(Image credit: TNA)
As a fan in the cheap seats, I’ve been able to sit back and really digest all of the articles regarding last night’s “Genesis” pay per view. There have been many different points made and a lot of discussion. This opening pay per view, especially with Hulk and Friends at the controls now, will be a defining moment for TNA in 2010.
As I followed along I kept in my mind a list of hits and misses for the night. Unfortunately, the pay per view missed more than it hit. Let’s get right into the list.
Hit: AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle.
The only thing that this match had wrong with it was the fact that we’ve seen it a number of times. It was hard to get excited about this latest rendition (especially in light of the January 4 match they had, which I thought was better), though the performance was excellent.
I liked the idea of AJ Styles going heel and working with Ric Flair as a “manager” of sorts. Can you imagine a heel faction led by Flair that contained AJ Styles, Beer Money, and someone like Matt Morgan as their enforcer? Jason Powell teased that idea at ProWrestling.net and I have to agree with him. That could be fun.
Many prefer to see Styles as a baby face and I think he works that side well. His character has taken a lot of twists and turns, and maybe a few too many. That said, with Flair as his mouthpiece this could be a good rub for Styles.
Miss: Overall Show quality.
Like many who follow TNA this closely, I was fairly confident in the identities of the surprise debuts. That took some of the luster off of the card for me. Perhaps if you didn’t know who was coming in, the debuts would have meant more and would have added to viewing enjoyment.
On paper, the show did not really stand out as a great card either. Some of the matches were just “there” and didn’t really entertain.
It was also poorly built up, considering it was given only one true night to build the card (January 14’s iMPACT). Simply the return of Hogan to pay per view is not enough for me, since I saw Hogan return to television on January 4.
A few matches (Morley vs. Daniels is an example that I cite later) had nothing on the line, so it was hard to get interested.
Hit: Ring Change.
This has been a really sore point among wrestling fans if you read all the opinions that have come out regarding this switch. Some will argue that the six-sided ring identifies TNA’s product and set them apart from WWE. In the beginning, I admit it to be an attention-getter for me as well.
I actually enjoyed the way that Hogan stood his ground with fans who chanted for the return of the six-sided ring.
Ultimately, the product in the ring is what matters more than the geometry of the ring. By the time next month’s TV tapings roll around, I suspect this may blow over.
Miss: Daniels vs. Morley.
1997 called, and they want their Val Venis persona back. Morley really needs a new, fresh gimmick that has nothing to do with Val Venis. He is actually talented, but all traces of the tired old character needs to go. The lame porn and big manhood jokes are well overdone also.
The match itself had nothing on the line, so it was hard to care. It felt irrelevant. Also, it came out that Morley performed in that match on 36 hours without sleep. It showed, Sean.
Hit: Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick.
Kendrick was actually a pleasant surprise, though it had been hinted at so his arrival was a possibility in my mind. He wasn’t used well in WWE at all, so perhaps he will get new life in TNA. Losing his debut match was probably a bit weak, especially when he had the advantage of Red not knowing his opponent.
The action of the match was paced like a regular match. It had some good action and made it a good opening to the event. It wasn’t a real spotfest like some X-Division matches are.
A little more backstory in regard to bringing Kendrick on would have been nice to have. Perhaps having Don West throw out an open challenge for the title and having Kendrick come out to answer it would have been better than Kendrick sort of just showing up.
I guess there is a booking conundrum here though. If the former WWE star would have won against the X-Division Champion, it would have made TNA look weak. Hopefully Kendrick will get his chance at redemption very soon.
While slightly off topic, the one problem I see coming is that they either need to get the X-Division belt onto someone they want to get behind and promote or they need to start promoting Amazing Red more. The belt can’t be on someone they don’t feel is spectacular and don’t seem to care about promoting.
Miss: Brooke Hogan.
Please, go away. WWE fans may remember the angle that happened with her and Randy Orton a few years ago. If memory serves me right, Hulk was doing a stint with WWE at that time. That would have been fine and I could have lived with that.
