A2Z Analysiz: TNA Genesis 2005 (Jeff Jarrett, Rhino)

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genesis 2005

Universal Studios – Orlando, Florida – November 13, 2005

Mike Tenay and Don West are on commentary. This show is dedicated to Eddie Guerrero, who passed away earlier in the day.

PRESHOW MATCH #1: Shark Boy vs. Nigel McGuinness

McGuinness is the ROH Pure Champion at this time. He immediately shows off his technical prowess, and mocks his opponent in the process. Boy comes back with a dropkick and the Shark Bite. They continue to trade momentum back and forth and both get a couple of near-falls. McGuinness gets a chance to show off a fraction of his offense and then Boy gets a small package from out of nowhere to get the win at 5:33. That was decent but even at this time Nigel deserved a better shot from TNA.
Rating: **

PRESHOW MATCH #2: The Diamonds in the Rough vs. Lance Hoyt & The Naturals

Hoyt starts the match with Elix Skipper. That goes about how one might expect. Andy Douglas tags in and Skipper rakes his eyes and makes the tag to David Young. Douglas takes control and Skipper tries to help his partner out but Chase Stevens evens the odds and the Naturals dominate. Hoyt even gets in on the fun with a house show dive to wipe out Skipper, Young, and even Simon Diamond on the floor. Back in the ring the Diamonds are able to take control and isolate on Stevens. Eventually Hoyt gets the hot tag and he cleans house. Douglas tags in and hits a top rope elbow drop on Young for a two-count. The Diamonds come back and clear the ring except for Stevens, who falls prey to a double flapjack for what I would consider an upset victory at 5:49. This was just more harmless preshow fluff.
Rating: **

MATCH #1: Raven vs. Mystery Opponent

Larry Zbyszko chooses PJ Polaco, better known as Justin Credible, to be Raven’s opponent tonight. Obviously this one starts as a brawl, since that’s what these two do best. Polaco takes control and sends Raven to the floor. Back in the ring Polaco continues to keep Raven grounded. They go back to the floor and Polaco grabs a Singapore Cane. Luckily for Raven, his disciple Cassidy Riley is there to take the hit for him. Back in the ring Raven fires up and delivers his usual comeback offense. Polaco goes for a Superkick but Raven grabs the leg and locks on the Ankle Lock, but Polaco breaks free and hits a DDT for two. Back on their feet Raven grabs the Raven Effect DDT to get the pin at 5:54. Remember Sunday Night Heat in 2003? I do, now.
Rating: *¾

MATCH #2: Hockey Stick Fight, Special Referee Kip James – The 3Live Kru vs. Team Canada

The 3Live Kru is BG James, Konnan, and Ron “The Truth” Killings. Team Canada is represented by Bobby Roode, Eric Young, and A1. Hockey sticks are hanging from all six corners of the ring, and if you can bring one down you can use it. The match starts as a brawl on the floor, and when they make it to the ring the 3LK takes control. Truth pulls down the first hockey stick and Konnan attaches his shoe to the end of it to make it an even better weapon. Momentum shifts back and forth a bit, and the Canadians focus on BG. Referee Kip James appears to be showing favoritism to the Kru. Three hockey sticks have been brought down by the time BG makes the hot tag to the Truth. The match breaks down as Kip has lost control. The Kru dumps Roode and A1 to the floor, and then hits a hockey stick assisted legdrop to the groin for the win at 10:22. That seemed to go on forever and was never interesting.
Rating: *¼

TNA’s Major Acquisition

To the surprise of no one at the time, Christian Cage is the major acquisition. He cuts a pretty good promo about how he came to TNA because he wanted to be a big fish in a little pond, so to speak, and that he wants to win the NWA World Championship. Mike Tenay keeps talking during the pauses, just to piss me off I think. Team Canada’s Scott D’Amore makes his way out along with Bobby Roode. D’Amore reminisces with Cage, and makes his case for them to join forces. Cage says he’ll give them an answer by the end of the night. That was a good way to make Cage seem like a big deal.

