WRestling’s 3R’s PPV Edition 11.22.06: TNA Genesis 2006
Posted by Larry Csonka on 11.22.2006
It was the best of times…it was the worst of times…
Introduction!
Welcome back to another PPV edition of WRestling's 3R's! It is time once again to break down the PPV of the past weekend in the 3R's style. This time around we will look at the TNA Genesis 2006 PPV. We had all three titles on the line, one big title change and the Joe vs. Angle match that has been heavily hyped. Did TNA put on another good PPV, or has the Russo-riffic booking turned the promotion to a down swing? Let's get to work and find out.
TNA Genesis 2006~!:
The Matches:
The VKM defeated The New Movement @ 3:39 via pin (DUD) TRASH of the night!
The Naturals defeated Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal @ 8:30 via pin (**)
TNA X-TITLE MATCH: Christopher Daniels defeated Chris Sabin@ 13:29 via pin (***½)
Hoyt and Killings defeated Austin Starr and Alex Shelley @ 11:11 via pin (*)
Christian Cage defeated AJ Styles @ 15:56 via pin (***¾)
NWA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: LAX defeated AMW @ 9:28 via pin (**)
NWA TITLE MATCH: Abyss defeated Sting to become the NEW NWA CHAMPION @ 15:30 via DQ (**)
Kurt Angle @ 13:42 via Submission (****½) MATCH of the night!
The Right:
The Importance of words… - There are times when we cringe at promos, or times that they are fine but we just don't care about them at all. But then there are times that they really add to the shows and angles and we love them. At the Genesis show there were some damn good promos on the show, so we shall discuss those here.
James Mitchell: James Mitchell got to speak to us twice on this show, once during the pre-show and then once during the actual PPV. In the first promo he questioned Sting's values and what good they would do him against a monster like Abyss. He then told Sting that he God would forsake him, and that Sting would not be the same. He then promised to be the one to save Sting's soul.
Later in the show Mitchell again got promo time, he enlightened us that when Sting was on top as a true ICON, he was full of sin and vice and that this never leaves a man, and that is something Sting fears. He told Sting that Abyss represents the inner darkness Sting tries to battle every day, and Abyss will make Sting open up those feelings again and question his inner self and all of his beliefs. He then promised that Sting would gain knowledge and freedom through the defeat and that he would thank embodiment of evil (Mitchell) and Abyss, the next NWA Champion. Tremendous work by Mitchell here who ALWAYS delivers huge on PPV promos, and these set the stage perfectly for what they did later, even if it was Russo-riffic.
Christopher Daniels: Christopher Daniels got some promo time for his PPV match, and this is great news as Daniels can talk and needs to be allowed to do so. He discussed his relationship with AJ and said that they had different priorities now, but this was about Sabin who had been disrespectful of he and AJ, who had worked so hard to build the division. He promised that he would leave with the title and Sabin's respect. Good stuff.
Christian Cage: Christian is another guy who has really done well with his pre-match promos on PPV. Him turning heel has been the best thing because he really has been on fire al around. This promo was great as he explained that he has not over looked AJ, but that he would join the Christian Cage victim's list of JJ, Rhino, Abyss and Sting. He stressed that he has been with the company for one-year and is undefeated and that would not change. A very good promo to set the stage for the match.
Daniels vs. Sabin - The X-Division was damaged very badly through the Nash stuff and it needs rebuilding. Senshi and Sabin had back-to-back great PPV matches. Daniels and Sabin then followed up with another great title match on this show. While the booking leading to the PPV was Russo-riffic in that there were three title changes in 4-weeks, things seem to have settled for now, and that is a good thing. Daniels and Sabin went out there with a plan, and that plan worked. Sabin as a heel is working rather well. The one thing the X-Guys forget is that they have to tone down while a heel, and Sabin did that. The best example was when he teased the big dive, stopped, crawled through the ropes and gave Daniels a double ax smash. Very smart and cocky heel stuff here. Great match and the result worked well as Sabin still looked good after the loss.
AJ vs. Cage - Honestly this is a match I have been looking forward to since Cage joined TNA. I had a feeling that a match between these guys would be a damn good one, and lo and behold it was. While there wasn't the build many would have wanted, the match delivered the way I expected, even if they looked like they were holding back a little, which is fine. They got close to 16-minutes and went full throttle for most of it. They had great chemistry, continually countered each other and had some great stuff like the super RANA in there, to make it memorable. AJ always seems to deliver on PPV and as I have said, Cage is just on a completely awesome roll since the heel turn. I would love to see a rematch down the line, as I think they could continually deliver in a long-term feud. Great match.
Tough shit Dr. Phil, it looks like we're having AJ vs. Daniels again! - And those matches lead to this. Some people are complaining that they are looking to go back to AJ vs. Daniels. They think it was overdone and that it doesn't need done again. While I can see the argument these people have, I think it is fine. These guys will always have a great match, they always deliver and that ALWAYS has a place on the card. They had a great feud when AJ was the face. They had a great three-way feud with Joe and AJ was the face. They ended up teaming together when Daniels became a face and had a great run and feud with AMW and LAX. Now the feud has evolved from hate, to respect and admiration to hate again, but this time AJ will be the heel. I am ok with this. I said it above and will say it again, the X-Division was damaged very badly through the Nash stuff and it needs rebuilding. Senshi and Sabin had back-to-back great PPV matches. Daniels and Sabin then followed up with another great title match. While it is repetitive, AJ and Daniels will deliver again in this feud. To me this is the natural evolution of things, and I for one never get sick of great PPV matches. Daniels, Sabin, AJ and Senshi will probably become the focus in the coming weeks and months. AJ will have to go through Rhino as well I figure, but the division should be back on track and it will be at large to AJ vs. Daniels. They will deliver, I will love it and will eventually make a great compilation DVD from it. Sit back and enjoy kids, it will rock.
