Styles

Oh, I just noticed the thread in TV. Woops.

Well, the graphic has a picture of Austin, Austin's music played in the background and JR plugged it as a major announcement with Steve Austin. Of course the article I posted from WWE.com confirms its just to announce a film agreement.

Austin: I like what you do to babies. Snitsky: I like what you do to women.

Folks, don't get too excited, here's the story from WWE.com itself:

You do realize that match would be depressingly bad right? Neither guy can take bumps....

Austin: ...and that's why I'm coming back to whoop ass.... YEEEWWEEEAHHHHOHHHHHHHHAHHHH Hassan: long winded generic heel speech, about 10 minutes duration Austin: Damn, son, you just about put me to sleep. And what are you wearing on your head? A towel? What? A tablecloth? What? A Bedsheet? Daivari: noises resembling a dying chicken, in Farsi Austin: Damn, son you better take the base out of your voice or I'll slap that stupid beard off your face. Hassan and Daivari do a beatdown on Austin JR: BAH GOD, those damn....Arab Americans....who aren't like other Arab Americans...just took the rattlesnake out to the woodshed....Wrestlemania XXI in LA is gonna be like explosive....well, not that they're going to...ah, hell STONE COLD STONE COLD STONE COLD.... I'm thinking this isn't the scenario you wanted.

So, RRR...are you ever going to finish answering your own awards thread?

Being the MMA folder (well part MMA) folder, I figure this probably belongs here. So anyone else excited about this? I liked the original concept for Tough Enough and this sounds like it only with MMA and they'll fight for survival plus Chuck and Randy are the trainers. Here are the bios of the contestants:

It's fine as it is. The belts actually mean something which can't be said for WWE and their 400 titles. Everyone shouldn't have a belt, that's what makes them prestiges. TNA is a small enough roster that every major player should be looking to capture the NWA World Title, while enough of the rest of the roster qualifies stylisticly for the X belt or if a tag team, the tag team belt. A midcard title would just water down things, which is not neccesarry for such a small roster.

Mr. Tunes, The funny story of my name with a "!" is when I went to change my screename from "Jeff Jarrett, God" (and if you don't know the story behind that one I'm sure someone else could fill you in), I asked for my name to be changed back to Slapnuts, but ended the sentence with an exclamation point, so it was changed to "Slapnuts!" and I didn't care enough to ask for it to be changed. As for my TNA shilling, you're damn right I'm shilling. I've been a TNA supporter from the beginning and I desperately want to see them suceed and feel they don't get the respect they deserve when they put on good shows. No one else on the board (with a couple exceptions) cares to promote them. WWE doesn't need it and ROH sure gets a blowjob everytime they so much as announce a show (don't get me wrong I like ROH too, a shock I know that someone could like both), so I figured I'd make sure to post whenever TNA releases some a new article or press release, since I don't think enough people visit their website to see it otherwise. Meltzer's comment was to catch a replay. I anticipated someone asking when it will replay, noticed a replay schedule was posted at the website and took it upon myself to post it here in case anyone wants to order it. I will continue to post TNA feedback I find, to support my judgement that it was an excellent show and show that opinion is shared by more than just one "TNA shill".

I don't even know where to begin so I won't.

Meltzer: --Erik Watts was denying any attempt at committing suicide. Erik Watts was also claiming a torn trapezius and separated shoulder on the first bump of the match with Raven.

Meltzer: --Some notes coming out of the show last night. Abyss and TNA agreed to a new deal on Tuesday. Virtually nobody knew he was there or would be appearing. In fact, there were several complaints expressed to us by wrestlers that the company lost a lot of credibility with the wrestlers because of things said at a meeting before the show, particularly those who remember working in the WCW environment.

