I attended on my birthday last year a TNA house show in late-July, and this past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend TNA’s PPV, Genesis, from Charlotte, NC. Live events are always more enjoyable then staying home, so if the opportunity presents itself, I’m game for checking it out. The one thing I can say from the beginning is that TNA put on a solid PPV, a list of full of injured talent or not. The grumblings you hear from “critics” that it was only worth of a 5.0 are wrong.
A North Carolina crowd appreciates wrestling above “sports entertainment” and TNA delivered, with the one thing that I noticed is the lack of promos and the focus on the wrestling product itself. Whereas the WWE is not afraid to dump promo after promo in a three hour event. It was nice to attend a event that wasn’t muddled down in promos when we have to deal with that from both brands constantly.
In the opening Elimination Tag Match with Jimmy Rave, Sonjay Dutt, & Kiyoshi vs. Eric Young & LAX – the action was solid. Each time I see LAX, I believe they are a tag team that has got it together and has more chemistry and ability than most tag teams the WWE has put together in years. Good spots throughout and each time I see Eric Young, I can’t help but think of my dear friend, Chris Candido, who has passed away.
One of the showstealers of the night, was without question the career defining match of Chris Sabin versus Alex Shelley for the X Division Championship. I realize they aren’t brothers, but they gave a match of similar styling to a Bret versus Owen Hart. The fans were completely into this match and both competitors should be proud of this match. The near falls, all of it was believable, the timing of spots were on target and this became the match to “top”. This match is a good match to study for all students of the sport, it had the quality all wrestling matches need: believability, near falls aka you don’t know who is going to win, the chemistry between the two competitors, solid moves, heart and the match told a story in itself.
The following match, no matter what it was, was going to suffer because of how four-star the Shelley/Sabin match was, and sadly that was Sheik Abdul Bashir versus Shane Sewell (aka “the Ref”). Shane reminds me of Jerry Lynn and I found that distracting. Nothing special about this match, I wish it had been saved for TV.
The TNA Tag Team Championship match with Consequences Creed & Black Machismo vs. Beer Money, Inc. (w/ Jacqueline) vs. Abyss & Matt Morgan was something the Charlotte crowd was red hot about. Beer Money, Inc. is extremely over and I’ve been a long-time fan because the trio absolutely works well together. I had no expectations from Abyss and Matt Morgan but together, they are huge and intimidating, especially Matt Morgan. What I got from seeing them live is WWE dropped the ball by letting Morgan go, he’s like a tall Batista with more high-flying ability. I felt that Creed and Machismo suffered the most from this match because they didn’t stand out and I felt they were completely out of place in this match. Great match regardless, with Beer Money retaining, just as they should have.
The Knockout #1 Contender’s Match was nothing to write home about, pretty disappointing in general. ODB is over, and that’s all there is to note about this. I am excited however that it’ll be ODB versus Awesome Kong, because that should be a great match.
The real main event of the night was Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle in No DQ. If the night ended here, I am believing that critics would have given the PPV a higher rating. They absolutely stole the show, I thought they both worked their asses off and the crowd couldn’t have been happier and more into it. This was the definition of a PPV-quality matchup. The fans broke out into Angle and Jarrett chants, and really appreciated the guys going the extra mile. That spot off the stage that missed the table was absolutely sick. I have a new respect for Jarrett’s in-ring ability, and Angle is proving once again how he’s the wrestling machine in TNA. I would recommend people buying the replay to see this match alone.
Sting versus Rhino was bad on so many levels, it just shouldn’t have happened considering Sting’s double-knee surgery. It should have been pulled because the fans were cheering for Sting for nostalgia reasons and couldn’t have cared less about Rhino.
The main event of the night, included Kip filling in for Kevin Nash, with Booker T and Scott Steiner vs. Mick Foley, Brother Devon & AJ Styles. I think fans were into it with the Hardcore Rules idea being added.
In reality, I wish Angle and Jarrett had closed the show (I can’t believe I’m saying that either), and switched it with the Main Event Mafia versus Frontline match, but overall, this was a solid PPV that TNA delivered on. This was the best way to start off the New Yaer for TNA and after seeing RAW last night, right now, TNA has the better overall product.
Thank you for your support, be sure to catch me and Big Poppa G, “the Pro Wrestling Advocates”, this upcoming Sunday at 11p EST on IRABBroadcasting.com. We have recently announced our big motorcycle raffle that you can participate in that’s not to miss, as well as our recent feature interview with TNA Legends Champion, Booker T! Don’t miss our regular guests, former WCW star, The Stro and Styx, for some great indy wrestling perspective, and we will take your calls in hour number two.
