Monday, January 9, 2012

WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Genesis 2012 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Genesis 2012. The first wrestling PPV of 2012. How did it fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review. 

Match #1: Austin Aries vs Zema Ion vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen in X Division title match; Elimination style
We open up the PPV with the X Division match. Right off the bat, I felt TNA already screwed up. There was little build up for the actual match as they focused more on Zema than anything else. Don't you think it would've made a little more sense for TNA to tell the audience watching Impact how this match is going to work? That little bit of entail would've helped. Instead, TNA didn't explain how this match would work until now. I think my biggest hangup with this is listening to Mike Tenay explain how the match works. He can seriously take you out of it. Anyway, this was a pretty good match to open up the PPV.  Lots of fast paced action. If you like cruiserweight wrestling or spot monkey stunts, this is the match for you. Like I said in the TNA review last week, my main problem with this match is the lack of story. That would be the main flaw, but it was still entertaining. Zema eliminated Kash with the 450 Splash. Jesse eliminated Zema with a small package. Zema would complain to the referee about the decision. Aries had the match, but Zema's bitching kept the ref occupied. Jesse hit his finisher on Aries, but the ref doesn't make the three count in time to end the match. Zema goes into hiding as the match continues. The finish comes when Jesse goes for a top rope move, but Zema interferes. Once again, TNA shows a prime example of bad choreography. The ref sees Zema's interference, but pretends he didn't see it. I don't know what Zema was thinking by interfering near the ref's vision as opposed to staying on his blind side. I swear this happens more on TNA than WWE. Zema would've been fine if he did the interference in the same spot. This is nitpicking, but these little spots need to be fixed or else it can ruin the value of the match. Anyway, Aries is able to take advantage with the Brain Buster to retain his title. The screwy finish might start something between Zema and Jesse. Both of these guys aren't ready for the X title, so having them go up against each other will be a good start. Zema seems to be developing his arrogant character pretty well while Jesse is just as bland as ever. Why do people like this guy again? Not sure what Aries does next. Alex Shelley is always available…..just suggesting. 

Winner via pinfall and still X Division Champ: Austin Aries

Match #2: Pope vs Devon
Oh great. THIS match made it on the PPV? By the way, great job of making this a PPV match when they haven't talked about this storyline for the last 3-4 weeks. There was an interview with Devon's kids. They are dressed up like the Pope and consider him cool. There was even a video package of this rivalry….why? Nobody cares about this rivalry, especially since it isn't consistent. The match just seemed to drag a bit. It was okay, but it's so okay that it isn't worth existing. There was a point where Devon is down and Pope encourages the boys to attack their father. All of the sudden, they seem off put by the whole thing. Okay, this makes no sense. We saw the boys attack their father in the past and take part in his downfall (with chairs, mind you), so NOW they got some feelings? There was no build up with the boys sticking up for their father, so it makes this whole thing look even more stupid and a bigger waste of time. What the hell, TNA? Well, with the boys coming to grips on the error of their mistakes, Pope attacks them. Devon gets back up and takes down the Pope. It ends when Devon hits a finisher and gets the victory. After the match, the boys apologize to their father and have a Cosby Show moment where the boys hug their father. Even if the whole thing was stupid and made no sense, I am glad this rivalry is over. Nobody cared about it and it was lazy writing. This storyline should've been over months ago. 

Winner via pinfall: Devon

Backstage where Velvet Sky is talking to Sting about the VP KO position. Oh my God, make her stop talking. She wouldn't shut the hell up and kept talking in circles.  Who thought this was a good idea? Anyway, Velvet has an idea to keep Madison Rayne at bay for the KO title match. She whispers it in Sting's ear (either that or she's trying to earn brownie points). Sting makes this idea a go. Oh great, I can't wait to be disappointed. Oh, and Sting talks about Jeff Hardy and how he's an inspiration. Yeah, about as inspiring as the Manson family. 