Meltzer in his update: "Regarding the show, what I mentioned after the Turning Point PPV goes the same after this one. If you missed the show, find when the replay is and order it." From www.tnawrestling.com, here they are: TNA FINAL RESOLUTION PAY-PER-VIEW REPLAY TIMES AND DATES Missed the live three-hour epic Final Resolution? Replay of the Pay-Per-View are available in the upcoming weeks on the following channels. Don't miss your chance to see Final Resolution - relive the experience again, or see it for the first time! Replay times are listed below! The fans speak out: reaction to the Final Resolution PPV: “Wow. WWE’s tag division holds absolutely nothing to what TNA has.” “This was plain and simply the best PPV I have seen since WrestleMania XX.” “Two out of three of the Title matches were Match of the Year candidates.” “Great performances all around from all wrestlers involved. Great show.” -pwtorch.com “Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first Match of the Year candidate of 2005.” (of Ultimate X match) -pwtorch.com “…one hell of a PPV if you ask me. I give this PPV a rating of The best damn PPV I’ve seen in over six years, and that’s saying something!” -1wrestling.com “Ladies and Gentlemen, order the replay just on the strength of this thing (Ultimate X), it was amazing!” -pwinsider.com "Once again, TNA puts on a great Pay Per View." -wrestlingobserver.com "There is no way the WWE can ever top the Ultimate X." -wrestlingobserver.com "New Year's Revolution is to Final Resolution as night is to day. This was an excellent show, even better than Turning Point, and it's unlikely that Royal Rumble will come anywhere close to being as good as this ppv." -wrestlingobserver.com REPLAYS FOR "FINAL RESOLUTION"! DISH NETWORK JAN 17: ALL DAY TICKET (CH. 460) JAN 19: ALL DAY TICKET (CH. 458) JAN 21: ALL DAY TICKET (CH. 458) JAN 23: ALL DAY TICKET (CH. 458) JAN 26: ALL DAY TICKET (CH. 458) JAN 28: ALL DAY TICKET (CH. 458) iNDEMAND JAN 17: 5PM (CH. iN1) JAN 18: 7AM (CH. iN2) JAN 18: 10AM (CH. iN2) JAN 18: 1PM (CH. iN2) JAN 18: 4PM (CH. iN2) JAN 18: 7PM (CH. iN2) JAN 18: 10PM (CH. iN2) JAN 19: 1AM (CH. iN2) JAN 19: 2AM (CH. iN1) JAN 19: 4AM (CH. iN2) JAN 19: 8PM (CH. iN1) JAN 20: 11AM (CH. iN1) JAN 21: 5PM (CH. iN1) JAN 22: 12:30PM (CH. iN1) JAN 25: 3:30PM (CH. iN1) JAN 27: 11AM (CH. iN1) DirecTV JAN 19: ALL DAY TICKET JAN 22: ALL DAY TICKET

