TNA Final Resolution
December 13, 2024
By: John Siino
Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia
Commentary: Tom Hannifan & Matthew Rehwoldt
RESULTS
- Countdown: JDC over Leon Slater via pinfall (7:07)
- Countdown: Frankie Kazarian over Jonathan Gresham via submission (9:11)
- TNA X-Division Title: Moose (c) over KUSHIDA via pinfall (10:52) (Recommended)
- The Rascalz over PCO & Sami Callihan, Jake Something via pinfall (11:04)
- Ace Austin over Trent Seven via pinfall (12:39)
- Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary ends in a no-contest (11:13)
- Joe Hendry over Steve Maclin, Josh Alexander, Mike Santana via pinfall (18:24) (Recommended)
- TNA Knockouts World Title Falls Count Anywhere: Masha Slamovich (c) over Tasha Steelz via pinfall (12:36) (Recommended)
- TNA World Tag Team Title Tables Match: The Hardys (c) over Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards (16:52)
- TNA World Title: Nic Nemeth (c) over AJ Francis via pinfall (15:14)
Leon Slater vs. JDC (Countdown to Final Resolution)
Right away, JDC takes Leon Slater down but he comes right back with a takedown and mimics JDC’s old Fandango dance. They quickly take it to the outside, as Slater dives right onto JDC and gets the Atlanta crowd behind him. They go back and forth inside before JDC catches Slater off the top rope and hits him with a Falcon Arrow for two. Slater returns with a huge leg lariat and a single leg dropkick, before going to the top rope and hitting a crossbody for two. With JDC on the top rope, Slater hits a wild-looking step-up kick, knocking Slater to the outside where Slater hits him with a flipping dive, over the corner to him, as the crowd erupts in a ‘Holy shit’ chant. Back inside, JDC dodges a 450 Splash and rolls up Slater with his feet on the ropes to pick up the win.
Winner: JDC by pinfall at 7:07
Hammerstone Out With An Injury
Gia Miller is in the back and says that Hammerstone has sustained an injury and won’t be able to participate in the three-way tag team match tonight. Jake Something walks in and says he doesn’t need help or a replacement in the match against PCO, Sami Callihan, and The Rascalz tonight, and he can do anything on his own.
Frankie Kazarian vs. Jonathan Gresham (Countdown to Final Resolution)
Jonathan Gresham was announced as from Atlanta and got a big reaction from the crowd. In response, Frankie Kazarian has Jade Chung announce him as the ‘King of TNA’. They take it to the corner right away, where Gresham puts on the Octopus Stretch in the ropes, before heading to the top rope and hitting a crossbody for two. Kazarian stays on top of Gresham, hitting a back suplex for two before taunting over to the crowd. Gresham comes back with some escapes and pin attempts, but Kazarian catches him in a Chicken Wing, but Gresham escapes out into a pin for two. Gresham transitions into another Octopus Stretch before dropping hammer fists onto him. Kazarian escapes and connects with a Slingshot Cutter, but Gresham kicks out at two. Kazarian follows with a thumb in the eye, before putting on the Chicken Wing again, this time in the center of the ring as Gresham taps out.
Winner: Frankie Kazarian by submission at 9:11
TNA X-Division Championship: Moose (c) vs. KUSHIDA
Tom Hannifan brings up the fact that The System has been in 19 title matches in 2024 events, as Moose just defended the X-Division Championship last night on TNA iMPACT against Cody Deaner. While discussing the history of the title, Matthew Rehwoldt asks if anyone has seen AJ Styles recently, with reports of him being backstage tonight with this event being in his hometown. Moose & KUSHIDA take it outside right away, as Moose catches KUSHIDA off the ropes and swings him right into the steel steps before power bombing him onto the apron. KUSHIDA is about to get counted down, but Moose stops the referee from doing so and instead laps around the ring to try and take out KUSHIDA, but KUSHIDA sidesteps as Moose goes shoulder-first into the steel steps. KUSHIDA stays in control, using the steps to attack Moose, but once they get inside, Moose pulls KUSHIDA off the top rope to hit Go to Hell for two. KUSHIDA comes back with palm strikes, but Moose catches him off the ropes with a uranage for two. KUSHIDA tries the hoverboard look, before sending Moose face-first into the corner, hits a Tornado DDT and Back to the Future, but Moose kicks out at two. They trade off chops and strikes, but as Moose tries to springboard off the corner, he gets caught in a Hoverboard Lock from KUSHIDA. Moose struggles for a bit, before reaching out to the bottom rope to break it up. More back-and-forth before Moose stops a springboarding KUSHIDA off the ropes with a dropkick, before hitting the spear for the pin and the win.
