83 Weeks - Final Resolution 2011 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This week Eric we finish up our look back at 10 years ago and your run in TNA. Last month we covered Turning Point so be sure to catch up on the timeline by checking it out in the archives!

You go from Kurt Angle being World Champion to James Storm to Bobby Roode. This is not a reset for the company but a new direction is it not?

The big storyline coming out of Turning Point is who attacked James Storm before his match with Bobby Roode for the TNA Title. You love a good Who Dun It don’t you Eric?

The follow-up Impact opens with Bobby Roode cutting a promo about he was the star of Fortune and the leader and the future of the company. James Storm comes out to confront Roode about his role in the attack but Storm claims innocence and finally AJ Styles attacks Roode from behind and is looking for a title shot. This gets the agents and everyone involved and finally Sting comes out and announces that Roode’s title defense at Final Resolution will be against an ex grand slam champion in AJ Styles in a 30 minute iron man match. This leads to Roode shoving Dixie aside who’s out there to hit Styles with the TNA title.

There’s a lot of Roode against the authority story here. We all know the formula worked once with Steve Austin against Vince McMahon. Why was it rehashed over and over again?

From the Observer: “So this injury angle that was supposed to lead to a long build for his reintroduction ends up with no build and him back after missing exactly zero weeks of television.”

Do you think putting Storm back on television that quickly was a good idea?

Robbie E is your TV champion by the way in case you’ve forgotten. Let’s move on.

Garret is in the back with Sting who tells him how proud he is of him. Later on you & Flair are in the back complaining when Sting comes in and lets both of you know that it will be Garret against Gunner and Garret will have Sting in his corner. Do you think Sting is a better father than you at this point?

From the Observer: “Sting backstage saw Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff, noting that he’s now got the power to rewrite Eric’s contract. Eric said he never signed the contract. This set up Garrett Bischoff with Sting in the corner against Gunner with Ric & Eric in the corner (likely a way to make it appear Garrett can draw ratings). Sting said he couldn’t remove him but he could drop him on the cement and Eric wouldn’t get up for a month. But instead, Sting wouldn’t do that either. Instead he cut a promo that Garett is going to go through Immortal one by one until he gets to Eric and he’s going to do the one thing that hurts Eric the most, which is become a bigger star in this business than he was”

Is that what it was Eric? A way to make it appear Garret can draw ratings?

Mickie James wins a #1 contenders gauntlet for the right to face Gail Kim at Final Resolution. There’s a lot of talent in the match: Velvet Sky, Rosita, Angelina Love, Sarita, Tara, Winter, ODB and Madison Rayne…along with Mickie. We’re any of these women in your mind a star?

Jeff Hardy defeated Jeff Jarrett at Turning Point but the story continues on Impact when Karen comes out and really lays into Hardy again. At this point you know Ring Ka King is coming and Jarrett needs to be written out yes?

From the Observer: “Sting was talking with Garrett Bischoff. Matt Morgan and Crimson came out and Sting talked to them, noting that with The Machine Guns not being around due to injuries and 3-D having split up, they are low on teams. I guess Ink Inc. doesn’t count. He said Mexican America was threatening to quit the promotion for lack of competition and said he wanted Crimson & Morgan to work together and he was giving them a title shot later in the show.”

Matt Morgan & Crimson defeat Mexican America to win the TNA Tag Team Titles. Morgan & Crimson are an…interesting team. Why them here? Is this really the way to promote your brand that your tag team champions are thinking of leaving?

Garret defeats Gunner with you at ringside. Where was Garret at at this point in terms of his in-ring?

From the Observer: “Garrett Bischoff cleanly beat Gunner with a DDT. I can see a lot of resentment is going to come pretty quickly over this one. That was the third DDT for a finish on this TV show. Garett was pretty limited but by no means does he look bad out there, just looks green. He is coming off as over pushed but he does have a good look that in theory girls would like. ”

Was there any resentment?

The final segment on the show sees Kurt Angle return and attack James Storm and claim he was the man who attacked him. Was Kurt ready to return from his injury already?

