TNA Genesis PPV Review

Posted in In My Head by Jack at 22:10, Nov 14 2005

By Slartibardfast

Well it?s that time of the month, (no not that one), so here are my thoughts on the TNA Genesis PPV.

The show opens up with the standard crowd shots, which included a few Eddie Guerrero signs, and an ?Eddie, Eddie, Eddie? chant. The first of the Eddie acknowledgements that took place during the show.

Raven then hits the ring to confront our favorite golfer Larry Zybysko. Larry gives Raven the choice of either quitting TNA, (with a check for the balance of his contract), or stay in TNA and go though the ?hell? that Larry promises to put him through. Raven indicates his choice by first shooting Larry the bird, and then attempting to choke him, which then lead to the first match of the night Raven VS PJ Polaco, (Justin Credible from ECW).

The fans immediately recognize Polaco, and the ?Just an asshole!? chants are in full swing before Polaco even made it to the ring. The match itself was an average outing for both participants, although I thought Raven looked a little slow towards the end of the match. The finish seemed a little anti-climatic as Raven is pulled up off of the mat by Polaco, then reverses an Irish Whip and hits the Raven Effect for the 3 count. I considered this one a TV quality match, and not one worthy of a PPV.

Next up we have the 3 Live Crew VS Team Canada, (Roode, Young, and A-1) in the dreaded 6 Hockey Sticks on 6 Poles match.. First, special referee Kip James comes to ring side wearing a pair of shorts that I?m sure pleased the ladies at ring side, but left me wishing my TV showed a little less detail. Before the start of the match Konnan gave his usual speech, but ended it with a mention of the passing of Eddie, which lead to the second ?Eddie, Eddie, Eddie? chant of the night, and then the start of the match.

I?ll be the first to admit that I?m not a big fan of 3 Live Crew, however I found this to be a very solid match. I expected this to be 10 minutes of hockey sticks to the head, but the match primarily consisted of good wrestling, peppered with the odd shoe on the end of the hockey stick strike. The match ended with a hockey stick fight resulting in the 3 Live Crew getting the win. At the end of the match, Konnan, (who did not think that Kip James), would be an impartial referee seemed to admit his mistake by giving James the all important ?Respect Knuckles? before leaving the ring.

Following this match Christian Cage, (Christian for the WWE), made his way into the ring. He spoke about coming to TNA because he loves wrestling and TNA being the place were people who love wrestling go. When he was done speaking Scott D'Amore and Bobby Roode joined him and offered him the opportunity to side with Team Canada and Jarrett, an offer Cage said he would need time to think about.

Next on the card was the Monty Brown, Jeff Hardy match up. If there was going to be a sleeper match on this show I though this was going to be it, although this turned out not to be the case. The match was entertaining however, with Hardy diving from the crowd over the guard rail, and Brown doing his new ?everybody get back I?m going to throw this guy at you? trick. I would consider this a very good performance for the weekly TV show, but nothing here was PPV material as Monty got the win with a standard Pounce.

Next up was my favorite match of the night, Daniels, Shelley, Joe, and Strong, VS Bentley, Sabin, Aries, and Dutt. Although the entire match was very good, I found the performances of Sabin, Shelley and Joe to really stand out, however in contrast Dutt seemed to be a little off his game. The match was a ?get pinned leave the ring? style match that wound itself down to Daniels and Joe VS Sabin, with Daniels getting the pin on Sabin. After the match Joe, (who was apparently a little miffed about not scoring the final pin), expressed his displeasure to Daniels in the form of a boot to the face, a chair shot to the head, a knee to the head, a muscle buster, and finally a muscle buster on a chair). Daniels who was busted open had to be taken from the ring in a stretcher, and driven by ambulance to the hospital.

Next saw Sabu and Abyss in a no DQ match. Each of them hit their spots in this match well, Sabu got his crazy flips in and Abyss made use of this thumbtacks, and eventually hit the Black Hole Slam onto a chair wrapped in barbed wire to get the win. This is not the sort of match you can put on standard TV so buy default it?s a PPV worthy style of match. Both men kept the pace moving, and didn?t let it degenerate into a ?Ok, now it?s your turn to hit me with the trash can? match. I?m not a big hardcore style fan, but I did enjoy watching this one, and it was certainly a PPV caliber match.

This brings us to AJ Styles VS Petey Williams for the X division title. I expected this to be the match of the night, and although both performers put in a very good days work, I didn?t think it lived up to my expectations or surpassed the 8 man elimination tag mach form earlier in the night. That being said, this was definitely a very good match. Both Styles and Williams were definitely ?on? as they continued to hit spot after spot. The match was filled with technical excellence, but it just lacked the magic to take it to the level of a legendary match. In the end it was styles hitting the Styles Clash from the second rope to get the win. Anytime you get Styles or Williams in a one on one match up with anybody, it?s going to be a PPV worthy match and this was no exception.

The final match of the night saw Team 3D, and Rhino VS Jeff Jarrett and AMW. Before the match began Team 3D and Rhino mentioned the passing of Eddie which led to another ?Eddie, Eddie, Eddie? chant from the crowd. Half of this match was spent outside the ring brawling in the stands amongst the fans. I usually get bored with this type of action, but not so in this match. They kept the pace very fast and with 3 separate fights going on, it was very entertaining to watch. Eventually they made their way back to the ring for some tag team wrestling which saw Brother Devon get the pin on the Cowboy. After the match Team Canada hit the ring to backup Jarrett, and beat down Team 3D an Rhino. This lead to Cage hitting the ring, (chair in hand), and clearing the ring. He sides with Team 3D and ends up hitting the 3D on Jarrett through a table.

All in all, I think this was a good PPV. Every fan of wrestling should be able to find several enjoyable matches here.