Winner: Moose by pinfall at 10:52, to retain
Money & Gold
Gia Miller is in the back with First Class, as KC Navarro says tonight everybody is going to believe in AJ Francis, as they are not only about money but about gold. Francis says this is the biggest moment of his career and he worked 6 years in this sport for this moment as he has never wanted anything more than to be world champion. He’s going to do it tonight by putting his hands around the throat of Nic Nemeth, picking him above his head, and slamming him onto the TNA logo in the ring, because there’s not a damn thing that Nemeth or anybody on this roster that can do about it. Tonight he will prove that he deserves everything that’s coming for him.
The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) vs. PCO & Sami Callihan vs. Jake Something
Jake Something does indeed go into this match alone, as Sami Callihan & Zachary Wentz start the match. As they back into the corner, Something smacks Callihan, tagging himself in, but gets hit with a hurricanrana from Wentz. Trey Miguel tags in as The Rascalz start double-teaming on Something. Something chops PCO to tag him in, just for PCO to knock Something down. PCO & Callihan take turns going after The Rascalz, as Hannifan brings up this mysterious ’23’ number we’ve been seeing on iMPACT as Rehwoldt says he’s from Chicago so all he thinks of is Michael Jordan. Miguel fights off PCO & Callihan, hitting them both with a moonsault, as both Wentz & Something tag in and go at it. Wentz hits him with a big German Suplex before Miguel tags back as The Rascalz start attacking Something in the corner. PCO & Wentz go crashing to the outside as Callihan teases diving onto them, just to be stopped by a superkick from Miguel who ends up diving instead. Callihan tries again but this time Wentz stops him. Callihan then tells PCO to hit the PCO Sault on all three opponents, which he does and it wakes up this crowd. All five men go at it with Something hitting both Rascalz with power bombs. Something then hits Callihan & PCO with powerbombs, but PCO gets right back up and starts trading blows with Something. The Rascalz take turns flipping back into the ring before hitting Feed Them To The Lions on Something to get the pin and the win.
Winners: The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) by pinfall at 11:04
23 – It’s Just A Number
We get another mysterious 23 video on the screen with the audio saying ‘It’s just a number’ over and over again as the crowd chants ‘What was that?’. TNA has been hyping up a live episode of iMPACT for January 23rd, so I’m expecting that to be the reveal of this mystery.
Eric Young bumps into Steve Maclin in the back and hypes him up saying it’s his night and that he has his back tonight, and gives Maclin confidence in winning this four-way tonight to earn a title shot for TNA Genesis.