From the Observer: “Jesse Neal was at one point dropped from the promotion after he turned down an ordered move to Louisville. TNA wanted to send some of its lesser experienced talent to train at the OVW school and work on OVW shows to gain experience when they aren’t working at TNA. WWE does the same thing with a lot of the younger talent who are based in Tampa and still train at the FCW school when they aren’t on the road. Neal has claimed that he still thinks he’s with TNA as far as he knows, but did say they were not seeing eye-to-eye on the moving to Louisville. He later tweeted that he expects everything to be worked out and that he would remain with the company. He said he’s got nothing against doing more training and it’s a financial issue and he can’t afford the move. Neal and his girlfriend, Toxine, recently qualified for food stamps in Florida so his financial situation can’t be good and having to start over in Kentucky may be an issue. On this situation, if the company is assigning people to Kentucky they should go as part of their job, but the company should pay moving expenses if they want somebody already with the company to move for work related reasons.”

Where do you stand on this Eric? I mean the guy just qualified for food stamps.

From the Observer: “Jacqueline Moore, who turns 48 in a month, wrote on twitter that she believes she's done with the company. She had signed a short-term contract which expires at the end of the month, and figured given that she hasn't been used and nobody has called her about a new deal, that she was done.”

You have a lot of women in the promotion. Was Jacqueline necessary at this point?

The next week on Impact an 8-man elimination match it set up where Kurt Angle will corner a team against a team that James Storm will corner. Hmmm an 8-man elimination match happening right around Thanksgiving. Where did you get that idea from?

Speaking of the Survivor Series on the other channel the Rock is making his return to the WWE for the first time in 7 years. Are you hopeful that Rocky returning might provide a boost to the wrestling business as a whole?

We have a bunch of segments with Eric Young and a turkey suit because of course we do.

We have a show long storyline that culminates in a Thanksgiving Thong Thunder match where Velvet Sky, Tara & Brooke Tessmocker defeated Madison Rayne, Winter & Angelina Love. Yup.

From the Observer: “It was pretty clear this show was written with the idea that the audience will be low and it's a comedy show. There was nothing done to promote anything for the future except a lingerie match for the next week's Impact, more just a self-contained two hour show. It just felt like a wrestling show, with nothing really good or really bad. It was just funny seeing the lingerie match never end, with no real purpose other than the idea that the longer they have women in lingerie out there, the more people they figured would tune in.”

Jeff Jarrett comes out dressed as Jeff Hardy which is really clever when you look back at it but it’s just another set up to brawl and a bunch of guys come out and it’s a big schmozz.

Now the biggest part of this show in my mind…it even has a video package of the history of the Turkey Suit in TNA which is really just mind boggling if you ask me…the Loser Wears the Turkey Suit. Eric Young defeats Robbie E. Robbie E refuses to wear the suit and it goes on Robbie T. I get that Impact has always been hampered by having their show on Thursday and it always goes on Thanksgiving but this is all just a waste of TV time is it not?

The main event of Impact features team James Storm which is AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson & RVD against team Kurt Angle which is Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Jeff Jarrett and Christopher Daniels. AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy are the sole survivors which is to lead to Bobby Roode destroying both of them afterwards with the title.

How…bad does it look that your world Champion is forced to wrestle on a team put together by a guy who just 30 days ago lost the title to someone else and you’re not the focal point? Couldn’t have a midcard heel in this spot instead and then just have Roode attack them after the match?

You got Samoa Joe doing Xplosion matches at this time for god’s sake. There had to be a better way?

A triple threat match is made as the Main event on the next Impact between Roode, Hardy & AJ Styles. Is Hardy stretched too thin between this and the Jarrett angle in your mind?

Backstage Bully Ray asks if you want Ray to take out Garret but you tell him it’s Gunner’s job. You talk about how you don’t want your son to become a star in the business…but then ask Bully if he can get Abyss to join Immortal. Abyss seems to always be floating in and out of stories. How hard was it to to book for that character?