MATCH #3: Contender’s Match – Jeff Hardy vs. Monty Brown

Hardy does some truly hideous things in the early going that make me fear for Brown’s well-being. How many times did TNA let Hardy perform under the influence? They take the battle to the floor and continue awkwardly brawling. I guess this is a no-countout match because they were out there for a long time. Brown takes control and wears Hardy down. After several minutes Hardy hits the Whisper in the Wind from out of nowhere and then a mule kick. Hardy hits an inverted Twist of Fate and Brown kicks out at two. He goes up for the Swanton but misses and Brown hits the Pounce for the win at 8:51. That was all kinds of awkward, but at least the right guy went over.
Rating: *½

MATCH #4: Elimination X Match – Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Roderick Strong & Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin, Matt Bentley, Sonjay Dutt & Austin Aries

Strong and Bentley start the match for their teams. They go back and forth, showing their stuff to the Impact Zone audience. I miss THIS X Division. Shelley and Dutt get tagged in and they show off too. The crowd loves it all. Joe comes in and kicks Dutt down in the corner and delivers the Face Wash. Aries tags in and tries to strike Joe down but that doesn’t work so well for him. The crowd is collectively hard for Joe at this point in time. Daniels tags in and Sabin quickly follows, so everyone has been in now. The action is coming from everyone now and at a very fast pace. Aries and Strong end up alone in the ring and Aries hits him with the 450 Splash to score the first elimination at 12:02. Joe distracts Aries from the apron and Daniels gets a schoolboy rollup to even the odds at 12:16. The momentum continues to shift between the teams and the action is still non-stop. Shelley hits Dutt with the Air Raid Crash and locks on the Border City Stretch to eliminate him at 15:07. Moments later Bentley evens the odds by eliminating Shelley after a Superkick at 15:50. We’re down to two-on-two now. Even with just four guys the pace stays quick and control gets traded back and forth. Daniels hits Bentley with the Best Moonsault Ever and Bentley kicks out. They work in a Tower of Doom Spot where Joe is the last man standing. He used to be so cool. Bentley drills Joe with a Superkick and Daniels has to break up the cover. Daniels then sets Joe up for the Muscle Buster, and then Joe locks on the Choke and Bentley taps out at 20:35. These are pretty unfortunate odds for Sabin. Joe goes for another Muscle Buster but can’t connect. Sabin lands a missile dropkick to the back and goes for the Cradle Shock. Daniels breaks that up and Joe tries the Muscle Buster again but Bentley grabs his leg from the floor. That gives Daniels the chance to hit Sabin with the Angel’s Wings to get the pin and win the match at 23:15. This is what the X Division used to look like, and I miss these days like you wouldn’t believe. The match was great stuff and the tension between Joe and Daniels as they tried to one-up each other gave the match purpose.
Rating: ****¼

After the match Joe assaults Daniels with a steel chair, busting his head open. This is totally against the code of the X Division! Joe brings Daniels back in the ring and hits a Muscle Buster. He grabs a chair and delivers one more Muscle Buster right on the chair!

MATCH #5: No Disqualification Match – Sabu vs. Abyss

Sabu tricks Abyss into thinking he has barbed wire wrapped around his arm, and he uses the fear to hurl a chair at Abyss’s face and take control. The fight immediately spills to the floor and Sabu grabs a table. Nothing happens with that yet and they go back in the ring, where Abyss takes control. Sabu fights back but gets cut off and blasted with a steel chair to the head. The next time Sabu comes back he’s able to sort of hit the Triple Jump Moonsault for a two-count. Sabu then drops a very audible F-Bomb in the direction of the camera man. He sets up a table and when Abyss uses it to pull himself up, Sabu hits a slingshot somersault legdrop to send Abyss’s face right into the table and break it. Jim Mitchell gives Abyss a bag of thumbtacks, and Sabu counters with a chair wrapped in barbed wire. Unfortunately for Sabu, Mitchell blocks him from using it as a weapon. Abyss then picks Sabu up for a Chokeslam right onto the pile of tacks but it only gets a two-count. He goes up to the second rope for a splash but Sabu moves out of the way and Abyss eats tacks. An awkward spot lands Abyss on top of the tacks again and Sabu gets a two-count. Sabu locks on a Camel Clutch and Abyss reaches the ropes. Abyss then grabs Sabu with a Black Hole Slam right on top of the barbed wire chair to get the pin at 10:48. The finish was sick but the match was pretty not that interesting until then.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #6: X Division Championship Match – AJ Styles vs. Petey Williams