Trent Seven vs. Ace Austin
The story here is that Ace Austin is upset at Trent Seven for what he did to his former partner in ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, as Austin says he wishes he had his partner by his side in Chris Bey. Before the match starts, Seven rips the Bey t-shirt away from Austin as the bell rings, and Austin goes right after Seven. They take it outside, as Hannifan mentions this is the first match Austin has had in TNA since July. Austin tries to get the crowd behind him and says ‘This is for Chris Bey’, but Seven stops his momentum and attacks Austin in the corner. Seven stays in control, before Austin tells him to continue with the chops, just for Seven to hit one down low and hit a DDT for two. Seven grabs the Bey shirt and starts rubbing it on himself, which fires up Austin who attacks Seven in the corner with numerous clubs. After some tussling on the top rope, Austin follows with a double stomp for two. Seven grabs Austin from the top rope and hits him with the Birminghammer onto the apron, but as Seven goes for the cover, Austin gets his foot on the rope to stop it. Seven stays in control, but Austin stops a Seven Star Lariat attempt with a spinning heel kick. Seven stops an Art of Finesse attempt and does indeed hit the Seven Star Lariat and a twisting piledriver, but Austin kicks out at one. More back-and-forth, until Austin hits The Art of Finesse and The Fold back-to-back (ABC’s 1-2 Sweet finisher) to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Ace Austin by pinfall at 12:39
It’s The Most Wonderful Time…
We go to Frankie Kazarian in the back who is singing ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’ to his Call Your Shot Trophy and says his night is not over, as he’ll be keeping a close eye on the Nic Nemeth vs. AJ Francis match tonight. Kazarian says he’s about ending things on a high note, and it doesn’t get any higher than sitting high as TNA World Champion.
Rosemary vs. Jordynne Grace
As Jordynne Grace’s music hits, she gets a bigger pop than usual. Rosemary goes after Grace right away, but Grace stops her with a Death Valley Driver and a sliding elbow strike for two. They head to the corner, but Rosemary bites her way out and gets a warning from the referee. Rosemary counters an Electric Chair and puts Grace in the Upside Down on the ropes. As the crowd chants for Jordynne, Rosemary stays in control and kicks Grace in the face as she is draped on the ropes. Rosemary stays in control for a bit, as they take it to the outside. Back in the ring, they struggle in a backslide attempt with Grace slamming Rosemary into the corner before rolling her up for two and landing a big open-palm strike just for Rosemary to rise back up. Grace comes back with the World’s Strongest Slam, but misses the Vader Bomb as Rosemary hits a Spear. Grace comes right back with a back fist, but Rosemary kicks out at two. They take it to the ramp, and Rosemary puts on a sleeper, but Grace powers up and slams Rosemary back down onto the ramp. As they go to re-enter, Rosemary lands a spear through the ropes for two. Grace hits the Muscle Buster, but a masked individual pulls the referee out of the ring and starts attacking Grace. They keep attacking Grace in and out of the ring as the crowd boos. This mysterious person unmasks to reveal that it’s Tessa Blanchard who gets mostly boos, with a couple of cheers as Hannifan says ‘The rumors are true’ and Rehwoldt asks if ‘Hell has frozen over’.
The match ends in a no-contest at 11:13
Tessa Blanchard is Back
Gia Miller tries to get a word with Tessa in the back and asks why she did that to Grace. Tessa says she reminded Grace and everybody else whose name this company was built on and that Tessa Blanchard is back and she’s taking what’s hers, before pie-facing Gia and leaving.
Eric Young joins the commentary team for the next match and is immediately asked for his thoughts on what we just saw, Young says he and everybody else in the back are shocked but they have to keep moving forward.
