Notes from the Thanksgiving Impact. Very entertaining show overall, but still lacking in putting together an interesting PPV build. The major theme was that the top heel group, Fortune and Immortals (along with security guys Gunner and Murphy who I guess are now part of the main heel group), were with Bischoff and Hogan, all celebrating Thanksgiving together. In the first segment, Bischoff announced that he had invited Dixie Carter to join them for dinner. Everyone was mad about that and couldn’t understand why, but nobody was madder than Hogan, who was blind sided and said Bischoff should have consulted him first.

They did all these segments, most of which were very funny, and constantly teased the Carter arrival. As it turned out, Carter didn’t arrive until in theory, two-and-a-half hours late, and well into Reaction. It was strange enough to shoot what purported to be such a major angle change on Thanksgiving, when one would expect viewership to be down, but then to actually air the angle on Reaction, when most of the audience would in theory have turned out, makes no sense at all. The idea is obviously to keep the audience as long as you can, but we’ve shown time after time that TNA playing this game simply doesn’t keep the audience.

Is Dave right about the strategy here? Was it to keep the audience tuned in during the entirety of the show?

Any memories of the angle?

Impact on Thanksgiving night did a 0.85 rating and 1.26 million viewers, well down from usual, but that’s to be expected on Thanksgiving night. It also wasn’t helped with the New York Jets, a marquee team this year due to its HBO coverage, did a 7.0 rating and 7.11 million viewers head-to-head for its game with the Cincinnati Bengals. The show did a 0.71 in Males 18-34 (which is their normal level in that demo, which is very impressive because you’d think people in that age group would be going out or being with their family not watching wrestling–although it may say something about the TNA audience in that demo) and 0.79 in Males 35-49 (way lower than usual, so people in that age group were more likely out, with family or watching the NFL). Another interesting stat is viewers per home was the highest for any TNA show this year, showing that a lot of the people who did watch it, did so with family members to a greater degree than usual.

Maybe the best part of this show is hearing your TV production and business expertise when we review numbers like these. What does all of this mean? Why were viewers-per-home higher (Thanksgiving)?

The Show Itself

TNA FINAL RESOLUTION PPV POLL RESULTS

Thumbs up 41 (75.9%)

Thumbs down 8 (14.8%)

In the middle 5 (09.3%)

1. Robert Roode & James Storm beat Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal in 10:42 in a match to determine the top contenders for the tag titles. Crowd was hot. Great performance here by Roode, whose offense looked good, selling looked better and was always in the right place. Taz joked that Neal, with his red spiked hair, looked like the Red Rooster. Neal used a plancha on Storm that actually largely missed. Moore did an Asai moonsault on Roode and started driving the boozer cruiser. When Moore did the move, Mike Tenay mentioned Ultimo Dragon. Finish saw Storm knock Moore off the top rope to the floor. Neal went for a spear on Roode, who moved, and he ran into a superkick by Storm. Beer Money did the DWI on Neal and Roode pinned him. ***¼

Strong match to open the show...give us your thoughts!

Could you call a move the “DWI” in politically correct 2020?

Next, a continuation of a feud between Tara and Mickie James which - at last month’s Turning Point - devolved into a brawl across the arena. It was the perfect set-up to a falls count anywhere match.

2. Tara pinned Mickie James in 10:25 in a falls count anywhere match. James crotched Tara on the guard rail for a near fall on the floor. Tara threw hard chops to James’ chest. James used a missile dropkick. They brawled on the floor and ended up backstage. They worked very hard and stiff, but were backstage for too long and it hurt the match, which never reached the level of the one the month earlier. James once jumped off a dumpster with a Thesz press on Tara. They went into a men’s bathroom, turning it into comedy. Of course there were plants in the bathroom, the guy taking a piss, the guy taking a shit and running out without wiping himself when he saw the women brawling. Madison Rayne was apparently hiding in a stall, sprayed a fire extinguisher in James’ face and then hit her with a belt shot. Tara then pinned James in the bathroom as ref Jackson James counted three. **½

What did you think about the work these two performers put into the match and did you like it?

What could be more pro wrestling than bathroom humor?

When you’re planning a spot in a bathroom like this, especially when a wrestler is going to be on the bathroom floor...does someone come in and sanitize the entire room before the show and then block it off from being used?

3. Robbie E kept the X division title beating Jay Lethal via DQ in a match with Cookie in a cage above the ring in 8:06. They had called it a Shark cage. When Cookie tried to run away, Shark Boy showed up and threw her in. She wasn’t hung anywhere near 25 feet above the ring. She was actually to the side of the ring. Lethal did a handspring elbow and Lethal combination for a near fall. After a collision, Cookie threw a chain from her cage into the ring. Earl Hebner saw it and took it away. As he threw it away, she threw her hair spray can. Robbie tried to use it, but Lethal got it away from him, used it and hit the Lethal injection neckbreaker. Hebner saw Lethal use the spray and DQ’d him. After the match, Cookie was parading around the ring like she was it. Shark Boy came out. She slapped him twice, so he kicked her in the gut and gave her a stunner. **¼

This was a rematch from Turning Point where Robbie won the title from Jay. Did you like this match? Did you like it more or less than their first encounter?