Match #3: Gunner vs RVD
This match didn't last too long, but longer than some of the last few Gunner matches. The match wasn't too interesting, but I suppose it was okay. I really didn't like it. Gunner ripped off the padding early. The finish comes when Ric Flair argues with the referee. With his back turned, Gunner hits a DDT on RVD on the concrete and tosses him back in the ring. At least the choreography was better this go around. Gunner pins RVDRVD away on a stretcher. I have heard rumors that RVD could be done with this company, so they could've wrote him out of the show if they don't agree on a contract. At the same time, I've heard reports that RVD's contract isn't up until March, so I have no idea what's going on. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the last time you see RVD in a TNA ring. They also could've put this scene together to build up Gunner's stock since he got a pretty big win tonight. I still don't like Gunner since he lacks personality and looks like a garbage man. Come on, his catch phase can be he will take out the trash. Oh well…

Winner via pinfall: Gunner

Match #4: Gail Kim vs Mickie James; KO Title match
Velvet's idea was to put Madison in a cage help above the ring. The cage looked like it was pooped out by Kirby. My main problem with this idea was Madison became the center of attention, so it was easy to forget about the match. The match was nothing special. I personally thought their match a few weeks back on Impact was a lot better. The finish comes when Madison tosses down a pair of brass knucks. The ref would see this and take care of it. While the ref is dealing with this matter, Madison tosses down a second pair of brass knucks. Mickie grabs them and hits Gail with a punch. The ref sees it, so Mickie is DQed. I like how Mickie is completely guilty and doesn't seem to care that she just screwed herself out of a match. I'm sorry, but our emotion is in another castle. The screwy finish basically means this rivalry will continue. By the way, I like how Velvet wants to be the VP and doesn't seem to care about getting the title back….even though that was her entire gimmick last year. That's a good thinking…..WRONG!!!

Winner via DQ: Gail Kim; Gail Kim is still KO champ

Match #5: Bully Ray vs Abyss in a Monster's Ball match
By the way, did Bully just rape Jeremy Borash during the interview? He was standing right behind him and….let's move on. Now, I have made it well known in my previous reviews that I am not a fan of hardcore wrestling since it's just cranking out weapons and going for that holy s*** moment. There was a point in my younger years I kinda liked this style of wrestling, but it isn't for me anymore. I just don't like it when it goes overboard with the hardcore aspect since it just becomes a weapons orgy as opposed to a wrestling match. So, I didn't have high expectations for this match. This match did operate like any other cliche hardcore match, but this one had a few amusing moments. Though, I didn't understand why Bully tried to leave the match when it amounted to nothing. Something about that part seemed either out of place or like someone missed a cue since it was pointless. Janice makes a return in this match. In case you forgot or don't care, Janice is Abyss' weapon, the 2x4 with nails in it. There was trash cans, cheese graters, trash can lids, thumbtacks, barbed wire tables, and chains. I should note that there was a point where Abyss took the cheese grater and used it on Bully's nut sack. Why? That's not cool or unique, that's just….disturbing. Bully would scream out "Owe….my balls!!!". You know, I'm disappointed by this match. They featured all these weapons and didn't feature the ultimate ass kicking weapon in pro wrestling. Where are the water bottles? Hey, its not hardcore if there's no water bottles. Yeah, so this match had some shock value moments, but I found it unappealing at times. The finish comes when Abyss hits Black Hole Slam on top of the barbed wire table and wins the match. Not the worst hardcore match I've seen out of TNA, but not memorable either. Oh, and someone should tell Tazz that the real sandwich from hell is the broodwich. I thought everyone knew this?

Winner via pinfall: Abyss

Match #6: Matt Morgan and Crimson vs Samoa Joe and Magnus; Tag Team Championships
This match was actually not too bad, but I think it was a victim of bad timing….or lack of a storyline….or both….or the fact nobody cared. Yeah, I can keep going, but I'll stop there. The audience didn't really seem to care about this match since they were all tired out from the hardcore match. By the way, I don't think Christy Hemme even announced Magnus. She probably did and I missed it, but I don't think she did. The finish came when Morgan and Crimson hit their double team finisher on Magnus for the victory. I think these two teams will face off against each other again. At least I wouldn't be surprised since there is still a low number of tag teams in TNA. I don't mind the Joe/Magnus pairing since it gives them both something to do. 

Winner via pinfall and still Tag Champs: Matt Morgan and Crimson

Match #7: James Storm vs Kurt Angle
Storm cut an interesting promo backstage. He he…sucking and swallowing. That crazy cowboy. This was a pretty technical match. If you remember the match between these two at Final Resolution, it was pretty much the same match. It still wasn't bad, but something is missing in making these matches classic. Still, I like them. I guess it's because I like Storm, I like Angle as a wrestler, and I like the storyline. Proving that TNA can make interesting storylines….if they would stop with the other crap. There was a moment where Storm hit an RKO. Hmm….did this have anything to do with Kurt complaining about wrestlers stealing his moves? Seriously Kurt, you need to stop doing that. It's a worthless argument since about 80-90% of wrestling moves have been featured these days. Anyway, the finish comes when Storm sets up for the Last Call Super Kick, but Kurt uses the ref as a shield. Storm stops the kick. With the distraction/hesitation, Kurt hits a low blow on Storm. He would then hit Storm with a Super Kick of his own. It's funny because it's ironic (Kurt's a hypocrite). The finish means there will be a rematch between these two. I kinda saw this coming since it seems they were going for a possible best of three here. The rematch should probably be the final match…depending on what they have planned for these two. In my opinion, this was the best match of the night. 