More Wrestling Observer feedback: Dave, Thumbs way up! Best Match: Styles vs. Williams vs. Sabin. Worst Match: Raven vs. Watts. This was an awesome ppv from TNA. Styles vs. Williams vs. Sabin, AMW vs. Team Canada was off the charts. Jarrett vs. Brown was also really good. Just these three matches are worth the $29.95 price. Chris Russell Hey Dave, thumbs up for the PPV last night. Sure Jarrett is a heel who wrestles like a babyface, Erik Watts really needs to go to the gym, his arms look like a 12 year old girl... A slender one... The survivor deal with Jonny whathisname and the ladies was pretty stupid, but, all of the X-Division stuff and the tag title match were on the mark. Although AJ seemed to be having an off night, Petey and Sabin really made that into and incredible match. I though everyone worked hard last night, Hall and Nash didn't do much and Dustin was pretty terrible, but were we expecting anything diffrerent??? It is too bad TNA didn't have better TV and more importantly, more TV here in Canada, because their product is head and shoulders over the stuff they had in the early years. Plus the disappearance of Vince Russo has done wonders for their product. Keep up the good work, Troy Hotton. Thumbs Up. Best Match: Ultimate X Match Worst Match: Erik Watts vs. Raven Another solid effort from TNA. Not quite as good as Turning Point but definitely worth the money and going out of your way to see. I went into this PPV expecting a couple good matches based on the lineup but after the PPV ended just 5 minutes before the advertised 3 hour mark (something Wwe doesnt do anymore) I had about 4 good matches I could think of. From top to bottom this was all effort by everyone involved. Even Watts tried hard with the mule kick off the top rope onto Raven. Most of the stuff in that match was terribly botched which is why I gave it worst match of the show. Sonjay & Skipper had a good fast paced X-Division bout and Rhodes vs. Kash was fun to watch for the slow pace southern style they worked. AMW again proved why there becoming one of the best tag teams around. Maybe someday we'll look back at them like we do greats such as The Rock N' Roll Express & The Midnight Express. Eric Young looked to suffer a nasty bump similar to the bump Hasim Rahman had in his match with Holyfield a few years back. The Ultimate X match was awesome. It had alot of psychology to make up for a mostly highspot oriented match. The part in the match where Styles got his hand caught in the metal barricade that held the ultimate x structure was cool because he sold it the rest of the match and it came off very convincing. The three way 1# contendorship to the NWA title was smartly booked by keeping Nash's work in the ring limited and eliminating him first. DDP & Brown had a decent match after that. Jarrett vs. Brown was disapointing because there was some miscommunication all throughout like when Jarrett did a plancha to the outside and Brown nearly killed him not catching him correctly. The finish was confusing since Brown should of went over and get a decent push. The fans were ready for him to go to the next level and win the title. But I'm tuning into Impact Friday to see where Dusty is going for the next PPV. Wrestlingobserver.com Reader - Brian Reinbolt Thumbs up.Best match Ultimate X.Worst match Hardy vs. Hall.I have to give this show a thumbs up due to the quality of the tag title & x division title matches but I was totally put off by the finish of the main event.It was clear from the start of the match that the crowd was ready and wanting Monty Brown to win the title but instead we got the same lame multiple ref bump and guitar finish match we've seen from Jarrett for a few years now.No matter how many great matches TNA has on it's ppv's they will never get where they wanna go with this kind of booking.This company really is just a minor league version of HHH on RAW.They've probably killed the fans faith in Brown now by having him come up short multiple times in title matches just as they did with Raven.That finish totally sucked the air out of a very hot crowd by giving them what they don't want.Worse yet,it appears based on the vignette before the title match that Brown will be pushed aside in favor of Nash getting the next title shot. Jarrett vs. Nash will be a bad match and it