After an underwhelming debut on AMC last week, Total Nonstop Action was on pay-per-view two days later with the Genesis event. They ran the same venue in Dallas, the Curtis Culwell Center, on both nights, with an estimated 2,700 fans for the television taping before they drew a solid 4,000 fans for the PPV. All things considered, I’d say that given not only the shared building, but the fact that they had a chance to sell this pay-per-view to a bigger audience, it underscores how misguided the format of Impact was on Thursday if they truly wanted to try to sell the PPV broadcast on Saturday.
Keep in mind, TNA had comparatively low television clearance before the jump to the new network so if fans were going to be swayed to invest in the new chapter with the purchase of a traditional $40 pay-per-view, the debut on AMC had to try to provide some context to the product. As we know, the edition of Impact didn’t do that, a notion that became increasingly clear as the Genesis event progressed.
The show opened with AJ Francis vs. Rich Swann, and it was fine for what it was. The 10-minute segment was basically a TV match and had very little context to it, as the feud was based on was something that most viewers from the AMC debut wouldn’t have been familiar with. Furthermore, neither Francis or Swann had a chance to sell their PPV match on the AMC show so it came across as more of a random match-up than anything of importance. AJ Francis won with a choke slam, but his in-ring work still looks unnatural and very deliberate. More than anything, without the AMC exposure, Francis is probably still known as the guy that botched the dive on Smackdown more than anything.
Next up was Elijah vs. Mustapha Ali and this was less than 10 minutes, but it checked all of the boxes for an entertaining match. There was a solid opening sequence before Ali nailed an impressive dive to the outside. The Order 4 stable was there to attempt to interfere and get bumped around to make Elijah look strong. Furthermore, Ali made his opponent look good here with crisp and smooth action, but was still able to showcase himself so it was a win-win for everyone involved. If I had to guess, the structure of this match might’ve been based on Elijah just returning from injury so it kept the exposure of any possible ring rust to a minimum. The finish saw Agent Zero get involved to distract the referee so that Ali could smash Elijah with the guitar to get the victory. The biggest takeaway from this segment was that it was able to accomplish something meaningful and pace the card without being a twenty-minute spot fest that was shoehorned onto the card just to see how many star ratings it would get in the next issue of The Wrestling Observer.
The Dango retirement bout was a nice segment, especially for those involved, as you could tell it meant a lot to them personally. The Terry Funk-inspired gear was cool, too. Dango and Eddie Edwards are two polished pros and this contest reflected that. They opened the match with some really solid fundamental wrestling, which is meant as a total compliment, particularly because that aspect is sometimes missing in the modern era. That said, while I understand what they were going for because it was Dango’s final match, the attempt to build drama toward the three count seemed a little forced rather than something that unfolded organically before Edwards for the win. Still, Dango probably didn’t fully get the credit for how good he was in the ring for the majority of his career so it was good that he got a chance to get this recognition before he hangs up his boots.
Ryan Nemeth defeated Mara Sade in a match that only went a few minutes and it didn’t really accomplish anything. Enough said.
The Knockouts title match had its moment, but for whatever reason didn’t get into second gear. It might’ve been the mid-match submission sequence that slowed the pace down considerably since there wasn’t a lot of continuous momentum for the segment. The spot where there was a visual pin after the ref bump that led to involvement from several other wrestlers at ringside was clunky, but it makes sense that something that booked to protect the NXT talent. It probably didn’t help the pace of the match that it continued for as long as it did after the ref bump and then there was a double down spot after Lei Ying Lee landed a top rope hurricanrana on Zaria. The finish was sloppy when Lee was off the mark with a kick and then she couldn’t get Zaria in position for the slam before the pin fall.
I was looking forward to The Righteous vs. The Hardys, and I wouldn’t say that it under delivered, but I’m not sure that it over delivered either. It was fine for a 12-minute segment, but seemed to have somewhat of a conflicting presentation. There wasn’t enough meat on the bone for this to be a match based around in-ring work, and it wasn’t effectiveness to be a storytelling bout since what they were trying to accomplish from a storyline perspective wasn’t completely clear either. I would guess that this is just a piece of the puzzle of the bigger picture, and I’m still looking forward to what’s next in this feud, but I’m not sure that a PPV match should’ve been used as a bridge segment instead of something more pivotal for the angle. The Hardys retained the belts.
With Leon Slater still stuck in the UK because of visa issues, Joe Hendry was added to the show. I’m not sure if the triple threat aspect added or took away from the quality of the segment if the originally scheduled match would’ve taken place, but this was mostly a fun contest. I understand what they were going for with the worked injury for Moose because the back drop onto the steps looked brutal, but the whole thing completely halted the momentum of the match. I’m not sure if the payoff, or lack thereof was worth what it took away from the contest, especially since Moose didn’t win it. There was a lot of action, and I understand why Hendry couldn’t lose, but it seems like it would’ve been a wise decision to let Moose get the victory since he’s a full-time member of the TNA roster.
The main event was fine and had its moments, but I’d argue that the Texas death match stipulation hindered more than helped the overall presentation. The early brawl was fun and the table spots, including the frog splash off the top of the ladder, added some sizzle later on, but the ten count portion seemed to try to shoehorn a dramatic effect into the narrative that just wasn’t there, particularly on the finish when Kazarian had to do the cartoon slip to get counted out. I know that point of Nic Nemeth’s involvement was to tease a cash-in, but even that looked somewhat hokey during the post-match segment since it was predictable that it wasn’t actually going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I think Mike Santana is the right choice for the champion and he should be someone that management builds the brand around, specifically with how he can work the crowd, but the structure of the main event segment didn’t come off as triumphant as the office probably hoped.
Overall, this pay-per-view was better than the AMC debut, but it was still very much a middle of the road event. It wasn’t terrible or anything that should be completely panned, but there wasn’t anything that would make it stand out in the crowded pro wrestling landscape. Obviously, the fresh start of TNA can’t be determined by just two shows and it will depend on how the product develops, specifically with how it can use the new platform to grow the product, but at the same time, there wasn’t anything on either of these shows that would create a major sense of optimism around the brand.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
