Guest Author - Patty Therre

Greetings once again from a fellow wrestling fan!

TNA's pay per view Final Resolution (which I kept calling New Year's Resolution accidentally) aired Sunday (1/15/2006) culminating in the wrestling debut of former WCW superstar Sting (Steve Borden)'s return to the ring in the tag team main event.

Several hundred fans were turned away at the door at Disney Studios in Orlando, Florida where TNA tapes their events. Fans from all over poured in to try to catch a glimpse of Sting and see his official wrestling debut on the show. Fans have been turned away since the news of Sting's official return to the promotion and that is a very good sign for TNA. They are obviously hoping Sting's involvement with the company will draw new and different fans to their shows and, if the live fans being turned away is any indication, Sting's presence in TNA may make a difference in the TNA Impact ratings (airing on Saturdays on Spike TV at 11 p.m.) and a difference in the pay per view buy rates.

The show, however, was a bit below par for a TNA pay per view and the timing couldn't have been worse for that as new fans may have bought the show to see Sting's debut. Still, overall the show was decent. It just lacked some crispness TNA's pay per views usually have and had some screwball finishes that left me a bit disappointed.

QUICK FINAL RESOLUTION PAY PER VIEW RESULTS

* ALEX SHELLEY & RODERICK STRONG & AUSTIN ARIES defeated SONJAY DUTT & MATT BENTLEY (w/Traci) & CHRIS SABIN
Former WWE referee Dave Hebner was at ringside for this match. This was a good, if a bit unsensational, opener.

* THE JAMES GANG (Kip & B.G.) defeated DAVID YOUNG & ELIX SKIPPER
The James Gang is Former WWE's Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, The New Age Outlaws. This was an average match that didn't do much for the crowd live nor me watching at home.

* A.J. STYLES defeated HIROSHI TANAHASHI
Former WWE star Shannon Moore interfered here allowing the Japanese superstar to get the win. This was a disappointing match as the two competitors are fantastic in the ring but the ending, with Moore interfering, was a big let down.

* "X-PAC" SEAN WALTMAN defeated RAVEN
In an ongoing storyline, Larry Zybszko interfered and took over as ref counting a three on Raven even though his foot was on the ropes. In the storyline, if Raven lost this match, he would be fired from TNA. Zbyszko has been wanting Raven out of TNA for weeks in the storyline and Raven was escorted out and presumably "fired" from the promotion.

*BOBBY ROODE (w/Scott D'Amore) defeated RON "THE TRUTH" KILLINGS
This one was filled with interference with D'Amore, Konan, Homicide, BG James, and Kip all getting involved. This furthered some storylines but made for a messy, unsatisfying pay per view match.

* ABYSS (w/James Mitchell) defeated RHINO
More interference with Mitchell causing Rhino to lose the match. This one was still good though. Rhino and Abyss work well together and could have some very good matches minus the interference although I do like Mitchell's character. I think he should stay away from the ring though or be sent to the back after a few minutes so that Abyss can work with Rhino without the distraction of Mitchell in the corner.

* AMERICA'S MOST WANTED (w/Gail Kim) defeated TEAM 3D (BRD & Brother Devon) -- NWA World Tag Team Title match
Team 3D is the former WWE and ECW Dudley Boys tag team. This was a strong match but had interference as well. Too many matches in row ended this way and soured me on this pay per view.

* SAMOA JOE defeated CHRISTOPHER DANIELS -- X Division Title match
Awesome match as one might expect from these two. The ending was a bit strange as AJ Styles threw in the towel for Christopher Daniels when Joe was beating on him. I don’t know why a ref would stop a match because another wrestler threw in the towel for him but Daniels was taking a beating. Joe and Daniels work well together and this furthered storylines between three of TNA's best: Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and AJ Styles.

* CHRISTIAN CAGE & STING defeated MONTY BROWN & JEFF JARRETT
Christian Cage, as you know, is former WWE superstar Christian (Jay Reso). This was a strong match between four of the top bigger men in the company but again, was riddled with interference. It would have been a much stronger match if it was less gimmicky without all the interference but still, it was a good start to Sting's one year run with the company.

Overall, this pay per view wasn't anywhere near as good as past ones and that's a shame considering the quality of talent on the card and the probability that new viewers were tuning in for the first time to see Sting debut. By the way, Sting was in his usual black garb with his baseball bat but his hair is much shorter and black now. He still has the painted white face.

There is a storyline starting where Sting is presumably retiring after this match, saying he wanted just one last match and he got that. Don't be fooled. Sting is in TNA for at least a year and the retirement angle is just that – an angle.

Be sure to visit the forum and talk about this and other wrestling related topics!

Sting (Steve Borden) has written an inspiring book about his life and conversion to Christianity. In it he chronicles his wild behavior in WCW and what led him to change and become born again. It's an uplifting read for any ting fan or for anyone who likes feel good stories about battling the odds and winning. You can check it out below.