doesn't seem as if the TNA crowd even cares about Nash.Why do TNA and WWE seem content on killing off potential stars in favor of heel champions like HHH,JBL & Jarrett who the crowds are sick of or don't buy in their positions.Both companies claim to be all about the fans but they are really all about ego and if the fans don't agree then screw em.Granted,Brown as champ won't move the ratings or buy rates at this point either but at least it's a step in the right direction.Aside from the lame main event finish the other two title matches were awesome.Skipper vs. Dutt and the opening six man were also good.3 Live Kru should be used better since they are very popular.Another similarity to WWE is the booker(Dusty) booking himself to be a ladies man with hot girls have his age vying for his attention just as Vince always does.At least Vince isn't a fat slob and has a ton of money so it's sort of believable but why would Trinity & Traci want Dusty so bad? Guy Bogard Mr. Meltzer, I thought TNA Final Resolution was the best PPV I had seen in over six years. Match of the night was the Tag Team Title match, and worse match of the night will go to Raven/Watts. Don't get me wrong, I thought Raven/Watts was good, but compared to the rest of the card, it lacked so much. I give the show a rating of 9.5 out of 10, it was brilliantly done. Aight, I'm out. Signed, Wade Needham Dave, Thumbs Up Best Match: Ultimate X Match w/ Styles,Williams,and Sabin Worst Match: Erik Watts vs. Raven This PPV wasn't as strong as Turning Point(how could it be?) but still better than the less than mediocre stuff WWE tries to get me to pay 34.95 for. First and foremost, please do away with the backstage skits. This is one of the many things that turned off "wrestling" fans of WWE, and if TNA is to be the "true alternative" that it claims to be, then it must eliminate these skits as well as Fairplay period. The only thing resulting from these segments is a new tag team from the 90's is coming in.(I can only hope it is the Steiners and not the Beverly Brothers,Ding-Dongs,or my personal favs,the Orient Express) 3 Live Kru getting the win appeases the Orlando crowd I'm sure, but it hurts to see Shane/Kazarian/Daniels jobbed out so frequently when all 3 have exceptional talent and the first 2 have a neat tag team going on. Dustin Rhodes/Kid Kash was better than expected given the styles and size clash. Raven and Erik Watts was disappointing that Raven AGAIN had to job and this time to Erik Watts who obviously got the sympathy win from Dusty Rhodes.(who used Watts often when running TCW right here in Georgia from 2000-2002) Jeff Hardy and Scott Hall wasn't very good, but helped by the comedy between Hall and Piper. Hardy actually got to be on the mic and the crowd responded. Amazing what happens when a top guy is allowed to talk. The 3 way was good once they got Nash out of there and good to see Page make Brown look formidable to Jarrett. Primetime/Dutt was pretty good, but I expected a little more from these 2. One of the matches that made the show was AMW and Team Canada. This match had super heat and harkened back to the NWA of the 80's style tag matches with the interference,near falls,and heel tag teaming while waiting for the face hot tag. AMW comes out looking strong with the title win. The other match worth getting the show for was the Ultimate X match for the X division title. Styles,Williams,and Sabin worked their collective asses off and the flip bump Styles took made me leave my seat. That flip double ddt was an awesome spot as well. Good sense putting the belt back on Styles and Williams can still say he was never pinned for it if they continue to pursue this feud. Main event was pretty good and would have been better had the title changed hands,but you just knew with the previous 2 bouts seeing title changes that that wasn't going to happen. But it should have tonight. The crowd was behind Monty the whole way and was clamoring for him to take the belt. Jeff,it was time my friend. You should have done the right thing. But at least Brown was made to look damn near invincible before losing,so I don't think he got buried at all. Looking forward to Against All Odds.(would still like to see the ppv price dropped to 24.95 so it would be whole bucks cheaper than WWE) Shane Noles [email protected]

