A2Z Analysiz: TNA Genesis 2010

Wrestling DVDs

Genesis 2010

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Universal Studios – Orlando, Florida – January 17, 2010

Mike Tenay and Taz are on commentary. This is the first pay-per-view of the Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff era.

MATCH #1: TNA X Division Championship Match – Amazing Red vs. Mystery Opponent

Red has been the champion since 10.8.09, and this is his fourth defense. The mystery opponent turns out to be Brian Kendrick, making his return to TNA. They take it down to the mat and wrestle to a standoff. Red lands a headscissors and Kendrick rolls to the floor. Back in the ring Kendrick goes to work on the leg. Red comes back and kicks Kendrick to the floor and wipes him out with a flip dive off the top rope. Back in the ring Red hits a missile dropkick for two. Taz admits he has no idea what Kendrick has been doing so he doesn’t know if he’s in ring shape. Way to be a good color man you twit. Kendrick goes back to work on the knee. Things get awkward as both guys look lost for a minute. Kendrick hits a leg lariat for two. Red gets knocked to the apron but he’s able to come back in with a slingshot Code Red to get the pin and retain the title at 9:04. That was a decent back and forth opener.
Rating: **½

MATCH #2: Daniels vs. Sean Morley

What a waste of time bringing in Sean Morley was. Some in the crowd chant “we want wrestling” before Morley even starts cutting his promo. Daniels is trying to be a heel but the crowd isn’t buying it. Morley starts off on fire and Daniels tries to avoid him. They trade control and awkwardly wrestle around a bit. Daniels keeps Morley down for a while until the comeback happens. This is all paint-by-numbers stuff. Morley hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Daniels comes back and locks on the Koji Clutch but Morley escapes, so Daniels hits an STO for two. Now Daniels hits the uranage slam but misses the Best Moonsault Ever. Morley hits a half-nelson slam and goes up top. Daniels cuts him off with a palm strike but Morley blocks a rana. Morley then hits the Money Shot to get the clean pin at 9:07. Daniels is still with the company and Morley did almost nothing after this, so that’s a pretty foolish result.
Rating: *½

MATCH #3: Two out of Three Falls TNA Knockouts Championship Match – ODB vs. Tara

ODB has been the champion since 1.4.10, and this is her first defense. Tara takes the early control, eager to get her belt back. ODB comes back with her brute strength and unorthodox offense. Tara responds with an inside cradle from out of nowhere to get the pin at 2:44. There is a rest period of indeterminate time, but ODB works though it anyway. Despite being down a fall, ODB is controlling the match and keeping it at her pace. For some reason ODB keeps checking her pulse. The champion keeps Tara on the mat with a body scissors. ODB lets that go and seems to be having trouble with her boobs for some reason. She hits a running powerslam for two. Tara comes back and hits the Widow’s Peak from out of nowhere to win her second straight fall at 6:32 (9:16 total match time). That was insanely dull and felt twice as long as it was. ODB was all over the place and the commentary was brutal.
Rating: *

MATCH #4: TNA World Tag Team Championship Match – The British Invasion vs. Matt Morgan & Hernandez

Douglas Williams and Brutus Magnus have been the champions since 10.18.09, and this is their fourth defense. Magnus and Morgan start the match for their respective teams. The champions take control but the power of the challengers is quickly too much to overcome. Williams and Magnus have to use some less than savory tactics to get any offense in. They double-team Hernandez for much more than five seconds, which Morgan seems to notice. The champs keep Hernandez down, but not for long. Morgan gets the hot tag and he cleans house. The referee loses control, with all four men in the ring. Back on their feet Morgan hits Williams with a Chokeslam but it only gets two. The challengers dispose of Williams and Morgan hits Magnus with the Carbon Footprint to get the win and the titles at 8:51. The champions looked exceedingly weak, as this was little more than a squash.
Rating: *¾

MATCH #5: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Desmond Wolfe

They trade control early on and Wolfe knocks Dinero to the floor. Wolfe focuses on the knee, using some innovative offense to keep Dinero on the mat and in pain. After several minutes of abuse Dinero comes back and hits a nasty brainbuster but it only gets two. The flurry doesn’t last long though and Wolfe is right back to work on the knee. Dinero fights back and tries a couple of inside cradles but only gets two. He hits a rope-assisted neckbreaker but only gets two. Wolfe tries the Mule Kick but Dinero caches him in a sit-out Alabama Slam but it only gets two. Dinero signals for the DDE but he walks right into a Lariat and Wolfe gets the pin at 13:31. The crowd barely made a peep but Wolfe did some really cool stuff in that match and this was psychologically sound.
Rating: ***

