10 Thoughts: TNA “Genesis: Part Two” 1.23.14 (Sting, Magnus, Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode)

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HTC 500x250 - 2014 - TNA Genesis

1. Somehow I’m still holding it together AND covering TNA. It truly is a week by week test and they’re lucky that I don’t watch the show live. If I did, I’d be watching this on my birthday and I think I’d be too resentful to ever watch the show again.

2. So THIS is the episode of “Genesis” where we get to see all the matches they’ve been hyping for the last few months. Last week was like seeing the trailer for The Empire Strikes Back for weeks & then when you sat down in the theater you got The Phantom Menace.

3. Who the hell is this attorney and why would he be discussing ANY of this with Magnus? He’s the World Heavyweight Champion but he’s not an executive with the company. He has no power or authority when it comes to business dealings. Magnus isn’t Triple H and this is just bad storytelling. Though  it’s not any better when it DOES involve Triple H.

4. It’s not a big TNA event without a pole. It still kills me how far James Storm has fallen. This guy had the promo skills, charisma and enough talent for the TNA roster to be the biggest star TNA ever created on their own. Instead he became a caricature of his own character & stuck into another tag team with another sub par experiment that TNA doesn’t want to give up on yet. Just look at the finish of this match as a perfect example. Not only couldn’t Gunner be put over clean but he’s also a babyface who had to win the #1 contender’s match contract is a cheap/fluke fashion. Way to build momentum for the new #1 contender…

5. While a lot of people see Chris Sabin & Austin Aries battling over the X-Division title as a step down, I don’t see that at all! When the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were unified, that created a very small selection of wrestlers who can be in the championship picture at one time. What are the other main event players supposed work towards then? That is my main argument for unifying the WWE Intercontinental and United States Championships as it would automatically create the second most prestigious title in the company and allow main event players to take a “step down” to the IC title level. This is essentially what TNA has done with putting former TNA World Champions back into the X-Division. Austin Aries and Chris Sabin are two very talented wrestlers and if there isn’t any room in the World Championship division, why not return them to the X-Division? They proved again how good they are tonight (despite the shenanigans) and it HELPED build the prestige of the X-Division Championship. For once, WWE needs to take a cue from TNA and how they book their secondary title. Seriously, when was the last time Dean Ambrose defended the United States title anyway?

6. So The Wolves will be debuting the new authority figure? Dammit. I was hoping it was just a way to introduce Edwards & Richards to TNA and not have them involved in ANOTHER authority angle.

7. Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode began at a frantic only for it to come to a screeching halt when Kurt Angle once again missed a moonsault off of the top of the cage. Angle has never hit his opponent with that move (even when he was supposed it) and all it did was add an unnecessary for a guy whose body should be able to endure this punishment anymore. The “This is awesome!” chants don’t help either fans, especially when the match was good but nowhere near “awesome”.

8. This new “investor” must only kind of like Sting since he put Sting’s career on the line in this match even though he/she could have just given him a World title shot.

9. At least the WWE bailed on the Jersey/”bro” gimmick back in 2011 when they benched Zack Ryder. TNA has their “broskis” as their tag team champions. Hell, even the Jersey Shore TV show ended in 2012! Sigh…

10.  Well the rumors have already begun and now they’re really going to kick into high gear. If this was Sting’s last appearance for TNA, he was not booked in a way you would think a guy of his statue would be booked. Then again this is the same company that let AJ Styles just leave when his contract expired. I do like that they’ve already set up Magnus’ next feud against Samoa Joe. Joe seems more motivated than I’ve seen him in a long time and its damn refreshing to see. If he can keep up that intensity and if this new “investor” story-line doesn’t wrap Magnus up too much, Samoa Joe versus Magnus could be a fun feud.

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