Styles has been the champion since 9.11.05, and this is his second defense. Williams, a former X-Division Champion, is accompanied by fellow Team Canada member A1. These two have wrestled many times before, including one year ago on TNA’s debut three-hour pay-per-view, Victory Road. At that time Williams was the champion and Styles the challenger. The feeling out process sees both guys getting pretty aggressive with each other. Styles hits The Dropkick and otherwise keeps Williams on the mat. He knocks Williams to the floor and then wipes him out with a ridiculous dive over the ropes. They fight up to the apron and Williams hits a sick German Suplex off the apron and onto the guardrail! Ouch. Referee Slick Johnson then sends A1 to the back and convinces Williams not to use the hockey stick. I’d say he’s doing his job. Back in the ring Williams continues to work the back. After several minutes Styles comes back and hits the Pele and both men are down. Back on their feet Styles is on fire, hitting Williams with a variety of maneuvers but none that quite get the job done. Momentum shifts back and forth and the crowd is into it. Styles tries the Styles Clash but Williams counters with a DDT for two. Williams hits the Canadian Legsweep and then locks on the Sharpshooter. Styles reaches the ropes and then launches himself off the top rope with a forearm shot from out of nowhere to take Williams out. Samoa Joe comes out to watch the match up by the entrance and Styles gets distracted. Williams tries to capitalize with a superplex but Styles reverses it to a Super Styles Clash to get the pin at 18:19. These two had pretty good chemistry together and they did a lot of really cool spots in this match, mostly the German Suplex off the apron. The finish was great and the heat was there. This is a lost gem.
Rating: ****¼

MATCH #7: Six Man Main Event Match – Jeff Jarrett & America’s Most Wanted vs. Rhino & Team 3D

America’s Most Wanted are the current NWA World Tag Team Champions, and Jeff Jarrett is the NWA World Champion. Jarrett, Chris Harris and James Storm try to run away before the match can even start so Rhino, Brother Ray, and Brother Devon chase after them and the fight starts in the crowd. It appears as though referee Rudy Charles is playing hard and fast with the rulebook. Three brawls make their way through three different parts of the arena. Rhino has something sticking out from under his singlet and it’s very off-putting. Team 3D has both of the tag team champions busted open. Barely anything has happened in the ring; it’s all been a wild brawl. Rhino hits Jarrett with a Piledriver up on the entrance ramp and then sets up a table. He goes for the Gore but Storm cuts him off with the Last Call Superkick. Team 3D and Storm end up in the ring together, and then Jarrett makes his way in. Jarrett hits Ray with the Stroke but it only gets two! Rhino is back in the ring now and Jarrett turns right into a Gore! Harris pulls the referee out before the three-count can be made. AMW takes control but can’t put either Ray or Devon away. They set up a table but that’s just speaking Team 3D’s language. Ray and Devon come back and hit Harris with the 3D to get the win at 15:46. I expected nothing from that but that was actually a lot of fun. The action never stopped and they worked some good spots in there.
Rating: ***¾

The brawl continues after the match, and even Gail Kim tries to get involved. Team Canada comes out to make the save and they have a huge advantage now. Christian Cage comes out with a steel chair and reveals his Team Canada t-shirt! But it’s a ruse, as Cage grabs D’Amore and hits the Unprettier! Jarrett then takes the 3D through a table.

I grew up and now I write for Inside Pulse. Oh, and one time I saw a blimp!