The Pope & Devon win a 3-way #1 contenders match for the Tag Team Titles. Does having two 3-ways on one show make the main event less interesting?

Gunner goes into a gym looking for Garret but can’t find him. He eventually beats up everyone in the gym. Captivating stuff…really.

There’s an odd interview segment with James Storm at his house talking about how he’s not cleared to wrestle yet he brawled with Kurt to the back during the 8-man last week. By the end of the interview Storm says he’ll be back next week to kick Angle’s ass. Not really making a lot of sense here Eric.

Robbie E defeats RVD! Yes you read that right. It’s with the help of Christopher Daniels but that’s a big win.

There’s a show-long storyline that Scott Steiner will get some freaks to help convince Abyss to join Immortal and the payoff is two women leave Abyss locker room looking…rough. Add to this that the Knockouts are forced by Karen Jarrett to get into bikinis and wash cars. Full on women exploitation here huh Eric?

Roode pins Hardy in the main event after Jarrett interferes and causes Jeff to lose. Sting announces that Jarrett and Hardy will face off in a cage match with Karen handcuffed to Sting. If Hardy wins he stays in TNA and is the #1 contender for the TNA title. If Jarrett wins Hardy has to leave. Talk about a one sided stipulation.

Hulk tweets this out before the Orlando taping: “Taping again in Orlando, Garrett seems to have found the magic. I only hope it rubs off on some of the other numbskulls.”

Does this help or hurt Garrett?

The go home Impact begins with Sting, Bobby Roode & Dixie Carter in the ring. Roode ends up calling Carter a rich, daddy’s little rich girl and everything was handed to her and she couldn’t run a lemonade stand. Without Hulk Hogan present it’s hard for there to be a good authority figure and Sting isn’t it right? The segment ends with Roode spitting on Carter and Sting running him off.

Is the plan to build to Roode vs. Sting?

Abyss defeats Samoa Joe with help from Immortal of Bully Ray & Scott Steiner but Abyss ends up hitting the black hole slam on Steiner to show he’s not.

Sting denies Gunner a rematch unless he agrees to not have you or Flair at ringside against Garret and Gunner agrees.

Devon’s sons … who are now training to be wrestlers … are featured in a segment where Devon & Pope talk about Morgan & Crimson and the Tag Team Titles. Where did the idea come from to use Devon’s sons?

From the Observer: “Garett Bischoff pinned Gunner in 3:17. Flair and Eric Bischoff came out with Gunner, and Mike Tenay immediately noted that wasn’t what Gunner promised. But Gunner did send them to the back. Garett Bischoff has a good look. If he wasn’t Eric’s son (and even if he was) and actually trained to where he was ready when he debuted, he would have a shot at being a star. But this rush job may be okay short-term but it won’t be long-term. Garett also needs to ditch wrestling in tennis shoes and pants. Gunner spent the match throwing Garett’s shoulder into the post several times. Gunner took the whole match and Garett won with a double leg takedown and pin. Yes, the finishing move was a double leg takedown. It came off like the weakest pin ever. After the match, Gunner kept beating on him. He threw him into the ring steps and set up giving him a piledriver outside the ring. Eric ran out and stopped him. Gunner explained to Eric how he disrespected you and disrespected me. Eric agreed with him, and then lifted up the mats to allow Gunner to piledrive his son on the floor. Really good segment as far as making Gunner into a bigger player and Garett’s return into being a big deal. As noted, it would be a lot better if Garett was ready in the ring for his newfound push instead of having to be hidden.

They came back and Garett was on a stretcher about to be taken out in an ambulance. Flair was slapping his chest, wished him Happy Holidays and told him to send a nurse back to his hotel room. Eric was laughing like crazy about it.”

What do you remember of this? How did you feel?

Storm & Angle have a real good in-ring promo to set up the match at Final Resolution. How did Storm never get another Heavyweight Title reign do you think?

The tag main event is AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy against Bobby Roode & Jeff Jarrett. This is actually Jarrett’s last match on Impact until July of 2015. Did you think at this time this was going to be it for Jeff?

