TNA Won’t Die: Final Resolution Review + Thoughts on Tessa Blanchard Returning
When you work hard all week to feed a bunch of picky eaters- weekends are for sleeping in, eating junk food, farting, and catching up on wrestling! Salutations, fellow Impact Zoners! I’m over here living my best (lazy) life, just chillin’ and simply enjoying being a wrestling fan. And if you want to know why I’m in such a good mood right now- then that tells me you didn’t watch TNA Final Resolution. Shame on you. I hereby order you to pause reading this, leave this tab open on your laptop, and go check it right now. I’ll wait…
For a company that has seen so many ups and downs in its 20+ years of existence, TNA is the company that just won’t die. No matter how many management changes, booking blunders, or network homes it has had, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling somehow always finds a way to thrive. Financially speaking and ratings-wise, it may be just a shell of what it once was, but some whispers on these interwebs are calling for the company to return to its rightful place as the #2 promotion in North America, despite not being chiefly or executively officed by a billionaire or his mark son. I don’t care how delusional that may sound. I’m with it. TNA all day, every day, baby!
My goodness, what a show. From the bottom to the top, Final Resolution was “exhibit A” of why TNA continues to sell over 2,000-3,000 tickets for events, and fans go home satisfied. Yes- I said “from the bottom”. I’m talking the pre-show. This is the ONE promotion whose kick-off/countdown shows I tend not to skip- and the total watch time of it all still feels like a fraction of getting through an entire AEW PPV. If you skipped the Countdown to Final Resolution, here’s what you missed:
Johnny “Dango” Curtis (JDC, fka Fandango) vs. Leon Slater
I said it before, and I’ll restate it: there’s some untapped potential there with Dango. Is he main event-level? Probably not. But I do believe he can play a more important role than the System’s resident job guy. Slater has been a consistent presence on these TNA PPV preshows. Unfortunately for him, I don’t think he’s ever had his hand raised in any of these matches, and this event was no different. Sure, Dango got the win through cheating. But I just don’t see how Slater can rise through the ranks without collecting some wins. His athleticism is off the charts (see his leaping onto the ropes to hit an enziguri), and the fans are behind him, but that could easily fade if they always know he’ll lose. Solid opening match though.
Frankie Kazarian vs. “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham
It is important for us to be reminded that Kazarian thinks he is the “King of TNA”, and that he has an automatic world title shot thanks to his Call Your Shot cup. It’s also important that Kaz keeps his heat going, and the most effective way to accomplish this is to have him cheat to beat a hometown favorite. Frankie picks up a win to the annoyance of the Atlanta crowd, while Gresham (who is expected to leave with his wife next month) remains the consummate professional, giving his all between the ropes to whomever he’s working with, and never giving the “boo-boo job face” before his matches.
The main card:
Moose retains the X-Division title over Kushida: it takes a special heel to get heat in his own hometown. Moose is that special heel. “Moose” chants were audible beyond the parts of his theme music where you’re supposed to do it, but the crowd was firmly invested in seeing the Time Splitter unseat the Face of the Franchise. The match was absolutely brilliant, with Moose’s power and cockiness being balanced out by Kushida’s technical skills, toughness, and scouting of Moose. Kushida very wisely targeted Moose’s left arm after Moose foolishly thwarted his own imminent countout victory. Kushida nearly made Moose pay for stopping the ref’s 10-count, and came within an inch of finally winning his first TNA championship. I hated to see Kushida lose yet again, however, I’m starting to get on board with a Moose-dominated X-Division until the right babyface rises up to take him down (I wouldn’t mind Kushida coming back and being that guy).