TNA World Championship #1 Contender’s Four Way: Mike Santana vs. Josh Alexander vs. Steve Maclin vs. Joe Hendry
The winner of this match will get a world title shot at TNA Genesis next month. They all take it to the outside right away, before Mike Santana goes after Josh Alexander in the corners with chops back inside. Steve Maclin & Joe Hendry jump in as well as they go back and forth with Santana before it’s just Hendry and Maclin as Hendry hits a big stalling suplex. Alexander joins in and starts hitting a flurry of suplexes on Maclin. Maclin eventually escapes but gets stopped by Hendry on the outside. Alexander & Santana go at it in the middle of the ring next as the crowd is really behind Santana. Alexander heads to the top rope and hits a diving knee for a two-count as we see Westside Gunn in the crowd, who just had a show last night here at Center Stage for his 4th Rope promotion. Next to Gunn was House of Glory regular Jay Armani. Back in the ring, Santana hits a rolling buck 50 on Alexander for a two-count. Maclin & Hendry are still laid out on the outside, as Santana & Alexander start trading blows on the top rope. Hendry & Maclin join in and put Alexander on their shoulders as Santana hits him with the Street Sweeper. Hendry takes control of the match as the crowd chants ‘We believe’, but gets stopped with a Busaiku Knee from Maclin. Hendry & Alexander head to the top rope next with Alexander hitting a fall-away slam, but Maclin & Santana get involved with splashes and dives, just for Alexander to put an ankle lock on Santana. They all take it to the outside ending with Hendry diving into them all. Alexander goes and zip-ties Santana onto one of the railings, but has a bit of trouble before finally putting it on but it’s too late as the crowd chants ‘You can’t zip-tie’. Maclin takes out Hendry with the Crosshairs, but Alexander runs in and hits a low blow on Maclin. Hendry stops Alexander and hits the Standing Ovation to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Joe Hendry by pinfall at 18:24, to become #1 contender for the TNA World Championship
The Best TNA World Champion
We hear from TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth in the back who says as a fighting TNA champion, he proves people wrong and this last year has proven that. He brings up Joe Hendry being the #1 contender at Genesis and the fact that Frankie Kazarian could cash in. Nemeth says he is still the man here who has proven how damn good he is every single night. He’s the Wanted Man for a reason, because he is the best TNA World Champion.
TNA Knockouts World Championship Falls Count Anywhere Match: Masha Slamovich (c) vs. Tasha Steelz
As Jade Chung was about to do the introductions for the match, she was interrupted by the music of Santino Marella. Santino says that at Turning Point, Alisha Edwards was banned from ringside, but she came back and returned anyway for the match so that is unacceptable. So tonight, not only is she banned from ringside, but she’s banned from the building. He also knows that Tasha Steelz is involved with The System, so he went and got extra security to make sure this match has a clean finish. Santino tells Alisha that if she steps one foot back into the building she will be fired before picking her up and carrying her to the back, as the bell rings. Security does indeed come down and surround the ring as the match starts. Masha Slamovich hits a twisting dive to Steelz on the outside, taking out some security as well, as she gets a two-count. Steelz comes back by suplexing Masha onto the steel steps and getting a two herself. Steelz stops Masha on the apron and hits her with a draping DDT as they go back to the outside, where Steelz gets two. The security that got taken out before is still lying down dead. Back inside, Masha hits a Superplex, before they start trading strikes. They go back and forth on the ramp, as Steelz takes out Masha with a cutter. Steelz follows with a bulldog off of the entrance strange and goes for multiple covers, as Masha keeps kicking out. They head back towards the ring where Masha catches Steelz off the ropes with a knee followed by her piledriver she calls The Requiem to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Masha Slamovich by pinfall at 12:36, to retain
TNA World Tag Team Championship Tables Match: The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) (c) vs. The System (Brian Myers & Eddie Edwards)
Hannifan brings up how The Hardys were in the first-ever tables match against The Dudley Boyz at Royal Rumble 2000, as the crowd gives The Hardys a huge reaction. Right away, they go after Eddie Edwards in the corner with Poetry in Motion before attacking Brian Myers. They hit them both with Plot Twists before they push each other to get the tables, Dudleys-style, before deciding to both get the tables, which they do. Matt Hardy sets Myers on the table, but as Jeff Hardy goes to the top rope, he gets pushed down by Edwards. This prompts a ‘Fuck The System’ chant, as they stay in control staying on top of both Hardys eventually putting Matt through one table with a double powerbomb. They start targeting Jeff next, as Edwards smashes a beer can over his head. They go and set two more tables right next to Westside Gunn, as The Hardys just became the 4th Rope Tag Team Champions last night at his event here in Atlanta. They try to put Jeff through it but with Jeff’s help, he’s able to break free as Matt puts Myers through one of the tables with a cutter. It’s down to Jeff and Edwards now, who start brawling around the ring area. Edwards gets into it with a fan, who does put his hands on Edwards first before Edwards goes and legit smacks him hard back. This got an audible reaction from the crowd and it looked like the fan might have gotten ejected. The System starts dragging Jeff up into the crowd where they find a table to put Jeff on, but Matt appears from behind a door with a chair and starts attacking them. The table breaks, but the referee says he didn’t go through it so it doesn’t count. Matt ends up putting Edwards on another table, as Jeff makes his way up above and hits a Swanton on Edwards, ending the match.