Keller and Meltzer are still MIA on their reports, but some guy named James Cadwell posted his thoughts on pwtorch and pretty much echoes mine and others' sentiments: Meat and Potatoes: First Word on TNA Final Resolution Last week, I managed to be 6-0 on my WWE New Year’s Revolution predictions. Unfortunately, due to the pwtorch.com website being down, I was unable to post my predictions for TNA Final Resolution. Instead, I have my quick sound bytes on what went down in Orlando Sunday Night. 3 Live Kru vs. Christopher Daniels & Michael Shane & Kazarian. Solid opening bout. It was fun to watch the crowd chose sides in this match. The middle of the match seemed to feature 3 Live Kru play a heel team as Daniels & Co. were unable to score tags. Daniels has certainly earned the respect of the crowd by virtue of their consistent “Fallen Angel” chants. Prime Time vs. Sonjay Dutt. The match started with some amazing high spots from Dutt. Great action throughout, although the match seemed to slow down at the mid-way point. Prime Time was impressive selling his shoulder injury. TNA seems to finally “get it” with the X Division by featuring solid one on one competition where Mike Tenay and Don West can build up the backdrop to the X Division wrestlers by giving each one some character depth. Both men were impressive. Dustin Rhodes vs. Kid Kash. Again, another solid wrestling match. Kash was fantastic in his heel role, doing anything he could to chop down Rhodes’ big frame. Rhodes sold Kash’s offense perfectly. Good work from Kash in focusing on one target throughout the match, although he never truly went for the win after working on the knee for an extended period. Tenay and West had excellent commentary and added great psychological factors that came into play. Erik Watts vs. Raven. This was not the prettiest match you will ever see with lots of sluggish exchanges and awkward moves. The post match attack from Raven was also awkward with Watts standing atop the side entrance ramp for no apparent reason. Watts obviously did not gain the respect of the fans since they booed him for the most part of the match even though he was playing the babyface. It also damages Raven that he was beat by someone Don West described as “having not been in the ring in awhile.” It would be like Mohammad Hassan losing to Jerry Lawler at NYR. Truly damaging to Raven. Scott Hall vs. Jeff Hardy. Well, we found out a few things from this match. First, Scott Hall cannot sell. The most glaring example was his “effort” trying to take the Twist of Fate prior to taking the Sentaun Bomb. The second thing we found out is that Jeff Hardy actually has a voice and can speak on the mic. I was shocked to hear him on the house mic for the first time in the Impact zone. Third thing we found out, and probably the most shocking, is that Abyss is back in TNA. Was the whole contract dispute a work to make his return as dramatic as it was…or did he come to his senses and rejoin TNA after not having such a big contract offer from WWE? Either way, it’s good to see Abyss back in TNA. Monty Brown vs. Kevin Nash vs. DDP. Well booked and well paced match that featured good interaction between Nash and DDP. Nice background story with Nash setting up DDP with a “friendly agreement” only to be outdone by a suspecting DDP. Brown was effective taking the double team beating early on, then fell into a bit of sluggish wrestling that has hindered his progress. Good finishing sequence that came across clean and well executed. Solid match with DDP and Nash doing a good job of putting Brown over. Team Canada vs. AMW. Wow. WWE’s tag division holds absolutely nothing to what TNA has. AMW and Team Canada were absolutely amazing in the ring. So many close near falls, so many amazing storyline twists and turns, and one break through performance by Eric Young. Young truly came into his own in this match playing a great heel character. I cannot understate the impact Young had on the fluidity and overall performance of the match. The crowd’s involvement in every two ¾ pin attempt truly made this a spectacular bout that you had to have seen. If you are thinking of ordering the PPV on replay, this match alone is worth it. Trinity & Fairplay & Traci. The three non wrestlers put together a fun “in between matches” segment that resulted in a very intriguing finish. Could the Steiner Brothers be a possible tag team? How about some WWE wrestlers that were recently released? Very fun. A.J. Styles vs. Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin. Indeed, this match lived up to all the hype and expectations coming into the Ultimate X battle. There were three or four legitimate “this is awesome” moments resulting from some breathtaking high spots. Besides the indescribable action, there was a great backdrop of Petey Williams working over A.J. Styles’ forearm and hand, which prevented him from climbing the ropes to grab the X Division Title. It also made for Styles’ amazing leap to grab the X Division Title from Sabin and Williams’ hands that much more impressive. Fantastic high spot X Division match, but unlike previous X Division matches of this nature, this one was much more than high spots, but rather a full-blown wrestling match with fantastic high spots. Jeff Jarrett vs. Monty Brown. Monty Brown impressed despite losing the match and his opportunity to win the NWA Heavyweight Title. Brown displayed some never before seen offense that certainly helped him break the “one dimensional” mold he has been held back by. Jarrett played his role nicely as the cocky heel who thought he was going to have it easy against a “double a ballplayer.” This won’t be a match of the year candidate or one Jarrett’s highlight reel of top career matches, but the effort was there, the storyline was there, and for once, there was no outside interference in a NWA Title Match. The foreign objects may have been a bit overdone, but at least Nash and/or Hall did not make obligatory run-in’s to decimate the performance of the match. Great close to a great PPV. Overall Thoughts. This was plain and simply the best PPV I have seen since WrestleMania XX. Every match had a story and every match was given sufficient time to tell that story. Two out of three of the Title matches were Match of the Year candidates, with Jarrett vs. Brown being solid in its own respect. The booking and writing of the PPV was executed nicely with solid in-ring battles being scripted that made sense and fit the personas of each wrestler in each match. Great performances all around from all wrestlers involved. Great show.