The Rascalz def. Sami Callahan and PCO and Jake Something in a tag team three-way: you read that right- one person was teaming with himself, thanks to an injury to Hammerstone (I think this is his second injury this year, and I’m thinking this is one of the reasons why his spot on the card is so low). Something chose not to replace his partner and go it alone, and boy did he show out. He may have fared better if it were every man for himself, however, tag team acumen ruled the day. PCO got in his insane old man spots to the delight of the crowd, and every guy in this match shined. I’m not the biggest fan of most the participants, yet I was heavily impressed by everyone. Trey and Wentz were the underdogs due to their size, yet they were the most experienced team in the match and it showed. Sami showed good sportsmanship in losing, but the lovefest was interrupted by the “23 is just a number” graphic and voiceover.
“Inevitable” Ace Austin of the ABC defeats Trent Sevin: I was baffled by why they would book Sevin to score a victory over Ace and the Hardys in North Carolina, but sometimes you have to sit back, be patient, and enjoy the ride. That victory gave Sevin bragging rights and “momentum advantage” coming into what felt like a grudge match despite this being the first one-on-one encounter between these two. Ace is wrestling in honor of his injured tag team partner Chris Bey; Sevin is wrestling in honor of himself. Ace showed us why ABC became such a fan favorite over the last several months, pumping the crowd up and making them thirsty to see Sevin get his comeuppance after wiping his crotch with a Chris Bey shirt and ripping it up. Sevin’s annoying “bop and bang” move was nicely altered due to him countering Ace’s counter. And normally I complain about people kicking out of piledrivers (especially after a 1 count), but it worked here. Ace “hulked” up, dug down deep, and peformed a one-man “1-2-Sweet” (Art of Finesse/the Fold combo) for the pinfall. What a match!
Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary ends in DQ as Tessa Blanchard Returns to TNA: with two pros like Grace and Rosemary on the job, this match didn’t need any assistance in garnering interest. Grace is beloved by the TNA faithful, and Rosemary is a respected veteran who can convincingly play the good guy or bad guy. Both ladies can be counted on to deliver in the ring. A running theme of the night in some of these matches was the heels having scouted their babyface opponents and forcing the faces to switch things up. Rosemary stalking Grace from the rafters every week obviously paid off, as it took a lot of effort on Jordynne’s part to gain the upper hand. We will have to wait a little longer for the payoff, however, as a masked figure hops the rail and mercilessly attacks Jordynne while she recovers outside the ring. Rosemary stays in the corner watching menacingly, giving off no indication that she knew this was coming. The figure removes her jacket (to reveal that she’s female), then removes the mask to reveal that it is none other than the most controversial woman in wrestling: Tessa Blanchard. Gia Stevens tries to catch up with Tessa to get her to explain her actions, and gets pie-faced for her troubles.
Do You Still Believe? Well, You Should. Because Joe Hendry defeated Mike Santana, Josh Alexander, and Steve Maclin in a four-way #1 Contender’s Match. Frankie Kazarian was present at the announce table to offer his lighthearted heel commentary, while three top guys (and Maclin) earned every last bit of those “THIS IS AWESOME” chants. Match of the Night thus far in a night filled with non-stop bangers. The only low point was the slightly embarrassing moment of Alexander struggling to zip-tie Santana’s wrist to a rail (garnering some “you can’t zip-tie” chants). Shoutout to Mike for improvising and trying to show some type of struggle while keeping his wrist still long enough for Josh to finally secure the tie. This gave Santana his “out” without having to take a loss, and sets up what will surely be an amazing feud going into 2025. Maclin gets taken out by a low-blow, and Hendry capitalizes with a Standing Ovation and the 1-2-3 on Alexander. I’m happy to admit that my fears of Hendry “cooling off” were premature.
Masha Slamovich retains the Knockouts Title against Tasha Steelz: the match was a Falls Count Anywhere match, and Alisha Edwards (who accompanied Tasha to the ring) was carried out by Santino Marella and after he banned her from the building and threatened to fire her if she returned. Once again, the slimmer, smaller-framed Tasha proves to be no slouch, and this retention for Masha did not come easily. The only thing that brought this match down for me was the lack of crowd noise. Masha is not as over as a babyface as she was as a heel, and nobody seems to appreciate how good of a heel Tasha is. The crowd gave this the “cool down/bathroom break” reaction, with a few chants sprinkled in and a positive reaction for the ending sequence. But don’t let the crowd fool you: these girls did their thing. One thing about the women’s division in TNA: whenever they’re placed in the main event- it’s because that placement is actually warranted and not tokened.