AJ got the win over Roode after the two Jeffs brawl to the back.

From the Observer: “They are going with seven matches because the main event is going 30:00. Match placement is going to be interesting. TNA PPV crowds in Orlando tend to burn out leaving the main events, even when the wrestling is good, feeling flat. A 30:00 match that people know ahead of time is going 30:00 is a real challenge to put on last. Usually if you have a cage match you want that on last just because without the WWE's automated cage, it takes time to put the cage up and take it down, and that slows down the show. Plus there is a feeling, based on the match they had on TV two months back (the actual match, which is the reason Storm is getting the push he is because the key decision makers never saw Storm as a top singles guy until he had the great TV match with Angle), that Storm vs. Angle will be the best match and having Styles and Roode follow with the fans knowing they are going 30:00 will make things even worse for them. Still, the general rule is you want to headline with your world title.”

Did you think the Iron Man match should’ve gone on last compared to the cage and the Angle match ahead of time?

Also from the Observer: “The Hogan comments last week on Garett Bischoff finding the magic and hoping that it rubs off on some of the other numbskills got pretty much the reaction you would expect from most. It was described as a real morale kick in the balls at a time when a lot of the talent is already halfway going through the motions due to a lack of confidence in leadership.

The big change with Bruce Prichard has been at least the big picture idea he's dictating to cut back on the number of angles and focus on the angles that matter and make the show less confusing. It's been hit and miss on that.”

Did anyone come talk to you about what Hogan said? Did Garret feel the blow back?

What was Bruce like when doing creative?

Final Resolution takes place on December 11th and takes place in front of the usual 1,100 at the Impact Zone. Are you at this show with Garret written out of TV?

From the Observer: “If there was a theme coming out of TNA’s Final Resolution PPV on 12/11 in Orlando, it’s that they need to get their PPV shows out of the Impact Zone.

This has now become a monthly theme where the PPVs have a dead crowd, and thus come across as minor league offerings. Exactly what the future is of the company on PPV when the first Hulk Hogan PPV match in five years can barely top 20,000 buys and when Eric Bischoff, the architect of the monthly PPV which has been the industry standard since the mid-90s, openly has said he thinks they should be doing four PPV shows per year.

A lot of people will complain about the constant using of the PPV to build up to things where the payoff comes on television for free. This was the prime example, as the main event was a 30 minute Iron Man match where TNA champion Bobby Roode faced A.J. Styles. After a very good match, the two were tied 3-3 and it was ruled a draw. This led to a rematch the next night, taped for Impact, where Roode won cleanly with a half Boston crab.

As counterproductive as this seems on the surface, the damage has already been done. Monthly shows are below 10,000 buys and they’ve got no magic matches to build that are going to make any real difference in that number. They’ve over stipulated their stuff past the point of death, to where fans don’t believe their stipulations so they make no difference. They’ve used PPVs as a tool to build free television, frequently, including this week, making people who paid feel like they were taken. They’ve made PPVs something you can miss without missing anything important. Final Resolution was better than a lot of their recent shows. Many of late have been average or worse at a time when they need outstanding and great word of mouth to even begin to turn things around. We had the smallest number of responses to any TNA show since they went monthly, which isn’t a good early sign.”

It’s true…32 people voted thumbs up for the show and 2 thumbs down. So the percentage is good at 94%. Do you agree with Meltzer’s assessment?

“1. Rob Van Dam pinned Christopher Daniels in 10:01. Van Dam has either slowed down due to age and injuries, as he’s past 40 doing a high flying style, or he’s lost his enthusiasm. He just seems like he’s mentally not into it. He and Daniels haven’t jelled in the program. Daniels shoved RVD’s chest into the post and worked on him, using moves like knees to the gut and a reverse bearhug. RVD came back with a high kick and a standing moonsault. Van Dam used a high monkey flip followed by Rolling Thunder. He missed a double foot stomp and Daniels hit a spear. After a missed spot by Daniels, RVD hit the frog splash. The finish came out of nowhere. *¾”

RVD isn’t hiding it here how uninterested he is. What was Rob’s issue at that time?