MATCH #6: Beer Money, Inc. vs. The Band

The Band is being represented by Kevin Nash and Syxx-Pac tonight. It was originally scheduled to be Nash and Scott Hall, but does anyone really care what Hall’s excuse is this time? Storm and Pac start the match, and they do very little before making tags. James Storm and Robert Roode control briefly before the Band takes over, specifically Nash with his size and power advantage. The Band isolates on Storm, keeping him away from his partner. Pac hits the Bronco Buster. Finally Roode gets the hot tag and he throws Pac around, and is able to thwart Nash’s attack. Beer Money is on fire, so Scott Hall stumbles his way down the ramp. That gives Nash the opportunity to clothesline both Storm and Roode. Nash then hits Roode with a Chokeslam for a two-count. Hall grabs a “fan” out of the front row and beats him so Pac tries to stop him. Meanwhile Storm hits Nash with the Last Call and Roode gets the pin at 9:44. The match was quite dull and what was up with Hall at the finish there?
Rating: *¼

MATCH #7: Abyss vs. Bobby Lashley

Abyss was scheduled to face Bobby Lashley, but he took him out with a rather tame beat down backstage earlier, so now he has to face a mystery opponent. Said mystery opponent turns out to be Mr. Anderson, who gets a pretty big pop from the crowd. Then the crowd dies as soon as the match starts because it’s #boring. I mean for real this is just inane. I can’t even be bothered to recap this. I hate Mr. Anderson with a fiery passion. The finish finally comes when Abyss grabs a chair but Anderson pulls brass knuckles from out of his tights. While the referee has his back turned to get rid of the chair, Anderson decks Abyss with the knuckles to get the win at 10:36. That was atrocious and a wretched debut for an awful wrestler.
Rating: DUD

MATCH #8: TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match – AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle

Styles has been the champion since 9.20.09, and this is his seventh defense. This is supposedly Angle’s last chance at the title in 2010 as long as Styles is the champion. They’re calling Angle a 13-time World Champion, but with four WWE Titles, one World Heavyweight Title, one WCW Title, four TNA World Titles, and maybe one NWA Title (some people count it, some don’t), that gives me 11 at most. They must be also counting the IWGP Heavyweight Title that he held (which is a bit of a story in and of itself), and the Power Pro Wrestling Title (which I know nothing about). They take it right down to the mat and commence the chain wrestling. Both men appear pretty evenly matched in the opening minutes and the crowd supports both of them. Styles hits The Dropkick and takes the first sustained advantage. He knocks Angle to the floor and goes for a dive but Angle cuts him off and hits a clothesline. Back in the ring Angle goes on offense now, focusing on the back. Styles fights back and they knock each other down. As they recover, Ric Flair makes his way out to ringside. Styles knocks Angle to the floor as Flair looks on intently. This time when Styles tries a dive it works beautifully, and he wipes Angle out on the floor. The guardrail is really close to the ring; is it always that close? Back in the ring Styles hits the springboard flying forearm for two. The champ goes for the Styles Clash but Angle blocks it and hits rolling German Suplexes for a two-count. Styles fights back and hits the Pele for two. Tenay says that Styles must be thinking of all the matches he’s won with the Pele but that wouldn’t take long because I don’t think I’ve EVER seen him win with that. I hate Mike Tenay so much, maybe more than Mr. Anderson. They continue to trade control back and forth as we’ve crossed the 20 minute mark. Angle hits an Angle Slam but Styles kicks out at two. Not like one finisher would ever end an Angle match. Angle goes up and misses a Moonsault, but is able to recover quickly and lock on an Ankle Lock. Styles escapes from that but Angle is able to trap him in the Styles Clash of all things, but it only gets two. The champ responds in kind, hitting Angle with the Angle Slam and only getting a two-count. Styles goes up top and Angle pops up and hits a Super Angle Slam but Styles kicks out. The straps come down and the Ankle Lock goes on. Flair pulls referee Earl Hebner out of the ring so he doesn’t see Styles tap out. Angle goes after Flair, allowing Styles to cut him off with a clothesline. Flair throws the TNA World Title belt in the ring and Styles clocks Angle with it. That’s enough to get the pin at 28:46. They had something pretty interesting going on until Flair got there and it turned into a “let’s not sell anymore and hit a bunch of finishers” match like all Angle matches. I also hate the finish, as this was supposed to be a fresh start for TNA, and what would be fresh would be a classic wrestling match with no shenanigans in the main event. This was just same old same old. Granted there was a lot to like about this match but in the end it just fell completely flat. Also, Angle got another shot at the title four days later. This is TNA.
Rating: ****

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