1:06 AM
Part of The Ring Crew Network
By Recker
I've taken some time to think about the lackluster pay-per-view known as Genesis and organize some of my thoughts on why it didn't work for me and what I would have done to make it more entertaining.
Just so there isn't confusion I have left out the Angle/Storm and Gunner/Van Dam matches because I have no idea why they exist and therefore have no idea how to improve them.
Austin Aries vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen vs Zema Ion
How it Happened: The match begins with very little pop for either of the four wrestlers. Magnus leaves the ring and everybody starts practicing their rollups. Some decent moves are pulled off my Ares and Sorenson but nobody really seems impressed. Kid Kash is eliminated first, then Zima, then Sorenson and Aries wins.
The Problem: The X-Division title is a pretty worthless belt at this point and it feels that even the wrestlers fighting for it don't even care. Kurt Angle seems to be right, the division has gone downhill in the past few years and their matches at the pay-per-views are almost always low points. The wrestling in the match was alright, but there felt like there was nothing at stake, nobody really cared about the title, and they're only having an X-Division match because it's on their check list.
How it should have happened: Zima Ion and Austin Aries are good wrestlers, Sorensen and Kid Kash are serviceable, but the problem lies in the division itself. The only way to make these matches more interesting is to give it more meaning by finding someone within the division that is passionate about holding it. One way this could be accomplished is by hiring a new wrestler, bringing him to the X-Division to shake things up and have him just lay waste to the whole roster, take the title and hold it for a long time. The other X-Division guys band together to take down this super wrestler and take the title back. This would not only bring an interesting story line to the band of mid-carders, but it would add some weight to the title, by actually showing that people want it.
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| ? is right. |
How it happened: The Pope, with D-Von's brainwashed twins in tow, fights the Rev and suddenly turns violent and psychotic on the kids forcing them to beat on their father when he's down. The kids turn on pope, D-Von wins, and the story is supposedly wrapped.
The Problem: This storyline seemed to have come and gone in the blink of an eye. We all knew how this would play out, we all knew that D'Angelo Dinero would push D-Von's dumbass spawn too far and they would turn on him, but the whole thing seemed to take place within a month's time. We had only just barely begun to see Pope's true colors come to the surface, and suddenly he's in the ring yelling at the boys and beating them to get them to kick their dad in the head.
How it should have happened: Dinero has D-Von on the mat, he beckons the "Little Holies" over to him and commands them to attack their father. The kids seem wary and refuse to hurt him. Dinero gets increasingly mad and shoves them around just a little and convinces them to finally brutalize dear old dad. Pope wins, moves the story forward, and you can keep working this until the resolution at the next PPV. A slow turn around works the best in this kind of situation. Show the kids starting to lose faith (hur hur hur) in the Pope. During an episode of Impact we could see them talking to each other alone, questioning whether what they're doing is right just before Pope comes in and throws his arms around them lovingly (read: creepily) and let that distrust build and build. The fact that this was done so quickly makes Pope seem psychotic and I don't think that's what TNA was going for in this case.
Gail Kim vs Mickie James
How it went down: The match begins with Velvet Sky adding her "Velvet touch" to the match, placing Madison Rayne in a steel cage and raising it above ringside. The match ends with Madison tossing a couple pairs of brass knuckles down to Mickie, who uses one and gets DQ'd, giving Gail the win.
The Problem: The addition of Madison Rayne's steel suspension is an interesting twist to the match, however nothing interesting came out of it. The only thing that Madison did while hanging above the ring other than scream like a two decade younger Vickie Guererro was throw some brass knuckles into the ring, which she could have just as easily done with her feet on the ground. In addition, the brass knuckles themselves only really seem threatening when in the hands of someone who could put them to good use (say Abyss, Bully Ray, or Robert Roode maybe) but certainly not in the delicate mitts of Mickie James. Ultimately the completely wasted cage and the lackluster tide-turner made a poentially good match a mediocre one.What should have happened: If you're going to pull your cage out of storage, you should at least make it worth it. At the end of the match, Madison should have waited until the ref was distracted or out of the ring, unlocked the cage (perhaps using Karen Jarett's magical lockpick) and jumped out, attacking Gail Kim from high up in what would be a pretty impressive stunt. I don't know if Madison Rayne is up for taking such a Jeff Hardy style leap but maybe the cage could have been lowered a bit. In order to keep the outcome, Madison could have sold the hit she took and been unable to exit the ring in time, thus being caught by the ref and getting Mickie DQ'd. The brass knuckles aren't even necessary. Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the knockouts here, but the division really needs something new and exciting because at this point we don't expect much out of them.