The big criticism has been TNA never pushed the guys who they could claim as their own compared to signing the WWE guys and pushing them over them. Why RVD with the win here?

2. Robbie E retained the TV title beating Eric Young in 7:29. Young usually gets over with this crowd. He did his comedy doing the weak lock-ups with people in the audience. That’s pretty funny. Then he took off his shorts and revealed way too small briefs. Young did moves like a Thesz press and later a tope. Outside the ring, Rob Terry, as E’s bouncer, went to clothesline Young, who ducked, but then E nailed Young. Young came back doing moves like a Lawler fist drop off the top and a Savage elbow off the top. Young put both guys on his shoulder at the same time for a double Death Valley bomb, but it was too much weight and he lost them and sold his back hurting. Taz joked that Young thought he was Ted Arcidi (a former bench press record holder then wrestled in the 80s). The finish saw Young dropkick Terry to the floor, but turn around into a codebreaker. *1/2

Lots of ha ha ga ga here but Young is usually entertaining. Do you think Robbie E really was still over?

3. Matt Morgan & Crimson retained the tag titles beating Pope D’Angelo Dinero & Devon in 9:37. Before the match, Pope & Devon did an interview. After Devon left, Pope said that he can’t help it if Devon’s kids look up to him as the father they never had. Devon’s kids were at ringside so you figured they were going to be involved in the finish. Devon got a near fall on Crimson with a spinebuster and people did react, thinking it could be the finish. Pope did a Savage elbow off the top on Crimson and Devon went for the pin, but Morgan saved again. Morgan threw Pope out of the ring and he and Crimson gave Devon a double-team choke slam and Crimson got the pin. Post match saw Pope make this face like he was frustrated at Devon for losing the match for him. *

This…just did not click. The story didn’t click. The match didn’t click. Is this just a total complete miss?

4. Austin Aries pinned Kid Kash to retain the X title in 12:46. Taz joked that Aries drinks Dos Equis, a takeoff on their most interesting man in the world commercials and his greatest man alive gimmick. Crowd hurt this one as well. Both guys worked as heels although Aries was more the heel here. Aries pulled out Brass Knux, but ref Brian Hebner caught him and took them away. Kash then pulled out Knux and was about to use them, but Hebner saw him as well and took them away. As Hebner was getting rid of both pairs of Knucks, Aries brought in the belt. Instead of hitting Kash, he threw it to Kash, who was holding it when Hebner turned around. Hebner took the belt from him and yelled at him. Kash turned around and got kicked in the gut and Aries delivered a brainbuster for the pin. Finish was clever, but the belt spot coming after the double Knux spot made the entire finish feel like comedy, and comedy that nobody really cared about. **½

Is this too much funny ha ha considering the match before? It’s hard to have a heel vs. heel match but these two are real good together. Both have the reputation of being difficult to deal with. Was that your experience with these guys?

5. Gail Kim pinned Mickie James in 7:50 to retain the Knockouts title. It was very strange here as they had a long video feature (not bad either) building up this match and they showed it twice. It made the production seem Mickey Mouse. These two worked hard and seemed to want to make this into a good wrestling match, and not just a good match when judged on the women’s curve. I don’t think it reached that level and the crowd didn’t help matters. James used a Thesz press off the top rope for a near fall. Kim came back, went for her eat defeat, but James blocked it and turned it into a dragon screw. Kim ended up grabbing her belt and walking out. James chased her down the ramp and started brawling with her. James whipped Kim into the post. But with the ref distracted by Kim, Madison Rayne came out and grabbed James’ legs allowing Kim to use the eat defeat for the pin. **1/4

3 distraction finishes out of 5 so far. The production issues not withstanding do you think these two just didn’t have enough time?