Whose idea was it to put Cookie in a shark cage?

4. Rob Van Dam beat Rhino in 12:23 in a first blood match. A lot of weapons brawling. Match had real good, with great heat. Rhino was biting early to try and open RVD up. He also suplexed him on the ramp and used a gore. Crowd wanted tables but didn’t get them. RVD used a frog splash and went for a garbage can shot, but Rhino kicked him low and DDT’d him on his head. The finish was a Van Daminator into a garbage can lid on Rhino’s face, which didn’t bust him open, but a Van Terminator into a garbage can into the face and Rhino came up bloody and it was over. ***½

How did you like this match?

Do you think it hurts when the crowd chants for tables in a hard-core style match - and they don’t get them?

5. Douglas Williams pinned A.J. Styles in 14:49 to win the TV title. Fans weren’t really into Williams as a face. Once, with Williams draped over the rope Styles nailed him with elbows and a springboard moonsault to the neck. Styles did his classic dropkick sequence. Fans were chanting “USA,” so they were not into Williams as the face. Styles did the quebrada into a reverse DDT for a near fall. Styles tried the figure four, but Williams countered with a small package for a near fall. Styles hit the Pele kick. Great finish as Van Dam followed with a pescado, but Williams moved out of the way. Williams then did the Chaos Theory suplex on the floor. Crowd went nuts for that spot. Styles barely beat the count to get in the ring, and then Williams used the Styles clash on Styles for the humiliation pin. ****

Why do you think Williams was struggling as a face, here? Do you think this match helped him get over?

Meltzer was a fan of this match, writing that, “The show was highlighted by an excellent Douglas Williams TV title win over A.J. Styles, with Styles going so far as to let Williams get the pin using the Styles clash.”

What’s it say about AJ Styles that he is willing to take a loss and do it to his own finish?

Next, we get our Full Metal Mayhem match. In other words, anything metal is legal. This is the fifth of this match type to be held in TNA.

6. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley retained the TNA tag titles beating Generation Me in a Full Metal Mayhem match in 16:24. These guys did a million well-timed unique spots, but it felt more like a video game than a wrestling match. Still, crowd loved it. Among the spots where Sabin doing a tope into a chair shot by Max. Jeremy nailed Sabin in the back off the top rope and in the same move followed with a tope on Shelley. The Guns put Max in a ladder sandwich at one point. At another point they buried both Generation Me members under a ladder while Shelley came off the top with a double foot stomp. They did a deal where the belts were hung so high and the ladder wasn’t big enough so even climbing to the to you couldn’t get them. This led to three ladders being put up with the top of a table put on top of them. It ended with Max and Sabin, each with chairs, doing the dueling chair spot. Sabin knocked Max off the top of the ladder and he fell through a table. Sabin pulled down the belts to win. ***¾

This was a fun performance. What can you tell us about the match?

The criticism about this looking like a video game because of all of the unique spots...did you feel that way? Or feel like it sometimes became too theatrical when wrestlers would work in these creative - yet unrealistic - spots?

7. Abyss beat Pope D’Angelo Dinero in a casket match in 11:50. Abyss slammed Pope over the top rope onto the casket which he landed back first on. That was a bad idea as that was similar to the spot that nearly ended Shawn Michaels’ career at the 1998 Royal Rumble. Each man would get the other in the casket, but couldn’t close the lid. Abyss did his black hole slam and Dinero his DDE, but neither resulted in getting the other in the casket. Abyss ended up in the casket but before Pope could close the lid, Abyss punched through the casket, bloodying up his hand. He could have easily broken the hand. As the hand broke free, he snatched Pope’s balls and squeezed. That was a sick one, but Pope actually didn’t sell it very long. He was back and clotheslined Abyss over the top. Both ended up on the apron and Abyss kicked Pope low, and then choke slammed him into the casket and shut the lid. **

What did you think about this one?

Are you concerned about putting too many gimmick matches on one PPV? (no DQ, first blood, casket match, falls count anywhere are all literally on this card)

8. Jeff Jarrett beat Samoa Joe in a submission match in 9:04. Before the match, Gunner & Murphy attacked Joe’s left leg and they used a baton shot to the ankle. Joe and Jarrett were both there as the ref was giving them instructions. They had this hokey rule that they could fight anywhere but the submission would only count in the ring. The attack was way too similar to Nexus/Randy Orton. Joe started the match limping and selling. But he came back. Joe got an armbar from the bottom but Jarrett made the ropes. Jarrett kept going to the ropes until he rammed Joe’s ankle into the post and went for the ankle lock. This time Joe made the ropes. Joe used the Texas cloverleaf and Taz plugged Dean Malenko. They ended up outside the ring and Joe got the choke on and Jarrett tapped. It didn’t count because it wasn’t in the ring. Boys was that lame. This is one of those deals where being creative works against you. It’s creative, but it’s shit nobody wants to see. Joe put Jarrett in the Fujiwara armbar, and he tapped, but he was in the ropes so it again didn’t count. Fans were chanting “Bullshit” at this point. Joe hit the muscle buster and got the choke in the middle. Gunner & Murphy came out. Joe let go of the choke to take them out, decking Murphy and giving Gunner an enzuigiri. Jarrett came from behind and grabbed the ankle lock and Joe tapped. People didn’t like this. *½

Give us your thoughts on the match…

It was a pretty unpopular finish with fans in attendance. Do you think it was too screwy? How would you rebook this match - or would you?