I wonder if they since made up and he signed a new deal (realizing WWE wasn't really interested and TNA realizing Abyss is valuable to them) or if they really agreed on a new deal from the start and swerved us. I wonder what the point of that would be though? Maybe when they realized Garza was not going to be on the show and Hardy was pegged as the subsitute, they figured this was a way to get Abyss off the card and create a "shocking" attack? Who knows, but his appearence was a nice suprise.

Watts/Raven, Hardy/Hall and Brows/DDP/Nash were not great but everything else was at least ***. Tag Title and Ultimate X exclipse ****.

Well Keller is on vacation or something so he has nothing up and for some reason Meltzer doesn't have a report up, so in lieu of their opinions, here's the first batch of reader responses to the Observer (no I am not amongst them): First TNA Impact feedback Dave: Major thumbs up. Best match was the match of the year Ultimate X battle, which should have closed the show since Brown wasn't going over in the main event. AMW/Team Canada and Dutt/Skipper were also really good matches. Worst was Raven-Watts. New Year's Revolution is to Final Resolution as night is to day. This was an excellent show, even better than Turning Point, and it's unlikely that Royal Rumble will come anywhere close to being as good as this ppv. I believe Brown should have won the title -- it's way past time for getting the belt off Jarrett -- but that's a small complaint when viewed in terms of the ppv as a whole. --David Wolf TNA Final Resolution Thumbs Up Best Match: Ultimate X Worst Match: Raven vs. Erik Watts On a sad note, apparently Erik Watts either overdosed or tried to kill himself last weekend. On an even sadder note, this apparently influenced the booking of FINAL RESOLUTION and got him a victory over Raven, who once drew the highest buyrate for a TNA PPV in its weekly incarnation. It's one thing when HHH buries a promising opponent. But when Jeff "AAA" Jarrett does it, he's only taking money out of the pockets of the saps who trusted him to keep a viable number two promotion going. Who comes out of this card as a strong contender? Jeff Hardy - beaten by Jarrett on their first monthly PPV? AJ Styles, who already had a great feud with Jarrett, but is now X champ? Or do they go with Nash? They ran an Ultimate Warrior teaser. But they wouldn't really go that route, would they? I mean come on, this is 2005! And the booker did have his last run of success BEFORE the Warrior entered the WWF 18 years ago... Jeff Cohen New York Hey Dave and fellow readers, What can I say about tonight's TNA Pay Per View besides it was the second best pay per view that I have seen in recent memory, with Turning Point being number one. This Pay Per View gets a huge Thumbs UP!!!!!! The best match was a toss up between AMW vs. Team Canada but once I saw the Ultimate X match the choice was an easy one. Having AJ win the X-Division title again was great, so my match of the night has to be the Ultimate X with Sabin, Williams, and Styles. There really was not a bad match on this show but since by law I have to pick one it will be Jeff Hardy vs. Scott Hall. Having Piper as the special guest referee almost made this a good match. However, it seems to my dad and me at least that Scott Hall should no longer be in a wrestling ring since he is so out of shape thus he has to wear those Elvis outfits. My biggest surprise of the night has to be Abyss showing up and attacking Jeff Hardy at the end of his match since all of us believed that Abyss was going to the WWE so having him show up shocked me and the others in my house watching. Once again, TNA puts on a great Pay Per View, I only regret that I haven't seen Victory Road yet but I plan on ordering the Victory Road DVD from TNA. This is a Pay Per View that every wrestling fan should order, and with TNA continuing to put out great PPV after great PPV it won't be long until they get a good TV slot. The only thing that shocked me was that Jarrett retained the championship and I was sure that Monty Brown was going to win it, I just hope Dusty doesn’t have Dustin slotted to take the championship. John Chagaris Newmarket, NH/Hamden, CT Vote: Thumbs in the middle. Best match: Team Canada tagteam Worst match: Dustin Rhodes Match The first half of the card was quite forgettable for the most part. Piper fine as a face ref -- had more moves than Hall. X match quite good. Worst business move: having Jarrett go over Brown. Monty Brown should have won the belt, although I got the ending I expected. -- Mike Omansky

He looked fine. He's a deceptively big guy. As I said, Kash was working like a horse in this match playing small guy breaking down/bouncing off of the bigger guy but Dustin did his part, sold well and seemed to be trying hard to impress and entertain the fans...

Corey, I honeslty don't understand the AMW hate. They're pretty much the only tag team that over the past 2+ years has put on consistent, good tag team matches. They know the formula and excecute it perfectly. Team Canada has improved a lot since you I believe you stopped recapping the shows. The 4 guys put on a bonafide ****+ tag match.

Redjed, I agree with everything you said! I agree I thought it was the perfect time to let Monty go over and would have made an already excellent PPV into something really special, but at the same time I'm not so upset about it since it didn't bury anybody and will hopefully lead to the rematch. I would put Jarrett/Brown at ***. Jarrett has has many more than 3 *** matches in his career, some *gasp* in TNA. I agree some people have an incredible bias against TNA and anything they do...if you don't believe us, who saw the show, that it was good, then order it yourself. Which leads me to my 3rd plea for the few people who voted they saw the show and didn't like it to please post and explain yourselves. I'm honestly curious what you didn't like about the show. If no one posts, I'm just going to disregard those opinions...

Hogan vs. Savage for the NWA World Title. In a Yapepi Strap Match!