The countless shots of her at ringside cheering the event were simply overdone and unnecessary.
Hit: Desmond Wolfe vs. Pope D’Angelo Dinero.
This was a good quality match that was given a decent amount of time (14 minutes). Both men got moves in and sold well. It appears TNA Creative staff tried to right the wrong of having Pope go over Wolfe on January 4.
There is no doubt that Pope has tons of upside and potential. He works the mic well and he is a good in-ring worker. Right now, the main event scene is lacking serious heel power, and Wolfe is ready for that now. They need to move Wolfe up into a main event slot.
Wolfe’s new ring gear reminded me of the ECW Champion Christian a bit too much, but it does seem to be an upgrade. Adding a valet to Wolfe was a good idea also.
Miss: Morgan and Hernandez win the Tag Belts.
Did TNA forget about the way they built up Morgan going into Bound for Glory? Morgan had a good showing at Bound for Glory against Kurt Angle. Ever since, he seems to be stuck in meaningless and forgettable tag team programs.
I am still scratching my head as to why they split up LAX. Hernandez and Homicide together had great chemistry. Hernandez is now in a tag team role with another singles wrestler, which doesn’t make sense.
Also, these are two men that Dixie is allegedly high on. This booking does not make sense.
Hit: Ken Anderson’s debut.
The way he was debuted was less than desirable. The addition though is a big positive. Did anyone really expect Hulk to hype him as “order the pay per view to see a guy who never broke into the main event scene and was eventually released by WWE”?
Truthfully, if given the right push, Kennedy could live up to everything Hogan said about him. Again, careful booking will be required. I have my doubts that can actually come to pass, but I will wait and see.
Miss: Ken Anderson vs. Abyss.
It’s obvious that they want Ken to be a heel character in TNA. A squash win over someone in the undercard would have meant much more than a cheat win over Abyss, who had lost by submission to Samoa Joe on January 4.
While it’s not something that can’t be fixed, a debut like this should leave the fans wanting more. I didn’t get that feeling walking away from that match.
The match was just sort of “there”, like the Morley vs. Daniels bout. Anderson never really showed anything brilliant either. Anyone seeing Anderson for the first time would have not seen anything special in him.
I did find it odd that there was never a mention of the “big surprise” Hogan had promised, or that Anderson was that big surprise.
Miss: Beer Money vs. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, substituted by Sean Waltman.
This was intended to be “best of the present vs. best of the past”, but ended up being a debacle. Rock/paper/scissors to pull Hall from the match came off gimmicky and unnecessary to me.
Hall beating up “a fan” was ridiculous and had no point and the finish was horrible. Also, they really only needed to acknowledge Hall’s injury. They didn’t need to storyline it the way they did.
Miss: Tara vs. ODB for the Knockouts Championship.
As I wrote earlier in the day, I’ve begun to lose interest in the Knockouts Title. The title is changing hands entirely too frequently. The other problem is that we’re starting to see the same handful of faces in the title picture.
TNA has the superior women’s division over WWE. They need to get back to giving the women’s matches time. They also need to get back to utilizing the talent on their roster. Give me more of Hamada, Sarita, Alyssa Flash. I’m not saying that Tara and ODB are bad workers, but there is certainly more depth to the roster than the handful of women we’ve seen lately.
They will likely get a pass from many, as this is a transition pay per view event with all the changes that have been happening since Hogan has come in. Against All Odds in February needs to really deliver the goods.
In short, TNA will have much to consider going forward. They certainly did not start the year off on a good foot.
Information from ProWrestling.net was also used in this piece.
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A 37 year old engineer by day that enjoys writing on the side. I go back a lot of years in pro wrestling, from the old NWA/WCW days and the 80's WWF up til today with TNA, WWE, and occasionally some of the other independent federations. Primarily my scene here will be TNA, but expect a little bit of everything in terms of opinions and recaps in the world of pro wrestling from me.
I saw the PPV, considering the little build up around it I though it was ok. The Angle v. Styles match was awesome.