9. Jeff Hardy retained the TNA title over Matt Morgan in 12:30. Three straight heel wins to end the show. Morgan asked for no DQ before the match, but Anderson didn’t agree. Anderson vowed to call it down the middle. Then, when the match started, Anderson told Jeremy Borash to announce it as a no DQ. Hardy was booed by the Impact fans early, but it ended up with dueling chants with guys for Morgan and women and kids for Hardy. Morgan was announced at 326 pounds. Later, Mike Tenay said that Morgan had a 70 pound weight advantage. They went to near falls immediately and nobody cared. Hardy did the first twist of hate, sloppy, to no reaction, nor did people react when Morgan kicked out, apparently believing it was too soon. Morgan used the carbon footprint but sold like he blew out his knee. Morgan covered him late and Hardy got his foot on the rope. Hardy did another twist of hate and Morgan kicked out. Again no pop. Hardy went for a swanton but Morgan got his knees up. But Morgan then sold his knee even more. Hardy then decided to just quit, take the count out and retain. Anderson counted to nine, but refused to count ten. Anderson went to Hardy to try and get him back in the ring. Hardy pie-faced Anderson three times. Anderson then attacked Hardy and threw him in the ring. Another twist of hate and Anderson simply wouldn’t count the pin. Morgan was down for about 12 seconds and he wouldn’t count three. Jarrett then did a chair shot to Morgan’s “injured” knee. He tired another twist of hate but Morgan shoved him into Anderson, who flew out of the ring. Morgan hit the carbon footprint. Bischoff came out with ref Jackson James and ordered him in the ring. That made no sense at all given Morgan just hit his move. Bischoff then posted Anderson, who was bleeding from the back of the head. Even after all that, Hardy kicked out. Morgan went to choke slam him on a chair, but Hardy used a low blow and a twist of hate on the chair for the pin. *½

A lot of questions…

Were you happy with the match performance?

Meltzer didn’t think it made sense to bring a referee out and order him to the ring given Morgan had hit his move. What say you?

Why have three straight heel wins to close a PPV show? Doesn’t that send the fans home feeling disappointed?

BEST MATCH POLL

Douglas Williams vs. A.J. Styles 42

Machine Guns vs. Generation Me 10

WORST MATCH POLL

Jeff Jarrett vs. Samoa Joe 28

Abyss vs. Pope D’Angelo Dinero 9

How did you like TNA Final Resolution 2010, overall?

Meltzer liked the show - at first. He said, “It was a very good show early but the last three matches weren’t particularly good. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Morgan were very close to the same finishes as at Turning Point, which didn’t help. Based on feedback, any early guess would be the show doing bottom level numbers.”

We looked into it and it appears this was the second worst PPV buyrate of the year - at only 9,000 buys. However - that’s actually up from the year before’s Final Resolution, which did 7,500 buys.

In your opinion, why did the show do such weak numbers?

Meltzer reported “The biggest story was before the show started. There was a lot of concern when Jeff Hardy arrived, from people worried about his condition. At one point it was talked about pulling him from the show, announcing that he was injured, and putting the title up in a three-way with Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Jarrett. Anderson was actually cleared to wrestle and had his first match back the night before on an indie show in Waukesha, WI, facing Matt Hardy. Joe would have been pulled as most likely Jarrett would have gotten the title.

Hardy then said he wasn’t loaded, but was suffering from exhaustion from the trip to Abu Dhabi, which included a 20-hour flight back. Management accepted that story given that the other wrestlers on the tour were all exhausted, although none were in any danger of being pulled from the show. Hardy also did a personal appearance in Detroit the night before. One person said that actually Hardy has been in better shape now that his baby was born. He was allowed to wrestle and didn’t look any better, or any worse, than he did a month ago with Morgan.”

Hardy has already had his problems - but as we all know, the worst is yet to come (in 2011, Victory Road). What was the mindset surrounding Jeff Hardy - from a management perspective? Was he worth the risks?

Questions

Jeremy asks..The talent that tna had during this time was fantastic. That being said, why couldn't they hang with wwe?

Brandon asks..Was there any real reason that TNA didn't give WWE a run for their money other than poor management?

Francis asks..Why did you not use both Christy and JB doing backstage interviews?

Francis asks...Why was the TNA Global Championship rename the TNA TV Title in this era?

Hazard asks...What was your personal opinion of the Jeff's purple Immortal title? Do you think it worked for storyline purposes even though it wasn't traditional? Do you like the idea of custom titles in general?

Instagram: A Wrestling Historian asks...Did you prefer Jeff Hardy as the daredevil or The Anti-Christ?

Gill Boldberg asks...What would Eric say is the dumbest gimmick match in TNA?