It is that time again for your weekly dose of TNA news, rumors, and anything I can come up with. This week, I intend to look into the huge story coming out of TNA Genesis involving the injuries of several TNA wrestlers. While it was no Great American Bash 2006, TNA Genesis stands a close second for card rewrites. We’ll get to the injury report, the quick and dirty results from the Pay-Per-View, look ahead to tonight’s iMPACT, and provide some entertainment. All that and so much more in three, two, one….
TNA Wellness Report
Here is a brief list of wrestlers who were injured or stricken with an illness leading up to Genesis and afterwards:
Christy Hemme – suffered a neck injury while training with AJ Styles
Awesome Kong – has a lingering back injury that she’s keeping an eye on
Kevin Nash – suffered a staph infection in his elbow
Sting – had recent knee surgery where his knees were drained
Alex Shelley – was suffering an illness.
Robert Roode – suffered an ankle injury during the tag title three way. No word yet on the severity of it.
Jeff Jarrett – roughed up via missing the table bump and landing on the floor following being Olympic Slammed off the stage/
Mick Foley – landed awkwardly during the table spot in the main event.
And yet how quick everyone was commenting that Kevin Nash did this purposely so he wouldn’t have to job at the Pay-Per-View. It goes without saying that a staph infection could be very bad, even fatal. Kevin and TNA are smart enough when medical attention is needed. It’s the same with Christy Hemme. She doesn’t want to have surgery, but TNA is practically suggesting it so she doesn’t end up like Kurt Angle (who’s one bad bump away from his career being over). It’s only smart to allow Kong to heal up by taking her off the card instead of making her work much. Sting is getting up in his age, so it raises a question just how much longer does he have before hanging it up for good.
TNA Rapid-Fire
One company is releasing people left and right and is hogging the spotlight this week.
Check out the latest edition of TNA Spin Cycle, featuring the referees here.
Jeff Jarrett’s DVD set is expected to be released this April and will be a four disc set featuring matches from the vault of Jim Cornette among others.
TNA is in the UK this week and will be performing in Dublin Friday.
TNA Ratings News
Last week, iMPACT did better on their 1.0 rating and scored a 1.1 rating despite the BCS National Championship Game being played the same night. I’ll predict the same rating for this week’s show, since ECW scored a dismal 1.1 this week.
Genesis Short Form
Hernadez, Homicide, & Eric Young d. Jimmy Rave, Sonjay Dutt, & Kyoshi (elimination tag rules, Hernadez last man standing; pins Rave following a Big Splash) – Nice of them to establish who their current top contender to the World Title is by letting him survive a three-on-one. Decent opening bout, which is all you can ask for considering the match was made the same day as the Pay-Per-View.
Alex Shelly d. Chris Sabin (faking an injury; roll-up; New X-Division Champion) – Everyone wants to give this match BS because of the way they ended it with the fake injury/roll-up combination. I want to see the lighter side of things and say that this finish works because someone had to play the heel-in-cheek. Sabin would have done the same thing if he had the chance. This was a great match and I hope they have a rematch soon while this is hot. Ultimate X anyone?
Shane Sewell d. Sheik Adbul Bashir (Sunset Flip; pinfall) – Sewell and Bashir mesh so well together. It’s appropriate that Sewell was offensive because of all the trouble the Sheik caused him. Decent bout, I wonder how Sewell does as a wrestler, since I don’t know his background in Puerto Rico.
James Storm & Robert Roode d. Matt Morgan/Abyss and Jay Lethal/Consequences Creed (Belt Shot by Abyss to Morgan, Morgan plays dead as all sorts of hell breaks loose, and Jay Lethal gets his head kicked off so Robert Roode can pick up the scraps; New Tag Team Champions) – It’s amazing how this result basically means the Feast or Fired briefcase means jack and squat. They didn’t even let Lethal and Creed have fun with the titles. With that out of the way, who becomes the new challengers to the titles? Also, will Abyss and Matt Morgan break up as a tag team? Anything can happen in TNA.
ODB, Roxxi, & Taylor Wilde d. Rhaka Khan, Sojourner Bolt, & Raisha Saeed (ODB pins Saeed; small package; ODB is the #1 Contender to the Knockouts Championship) – Instead of Hemme v. Kong, for reasons beyond their control, we get a six knockout tag team match with the person scoring the pin being the next sacrifice for Awesome Kong. That seems so fresh that I forgot that they did it a month ago with the World Title on the line in an eight man tag. Obviously there were no expectations going into this match, so we’ll leave that as it is.
Kurt Angle d. Jeff Jarrett (crucifix pin reversal) – Only in TNA will you see roll ups, small packages, backslides, and crucifix pins on Pay-Per-View. This match had a lot of violence, a lot of bloodshed, and Angle wins via a fluke. Does that make sense? The post match would had been a better finish, having Angle beat the crap out of Jarrett’s ankle, then slap on the anklelock. However, it was a good war and everyone knows there will be a rubber match between these two sometime soon. Between this match and the X-Division Title match, I’m torn on which one I liked more.
Sting d. Rhino (Scorpion Death Drop; pinfall) – The match was limited because they were playing the “Where’s Rhino” card throughout the night, only for him to be in bad shape. Sting barely broke a sweat out there and his involvement was minimal. Uneventful world title match all around.
Mick Foley, AJ Styles, & Brother Devon d. Scott Steiner, Booker T, & Cute Kip (Foley pins Steiner; Double Arm DDT onto a chair; pinfall) – First of all, Kevin Nash was out with a good reason, so they substituted Cute Kip in the main event. You can add Genesis Main Event to Kip’s accolades, folks. The match was okay – nothing great, nothing that sucked. They teased a non-finish, but Foley changed the rules to be a hardcore match. AJ Styles bumped his ass off, working for six men out there, even doing an awesome table bump that should be spliced into the TNA iMPACT opening credits. I have to question why this was the main event and not Jarrett/Angle. Overall, can’t really complain since TNA was in a bind with the injuries and illnesses.
TNA iMPACT Preview for 1.15.2009
There will be an update on the Founder of TNA, Jeff Jarrett, following the brutal beating he took from Kurt Angle at Genesis. Because of that beating, Kurt Angle has been ordered to face AJ Styles tonight with Mick Foley as the special referee. Will the Main Event Mafia find a way to deal with the threat the Frontline imposes? Also, the contendership to the World Tag Titles will be decided as the two losers in Sunday’s three way, Matt Morgan & Abyss and Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed, will battle in the six sided ring. Between that, and the exciting vignettes involving the Beautiful People and “The Governor”, tonight’s show is a must watch!
This Week in Pulse Wrestling
John Wiswell discusses ROH receiving an offer from HDNet TV.
Bambi Weavil talks about seeing TNA Genesis in person.
We finally have ECW Coverage once again on the Pulse! Check out Kevin Innarelli’s real-time report and Bones Barkley’s 10 Thoughts.
You see him in the forums and in the comments here on the Pulse, but he now has his own column. Victor Malar gives us a teaser for what you can expect him each Friday as he will be doing 10 Thoughts on SmackDown.
And to wrap it up, give Mark Allen and Vinny T some love while you’re at it.
As always, for more reading, check out the entire Pulse as we’re busting out new content daily!
Until Next Time
I’ll be back with more TNA news next week, especially anything newsworthy that occurs across the pond. If anyone catches TNA in action during the trip in the U.K and would like to submit a show report, email me (link provided near my name at the top of the report) and I’ll make sure to post it and credit you in the process. Have a great week and we’ll catch you next time.