6. James Storm pinned Kurt Angle in 17:47. Storm is trying to get a chant of “Beer Drinker” to replace “Beer Money” during his matches. Didn’t happen yet. This was Angle’s first match back since he had his messed up hamstring two months ago. He was a lot smaller, particularly in the legs. This was sad because Storm comes across on TV like he’s so over, does these awesome promos, and this was a good wrestling match that the crowd wasn’t much into. They were more into this than the prelims, but hardly like you’d expect from an Angle match or for a hot new top face. Angle went for a running tackle but Storm got out of the way and Angle went shoulder first into the post. Storm DDT’d Angle on the apron. Storm went for the superkick again and it was blocked. Angle used the Olympic slam for a near fall, but missed a moonsault. The missed moonsault was the spot that got people into the bout. Storm then hit the superkick for the pin. ***¼

These two were real good together but the crowd really never did get to that level. Is it like Meltzer said at the beginning…the Impact Zone at this point was just dead?

7. Jeff Hardy pinned Jeff Jarrett in 10:18 in a cage match. The only winning by escaping stip was changed to being able to win by pin, submission, or escaping the cage. Sting was handcuffed to Karen Jarrett. Crowd was into Hardy from the start and this had the most heat on the show.Hardy used the twist of fate and climbed to the top. Instead of climbing over the top, he came off the top of the cage with a swanton that missed. They’ve got a really high cage and he took a back bump into the ring on an already bad back that limits greatly what he can do. Crowd went crazy. Jarrett tried to climb out but Hardy recovered and pulled him back in. Jarrett used the stroke and tried to crawl out the door but Hardy dived and grabbed his leg to pull him back in. The door to the outside was open and Jarrett threw Hardy at the door where he knocked Sting off the apron. Karen then got the key to the handcuffs out of Sting’s pocket and uncuffed herself. Karen then slammed the door on Hardy’s head but Hardy kicked out of the pin attempt. Karen then grabbed the guitar to give to it to Jeff, but Sting recovered and pulled the guitar away. With Jeff Jarrett distracted, Hardy hit another twist of fate and got the pin. ***¼

This really is a great match with the gimmicks and smoke and mirrors. It’s crazy this is the last big match of Jarrett’s run in the company he started before his brief return in 2015. What a match and a way to go out there don’t you think?

8. Bobby Roode drew A.J. Styles on a 3-3 score to retain the TNA title in a 30:00 Iron Man match. Roode debuted his new catch phrase that “I spit in the face of authority.” They started slow but this turned into a very good match, with heavy emphasis on Roode working on Styles’ bad knee and Styles’ working on Roode’s left shoulder and arm. They had a tough time, and the crowd knowing they were going 30 wasn’t helping. Roode took the first fall in 10:02 with a chop block and pin. Styles took control way too fast after losing a fall. Roode continued to work on the knee and got a submission with the figure four leglock in 15:22. Roode continued to work over the knee, but Styles used the divorce court on Roode’s left shoulder and made him submit to the crossface at 17:34. They went back and forth and the crowd by this time was into it. Styles won the third fall in 20:07 with an inside cradle. Styles used a reverse DDT and a springboard 450 to go up 3-2 at 22:58. Styles tried a sunset flip, but Roode blocked it and grabbed onto the ropes for leverage to tie it up at 3-3 at 25:00. Styles hit the Pele kick. He then went for the Styles Clash, but his knee gave out and he collapsed. Roode by this point had a bloody nose. Styles used a running flip diver over the top but at this point was big time selling his knee with just one minute left. Styles recovered and threw Roode into the ring. Roode was then running away for the last 30 seconds mostly jumping out of the ring and winding down the clock until time ran out and he retained the title with a draw. The crowd was chanting for five more minutes, and I don’t think anyone actually thought this was the end of the match. ***½

It’s a flat finish and weird booking with the heel being the one losing before getting the equal pin. What did you think of the reverse psychology there?

Calling him Bobby Roode instead of Robert Roode…do you think there was an improvement in the name change and he needed to get that done?

What did you think of the show Eric? Thumbs up, thumbs down, in the middle?

It’s reported that the show drew approximately 8,000 buys which is less than one percent of the 1.44 million viewers TNA was averaging at the time for TV. Are you just not building anything compelling to get people to pay?