“Yay, Jeff Hardy didn’t come out as high as a kite on this one!”
Hey everyone, still catching up with things I missed, so here’s a review of last week’s TNA Genesis Pay-Per-View from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. On their first show of 2012, Bully Ray took on Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match, Kurt Angle took on James Storm in a rematch, and Robert Roode defended his World Heavyweight Championship against The Charismatic Enigma, Jeff Hardy. Hopefully, it turns out better than Jeff’s last major match headlining a Pay-Per-View…*shudders* It’s TNA Genesis 2012, here, on The Harrison Analysis. *has no enthusiasm to review this*
On commentary, Mike Tenay, and Taz.
Zema Ion vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen vs Austin Aries (Four Corners Elimination Match for the X-Division Championship)
It’s rather odd when in a four-way, there’s only one babyface, and even he didn’t get much of a reaction. I’m looking at you Jesse. The thing with TNA and their X-Division is that it feels underwhelming right now, and it doesn’t really work when besides Aries, they’re doing flashy moves, which draw cheers from crowds, when they’re trying to be sneaky and be heelish. Can’t work both ways like that. But the match was fun, and enjoyable for it’s 10 minute length, and it looks as if Zema’ll be the one who’ll get the next crack at Aries, which given the time, should be a great match, he’s definitely Number 2 to Aries in that Division. Make it happen TNA, there’s a ton of potential in this division, waiting to be…*Skip Bayless Voice*, UNLEASHED!
★★ ¾
“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero vs Devon
I liked where this match was going, and it played well into the storyline of the feud. Devon was fired up, wanting to win his sons back, and when his sons weren’t listening to The Pope in the match, he ended up blasting them for it, showing what The Pope was really all about. However, what dragged this match down, was they dragged the match up for 3-4 minutes longer than what they should have done, because after Devon got fired up first time, that’s where the finish should have been, rather than having a simple strike exchange which made them lose the crowd. Yes, this is a rare case when I say a match should have been shorter.
★★
Gunner (w/Ric Flair) vs Rob Van Dam
When did Ric Flair associate himself with TNA’s greatest security guard? Kidding. This was more of a 7-minute angle than a match, and it worked well, playing off his TV matches, clearly TNA are trying to build Gunner up as a big heel character, with the great manager of Flair to talk for him, and this was a good start in taking out RVD with his almost patented concrete assisted DDT (Even though, his contract is running out and this was more of a write-off than anything else), so I hope TNA can continue building Gunner up right from here. (About time some home-grown talent gets a push)
★★
Gail Kim (w/Madison Rayne in a cage) vs Mickie James (Knockout’s Championship Match)
At what point where TNA creative thinking “Hey, you know that time Robbie E had Cookie in a cage? We should bring that back!” Now, the idea of Madison Rayne in a cage is definitely an attractive one, but surely just having Sky as an outside enforcer would have been easier right? The match was a mess, especially after the attempted double (Yes, double), Brass Knuckle spot. (I mean, how convenient is it that Rayne was drop some knucks from the cage, without knowing she was going to be in there? I’m thinking too hard about TNA, ignore me), and another PPV DQ Finish, which, most likely, will be followed up on Impact tomorrow. I’ll talk more about that in the end, but yeah…Messy, and not very good, which is a real shame given the two women involved.
★
Bully Ray vs Abyss (Monster’s Ball Match)
I’ve seen mixed thoughts on this one. Hardcore style matches tend to drive people both ways, I’ve seen people tell me “Worst PPV match ever!” – Trademark629, I’m looking at you, and I’ve seen others give it close to four stars. What do I think? Somewhere in the middle. I take issue with the fact that they even HAD a Monster’s Ball with almost no prior build and it handcuffs the rest of feud as there’s nowhere else they can really go from here, but the match itself was entertaining at times, other times it annoyed me, but overall, I thought it was solid, if flawed, in the sense of Abyss had to throw EVERYTHING at Ray in order to try and get over, when Ray is clearly the more entertaining character and wrestler. And was all that violence really necessary? I doubt it. Good, but nothing special.
★★ ½
Matt Morgan and Crimson vs Samoa Joe and Magnus (Tag Team Championship Match)
I had high hopes for the random person Tag Team Tournament. The WWE should have done something like this when Evan Bourne got popped for weed for the 2nd time. But the resulting conclusion…Not so keen. Reason being, the match quality I have doubts over, and I was right, this wasn’t very good. The match was a slow 9 and a half minutes, and it was another scenario of who do I cheer for? Crimson and Morgan are heels, and I don’t care about Magnus, who’s had little to no character development at all. This was basically 4 big men and Magnus, and I just never got into it, and they had a hard time getting the crowd into it following the Monster’s Ball. Unfortunately bad.
★ ¾
James Storm vs Kurt Angle
Why was this match so average? This could have been stupidly good! Okay, I will say, this WAS well booked. Angle’s playing to the storyline of not taking very many risks and being cautious, and if his London 2012 push IS real (Which I have doubts with), then it’s smart he’s wrestling like this. And, with Angle winning in a cheap fashion, it keeps the feud going for another month, and TNA doesn’t hurry into the eventual Storm/Roode mega feud which could be amazing if done right, even if they botched it first time round. Overall, a fine match given the circumstances, and I hope they can have that home-run match soon, most likely at Lockdown in April.
★★ ¾
Robert Roode vs Jeff Hardy (World Heavyweight Championship Match)
Can you blame me for being nervous? Take your mind back 11 months to Victory Road 2011, where Hardy wrestled while Incapacitated, and Sting had to end the PPV Headlining Main Event in 90 seconds. However, I will say that Hardy’s performance was good here, and the match here did good for most of the 20 minutes. The crowd was trying hard to be hot for Hardy (Again, the Monster’s Ball really hurt the crowd long term here), and the match was good to very good, until the ending, where Roode kicked the ref square in the crouch, so for the 2nd straight Pay-Per-View, we got a non-clean finish, this time by DQ.
The company needs to be VERY careful when booking these. Yes, Hardy nailed a Swanton on Roode post-match and did two victory laps to try and send the crowd home happy, but it doesn’t hide the fact that DQ finishes on PPV just don’t work, because no-one wants to pay for a Non-finish! It’ll draw bad heat on the company if they keep doing that, and it just isn’t smart. Good match, hurt by the poor ending.
★★★
Harrison’s Final Analysis on TNA Genesis 2012
Yet another middle of the road TNA Pay-Per-View. I seem to be having a knack of saying that a lot. But seriously, and probably for every show since Destination X, there’s nothing to see here. If you didn’t watch this show, there was nothing you need to download to see here (Let’s be honest, everyone and their mother torrents these days), or save on your DVR. The booking was slightly better this time around, but the match quality was rather poor, with only one match
even getting three stars. That isn’t good enough. I’ve been Andre Harrison, thanks for reading, and Sayonara.
+ James Storm vs Kurt Angle, the best thing about TNA right now
+ X-Division continues to hold up well
+ Bully Ray shines despite defeat in Monster’s Ball
- Two DQ Finishes, Three Non-Clean finishes on the show, Only 1 match is 3 Stars+
– Knockout’s disappoint considering massive time given on TV
– Booking improved from “terrible”, to “mostly annoying”
Harrison’s TNA Genesis 2012 Rating: 6.0 out of 10 – Decent
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