Winner via pinfall: Kurt Angle

Okay, this is something that made zero sense. They are backstage with Bully and they ask him where Abyss is. Bully says he has no idea. This was never brought up for the rest of the night. What was the point of this? It might be something in the works, but seems kinda stupid to do this random five second scene. Oh well, maybe we should just pretend it never happened. 

Match #8: Robert Roode vs Jeff Hardy; TNA World Title
Roode had some new entrance music. It was more dark. There was moments where this match was okay, but I felt it was slow paced. Seriously, hit the fast forward guys. I know both of you are capable of speeding it up. Then again, getting Hardy off speed is probably a good thing. Roode is staring to remind me of Lord of the Rings….

Seriously, that's how he's treating the world title. The match was back and forth for the most part. The finish comes when Roode tries to leave the match for a second time with the title, but Hardy gets him back in the ring. Roode is even grasping that title with all his might. That is his precious. Roode realizes that his shenanigans aren't working, she he kicks the referee in the balls and the ref calls for the bell. Hardy wins via DQ, but no world title changes happen via DQ or countout. After the match, Hardy hits Swanton Bomb on Roode. The show ends with Hardy playing to the crowd in disappointment while Roode won't let go of that title. The finish doesn't surprise me. I expected some type of shenanigans to keep Roode as the champ, but to make Hardy look strong in the process. I think the Hardy/Roode rivalry will go for at least one more match, but it could be on for a while longer. I know I don't normally like championship PPV matches ending like this, but I am fine with it if it sets up the story or it's fun and entertaining. While I am not the biggest fan of Hardy, I am fine with this ending and seeing what these two can do the next go around. Still, I wasn't the biggest fan of this match. Parts of it worked for me, but I felt it was too slow. 

Winner via DQ: Jeff Hardy; Robert Roode is still TNA World Champion

Overall Impression:
Based on some of the TNA PPVs of 2011, this was a step in the right direction. I felt the quality was a lot better compared to what TNA has been showing on PPV as of late. Even with that said, it wasn't what I would call a good PPV. This was right around average territory for TNA. I really didn't like most of the matches this evening. Only 3-4 matches were worth checking out, but most (if not, all of them) aren't worth a second take. I also don't think we will look at these matches tonight and be talking about them down the road. It's possible certain events can change, but it just doesn't seem likely. Another issue with the PPV is that it was too predictable. I didn't do any predictions for this PPV, but most of the picks I made were correct. I have said in the past that I would rather get by picks wrong than correct since it shows the ability to think outside the box. Now, most stuff is predictable these days and I can't be too harsh on this aspect, but it does take away some of the value. One positive thing I have to say after this PPV is it does add a certain amount of interest for this weeks Impact. Not a whole lot, but there is a little bit of intrigue. That should at least be worth something. If I have to give this PPV a score on a scale of 1-10 and 5 considered average on my show, I give Genesis a 4 out of 10. I did say it was average for TNA, but average for TNA generally means slightly below average. I thought this was much better than the PPVs TNA has put forth as of late, but it was nothing to brag home about. This entire show/matches didn't feel like PPV and seemed more like a glorified TV taping. Then again, that's actually a good thing for TNA since the TV quality is all over the place at times. Still, at least there was moments where it looked like they were trying, which is more than what I can say for some of the other PPVs TNA has put together. I know this is a common topic I bring up with TNA PPVs, but the Impact Zone needs to go. They need to do more travel in 2012 because this audience doesn't help bring in more interest for this show since they are so predictable. Hey, I kinda like it when WWE travels since the reaction is different every week. It just sucks when the reaction is always the same, which is what you get in the Impact Zone. Then again, this is more of a suggestion for the company as opposed to the PPV. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. Check out the award show if you haven't checked it out yet. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time. 

WrestlingNerd's Official Score of TNA Genesis 2012: 4 out of 10

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