Bully Ray vs Abyss
How it went down: The hardcore match went off without its original deprivation twist, and making full use of trash cans, chairs, thumb tacks and barbed wire boards Bully Ray lost to Abyss via pinfall after a decent ammount of bloodshed.
The Problem: This was easily the best match of the night and I don't have any real problems with it.
How it should have happened: Almost exactly as it did really, the only thing I would have liked to see is some use of Abyss' lady friend Janice. The monster brought out his old weapon from under the ring but nobody got to use it. Janice is such a brutal looking weapon and could very well have been the thing that won the game for Abyss. One shot with the old girl could have ended Bully pretty brutally and the match could have ended just like it did.
Crimson & Matt Morgan vs. Samoa Joe & Magnus
How it happened: Each tag team coldly enters the ring, do just enough to constitute a wrestling match, Morgan and Crimson double chokeslam Magnus after milling about for ten minutes and the tag team champs retain the title.
The Problem: Joe and Magnus simply have no chemistry together. Their fighting styles aren't the same, their personalities (what little they have) do not fit, they have no signatures, double teams, goals or reasons to be a tag team. Morgan and Crimson at least have the fact that they kind of look similar and have similar personalities. Adding to that the fact that they can do a decent promo makes them at the very least a logical pairing. Joe and Magnus don't cut promos, they aren't really interested in the tag team titles it seems and they don't even look at each other when they're coming down the ramp. This is a doomed tag team, there is no hope for a JoeMag run in this business.
How it should have happened: Why not play the fact that Joe and Magnus were, to quote The Simpsons "matched up on the print-out", to your advantage? Have the two fighters intentionally botch a couple double team moves, have Joe not tag Magnus when it's important for him to do so, basically show the fans that there is no hope for these two, really play up their incompatibility. The match can still end with Robbie E and Crimson winning but make it due to a screw up, miscommunication, or simply incompetence on Samoa Joe's part and end the segment post match with Joe and Magnus squabbling in the ring. This could be a nice setup that can pay off big for the TNA fans and for the company as well. Next week on Impact, Magnus talks to Borash backstage and admits to the fans that their tag team simply wont work and that he's asked Sting or Dixie or whoever is "in charge" for him to be paired up with a different partner every week to try to find "Impact's next dominant force in the tag team division" or something like that. This way the fans get to see a new tag team pairing every week and it'll be a nice surprise to see who it will be next, and if TNA happens to stumble across a good pairing then there's your next tag champs. This could also be a great way to introduce a new wrestler, or maybe give some air time to a lower card man they want to build up a bit. The only problem with this would be finding a new tag team opponent every week for them to face, but that's another problem that the company has to solve.
Robert Roode vs Jeff Hardy
How it happened: Robert Roode plays up his heel status very well by constantly trying to get DQ'd by countout. Hardy prevents him from doing so only to see Roode low-blow the Ref and get disqualified anyway.
The Problem: The main problem I had with this match was that Jeff Hardy is not looking like World Heavyweight Championship material. The once daring, high flyer barely flies anymore and is noticably falling from his former glory. Basically Hardy should not be fighting for this title.
How it should have happened: Going with the fact that Jeff Hardy challenging for the belt is going to happen, the only thing problem that can be fixed is making Hardy look like he's still got it. Have multiple setups where Hardy is going for some high flying risky maneuver, but have Roode constantly shut him down. Hardy climbs up for a Swanton; Roode knocks him off, Hardy goes for a leap off the top robe; Roode catches him and slams him down. This is where good commentating would really help sell Hardy: "I can't believe it! Hardy is trying his best to take down Roode from above, but the champ just wont let him!". This way Hardy would still seem like he's got what it takes and it would also help sell Roode as a great defensive wrestler. All in all I did like this match though, but it's just so painful to see Jeff Hardy half-ass it.
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