The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
Final Resolution : Preview & Predictions
The Kingfish Arnie Katz gets you ready for TNA’s December pay per view event!.
The name on the marquee says “Final Resolution,” but as all long-time wrestling fans know, there is never a final resolution in the on-going saga of any major promotion.
This show is equally unlikely to settle all scores, grudges and feuds, but it is going to cause some big changes and pave the way for some epic showdowns at Genesis.
Let’s look at the card and what we can expect to happen at Final Resolution.
The Beautiful People (Angelina Love & Velvet Sky) & Sharmell vs. ODB, Taylor Wilde & Roxxi
The Story: ODV and Sharmell have become enemies ever since the Respect War erupted between the Main Event Mafia and TNA Frontline. ODB called out Booker T’s luscious wife and the multi-time champion responded by making a deal with the Beautiful People to be in Sharmell’s corner for her confrontation with the Trailer Park Princess. ODB is brave, not stupid, so she enlisted the support of Roxxi and Taylor Wilde in what is now a three-on-three battle.
My Prediction: This match has a couple of problems. One is that none of the participants is generating much heat at the moment and the other is that Sharmell is emphatically not a wrestler. I smell a tainted victory for Sharmell after interference by The Beautiful People takes out ODB. The heels then attack Taylor Wilde and Sharmell gets to make the actual cover.
Predicted Grade: C-
Abyss & Matt Morgan vs. Beer Money (with Jacqueline)
TNA Tag Team Championship
The Story: Matt Morgan and Abyss have forged a very potent team that has become a serious challenger to reigning champions Beer Money. James Storm and Robert Roode have met the duo with violence in the ring and mind games out of it. They got Abyss drunk on the 12/4 Impact and clobbered him with a bottle.
My Prediction: The terrible angle presented on the 12/4 iMPACT has drained some of the excitement from this match by making Abyss look like a feeble-minded mark. Normally, that would mean that Morgan and Abyss will conquer, but that really doesn’t sound like a very likely result. Beer Money will keep the title after Jacqueline mesmerizes Abyss at a crucial moment in the fight. Sadly, TNA may be doing yet another turgid “evils of drink” plot. If so, it could end up with Morgan and Abyss on a collision course as The Blueprint tries to rehab his buddy by thrashing him in the ring. I’ll never understand why the world’s psychiatrists haven’t embraced this method and taken to beating up their patients.
Predicted Grade: B
Awesome Kong vs. Christy Hemme
TNA Knockout Championship Match
The Story<: Some strange alchemy has transformed Christy Hemme from the rock bimbo manager of The Rock n Rave Infection to a babyface challenger for Awesome Kong’s TNA Women’s Championship. The talking is done; now it’s time to test it in the ring.
My Prediction: This is symptomatic of TNA’s lack of depth in the Knockout Division at the present time. They really don’t have anyone to match against Awesome Kong, so the gorgeous, but half-trained, Hemme will subject that fabulous body to the knocks and dings of a match against the Colossus from the Far East.
This one ought to be a clean, middle-of-the-ring pin for Awesome Kong. Christy Hemme will soon be back managing and valeting, if not for the old team than a new one, so she can stand the loss.
Predicted Grade: C+
Eric Young vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
X-Division Championship
The Story: This rematch is intended to decide who is the rightful X Division title-holder. It looked like Eric took the strap at Turning Point, but TNA made him return it to Bashir due to irregularities in the match.
My Prediction: The match will take the expected “surprise swerve” when Shane Sewell replaces the original referee and, eventually, disqualifies Bashir. That will lead to a dust-up between the Sheik and the Wrestler-turned-Referee. Cornette or someone will then suspend Sewell as a referee but give him a chance to earn back his job with a victory against the Middle Eastern Nightmare. It’s not a great way to use Eric Young, but that’s pretty much what I expect.
Predicted Grade: B-
Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley vs. Homicide vs. Hernandez vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Lance Hoyt vs. Shark Boy vs. Curry Man vs. BG James vs. Cute Kip vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Petey Williams
Feast or Fired Match
The Story: They did it before, last year, and they intend to do it again. The ultimate in unfathomable gimmick matches returns for a second bewildering year. The idea is to grab suitcases. Three confer title shots and the fourth results in a pink slip. Sadly, the announcers will try to convince us there is some kind of strategy involved in this.
My Prediction: The identity of the fired person is probably as interesting, if not more so, than who gets the title shots. While it could be GB James, who seems to be coming to the end of the line, or Lance the nearly invisible Lance Rock, but I think TNA will fire Christopher Daniels for the second year in a row in his guise as Curry Man. Then, on the next iMPACT, or the one after that, Daniels will show up and ask for reinstatement after being off TNA for a year. Odds are that he’ll have to wrestle someone to get a slot.
The winners of the three championships are harder to pinpoint, because they can always “pay off” with an inconsequential match on iMPACT. A win for Cute Kip might lead to a reunion with BG James, but a more likely scenario is that Consequences Creed or Black Machismo will grab a suitcase that leads to a tag team title showdown against Beer Money.
The World Heavyweight Championship shot will go to Alex Shelley, so he can fight Styles in a match.
Homicide will get the chance to beat Bashir for the X Division strap.
Predicted Grade: B
Kurt Angle vs. Rhino
Special Enforcer: Mick Foley
Special stip: If Rhino wins, Angle is out of TNA. If Angle wins, he gets Jarrett at Genesis.
The Story: The special stipulation tells the story of this latest chapter in Kurt Angle’s campaign to compel Jeff Jarrett to meet him in a TNA ring. Rhino, who recently stepped into a leadership position in Frontline, has the chance to send the former Olympian packing if he can somehow pin or submit the bullet-headed badguy.
My Prediction: Nothing is ever certain until it happens – and, in wrestling, not always then. Still, it doesn’t seem possible that TNA would fire Angle or do anything to derail the Jarrett-Angle showdown. That means an Angle win in a way that, hopefully, doesn’t destroy Rhino as a leader of the opposing faction. Kurt’s mystery corner person might be the means to that end.
There is an alternative possibility that might be worth mentioning. Kurt could lose to Rhino and get fired. Then he could invade Jarrett’s home. Jeff would then want to get Kurt back in the ring. He would provisionally reinstate Angle for a match against the TNA Founder that Kurt would have to win to regain his spot. I don’t think they’ll do that, but it would be cool if they did.
Predicted Grade: B+
Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles &Team 3D Sting, Booker T, Kevin Nash & Scott Steiner
The Story: This is a huge showdown between the Main Event Mafia and the TNA Frontline with control of the World Heavyweight Championship at stake.
My Prediction: What makes sense is to take the title off Sting in this match, which will be considered as a negligible loss and give the White-Faced Warrior a chance to go for the title against Styles at Genesis.
Another possibility, though maybe not for this match is that Sting will turn and join the Frontline. They spent a lot of time on the last iMPACT showing Sting in a pensive mood that suggests he is re-thinking some of his recent actions. What if Team 3D switched to the MEM during the match – and then Sting switched to the Frontline and pinned Devon in a move that cost him his own title? That could be pretty exciting stuff.
Predicted Grade: B+
Predicted Grade for Final Resolution: B
That’s it for today. I’ll be back on Monday with another installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising daily wrestling column. I’ll have the recap and analysis of Final Resolution and you’ll be able to laugh at my predictions.
— Arnie Katz
[email protected]
(12/6/08)