The Hardys Put the System Through Tables: when you see so many hardcore/no DQ/no holds barred matches within the calendar year, you wonder how wrestlers can keep anything fresh. We’ve been seeing people be put through tables since the late 1990’s, and it’s crazy to me how seeing it can get a “HOLY SH–!” chant in 2024, despite the fact that we see it every week, sometimes multiple times in one program. But that’s the thing: TNA exercises self-control better than most promotions. Sure, the Hardys have been diving off of and crashing into stuff for 30 years, but even thought there were other matches on the card that carried “no DQ” as a stipulation- the weapons weren’t overdone, and this was the first time in this event that furniture was destroyed. Not to mention- come on… it’s the Hardys! They can do no wrong at this point in their careers, they look pretty darn good for a couple of 40-somethings, and you can’t help but not only feel nostalgic, but also respect the fact that they are still able to go after everything they’ve put their bodies through, as well as everything we know they’ve been through outside of the ring. What will probably be the main talking point from this match is when a fan slapped Eddie Edwards and got slapped back, then kicked out of the arena. I don’t believe that was a work. A plant would’ve fallen back or something to that effect. But the refs called for security as Eddie and the fans rejoiced over his ejection. Why someone would want to test these athletes is beyond me. That fan better be glad that all he got was a slap.
Main Event: Nic Nemeth retains his World Championship against AJ Francis: in the match that nobody asked for, Nemeth did what everyone assumed he would do: pulled a good match out of Francis. No help needed from JBL this time around, even when First Class beat down Nemeth after the end of the match. The new #1 contender Joe Hendry made the save, Frankie Kazarian still has yet to cash in his cup, and the main event for Genesis is set. The end of this match seemed more suited for an episode of Impact than a PPV, but it served its purposes, and hopefully we are done with placeholder feuds and matches over the world title.
I will not reduce Final Resolution down to “one thing that you should check out if you don’t see anything else” because the entire show is must-see. Infinitely superior to Turning Point, it put TNA creatively back on track. Though we know that there will be some contracts expiring in the new year, TNA knows exactly how to work with what they have and make even the little things meaningful in this oversaturated wrestling climate. This is one of the reasons why TNA will NOT die.
Thoughts on the Return of Tessa Blanchard
I will not go into the controversy surrounding her, how she left, and why we haven’t seen her since. Since she’s back in the national spotlight, Google is readily available with all the info you need to catch you up. From a TV standpoint, Tessa HAD to return the way that she did (as a heel, and by attacking a top star, instead of a lame babyface “welcome back” promo). She left the company as the reigning men’s world champion (yeah… let’s not do THAT again, please), and she had real life heat. No point in trying to cast her as a returning hero. From a non-kayfabe standpoint? I say “why not?” She’s been away long enough, and whatever sins she committed that got her blacklisted- there are people in the WWE’s Hall of Fame who have done worse and got away with it simply because they made WWE a lot of money. I’m not defending anything she said or did. But seeing fences mended is part of wrestling (just ask Bruno, Warrior, and Punk). There’s money to be made, tickets and merch to sell, and fans to entertain. People do dumb stuff, grow, lather, rinse, repeat. “But you don’t understand how toxic she is! She (insert whatever she allegedly did that you weren’t there for, but hate her for nonetheless)!” Don’t care. Unless you found child porn on her laptop or dug up a dead body in her backyard- I don’t want to hear it. If she can bring some more eyeballs to TNA and get more people talking about the promotion- let it rock. Who doesn’t love a good comeback story?
That’s it for me today. Let me know you’re thoughts and I’ll catch you on the next go-round.
Peace.