Winners: The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) at 16:52, to retain
TNA World Championship: Nic Nemeth (c) vs. AJ Francis (w/ KC Navarro)
They get into each other’s faces to start the match as Nic Nemeth headbutts AJ Francis and hits a superkick for a one-count. Francis takes control quickly, as Frankie Kazarian with his Call Your Shot Trophy makes his way down ringside to join the commentary team. Right away Hannifan asks him if he’s going to cash in tonight, but he doesn’t tell as Francis slams Nemeth onto the apron. Francis starts distracting the referee as KC Navarro starts attacking Nemeth on the outside. Nemeth stops Francis on the top rope, and powerbombs him off for a two. Nemeth follows with his barrage of elbow drops before heading to the top rope, but Francis catches him. Navarro gets on the apron and distracts Nemeth again, as Francis follows with the TFL to get a close two-count. Nemeth comes back with a Danger Zone, but Francis kicks out at two. Nemeth avoids a moonsault and hits a Fameasser, but Francis kicks out again. Francis hits the Down Payment, but Nemeth rolls to the outside to avoid the pinfall. Once Francis gets Nemeth back in the ring, he goes to pin him with his foot on his chest, but Nemeth kicks out. Nemeth counters another Down Payment with a Fameasser, followed by a superkick and the Danger Zone to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Nic Nemeth by pinfall at 15:14, to retain
As soon as the match ends, Navarro runs in and attacks Nemeth as Francis joins in. Joe Hendry runs out and takes out First Class. Nemeth & Hendry go to pick up the world title at the same time before Nemeth pulls it away and raises it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As far as in-ring quality and overall presentation go, this was a humongous step up from their last PPV in Turning Point. The Masha-Steelz match really stood out and they did things in a Falls Count Anywhere match that you don’t usually see, and the four-way match was equally executed as well, with all four having their moments and the crowd getting behind the Joe Hendry train that some might thing could have slowed down quite a bit with him coming up short at winning the title at Bound for Glory. Seems to be back on track now and even put some doubt on Nemeth coming out the champion tonight, as there is history between Hendry & AJ Francis that could have been resolved at Genesis next month, as well as the Kazarian factor of him teasing cashing in again by sitting ringside.
The tables match was insane for many reasons, one being the fact that Eddie Edwards got into it with a fan, which ultimately got the fan ejected and seeing Jeff Hardy do the same stunts he was doing almost 25 years ago was insane. Regardless, they were extremely over with this Atlanta crowd.
Francis winning the world title could have taken some headlines from TNA, as there will sure be many with the decision for them to bring back Tessa Blanchard tonight. The fans in attendance as well as the people in the chat during the Countdown were all well aware of the rumors, and it seemed mostly negative with just a few being optimistic about this decision. As soon as Jordynne came out, with the reports of her ‘pushing back on this idea’, certainly showed as she got a big reaction from the get-go and throughout the match and the second the crowd saw someone under a mask they knew what was going on and started raining down the boos throughout the entire attack and presentation. The backstage segment after seemed all over the place, not sure if it by design or legit, but certainly fit the ‘chaotic’ feel of someone ‘unwanted’ coming here and causing a stir. TNA has some big buildings to fill next month, so we will wait and see if this controversy will be a positive or negative for them in the new year.