Joe vs. Angle - This match totally delivered and was a fantastic match, one I loved. It closed the show on a good note, and also makes you want to see more since Angle refused to answer Joe's rematch request. I feel that this is a MOTY candidate, not the match of the year, but a strong contender. This was a brutal encounter to be sure and Angle was out there to prove a point that he could still go and he accomplished that. Joe was out there to prove that he could hang with the big dog, and he did that as well. Joe was brutal early on as he slammed Angle head first to the security railing. This continued as Angle was bleeding profusely and eventually took the muscle buster, which Angle survived. Angle went on the attack and got the Angle slam, only for Joe to kick out. They did an Angle/Benoit like reversal of the finisher sequence, which was great, and the crowd was rocking the whole time. Eventually Angle got the ankle lock and grapevine, and in a huge moment Joe tapped. After the match he admitted to tapping to the better man, on that night, and demanded a rematch, which he got no answer for.
Some are saying that this ruins the undefeated streak, that it was wasted and makes TNA look bad because a "WWE" guy beat Joe. In the end, it was flat out a great match, a great atmosphere and a ton of fun. These guys do have a great chemistry already and if they have the rematch, which they will eventually, I think that it can be even better. Some will question having Joe lose here, but the fact is that losing to Kurt Angle is nothing to be ashamed of and Joe was elevated, to the common fan, just by having such a great match with Angle. That is what is important. If they rematch, which I think they are next month, Joe will win and they can separate for a while and have the rubber match when one of them has the title, and then they can have a more extended feud and that will create great matches, and I am always ready for great wrestling.
The wRong:
Where was 3D and Rhino? - So where was Team 3D? The answer is Japan, but that is a problem. Not because they had the booking, but because of how it was played off. They had Douglas and the Naturals cutting a promo before their PPV match. They had a broken table there that read, "TEAM 3D was here." The thing is that they should have buried Team 3D and said that they beat them down so badly that they couldn't be here. It was simple and an effective way to put the beating and the Naturals over as dangerous. Instead they had Douglas admit that they had another booking. Yup, Team 3D had better things to do than to gain revenge on the Naturals. Tremendously wrong.
I know Rhino was on the show, but is that really the best they could do for him? Not even a promo regarding his own future? I mean, seriously his only role was to tell Dutt and Lethal to piss off and to play Dr. Phil for AJ and Daniels, because he didn't want to see them war like he and Cage did. Why does Rhino give a shit? He is a man beast, out for himself and on a losing streak. He should only care about himself I feel, and it came off as odd. Maybe next month we will see Cage and AJ vs. Rhino and Daniels, which wouldn't be a bad match I suppose.
The Ridiculous:
Killings and Hoyt vs. Shelley and Starr - Yeah this was bad. Let me see if I can explain this simply. You had two guys, Starr and Shelley, showing a ton of charisma and character working a ***** match. On the other side you had two guys, Killings and Hoyt, one with charisma, both of them walking through a -*** star match. Hoyt has shown some signs of being good on some shows, but was horrendous this evening. Killings looked totally uninspired and just there for the pay, which is ironic since they got to win the match. I have never been this bored watching Shelley or Aries/Starr EVER. This was just a bad match that the crowd was almost never into, and rather silent. Bad, just bad.
But it gets worse. They have this match on right after the kick ass X-Title match. Then they have Nash come out there and try to be funny, which he was to a point. But in essence he is just burying the division. That is just so bad, especially after that kick ass title match that helped do so much for the rebuilding of the division. Also the finish of the match, while playing into the angle of dissention and eventual face turn for Shelley, was ludicrous. Shelley hits this great frog splash, and then wants the camera brought to ringside so he can get filmed doing the finish of the match. This is just amazingly stupid, I mean, does he not have TIVO? Were the TV quality cameras there not good enough? Can he not pick up a free copy of the DVD when it comes out? Oh wackiness.
The RUSSO-FN-RIFFIC~~~!:
Debuting factions must war…or…TNA Presents DX-Lite! - Dear lord this is just so, so bad kids. First of all let's look at the VKM. On one hand they want to create WAR with WWE and then now they are mocking DX. It just feels so desperate and forced. But that is not the major problem here. Kids, let me enlighten you to some "INSIDER" information. When you create a feud, you need to ask yourself two questions. #1, how will this feud be paid off (as in the final result) and #2 will this make money. Those are the two important questions really. Let me answer those questions in regards to this angle. There is no pay off and it will make NO money. It is monumentally stupid, because maybe you should focus on focus on your own show and company. But that is too much to ask.
Here is the other issue, WHY did they have to face the New Movement? Seriously, were Elix Skipper and David Young too busy? Christ Almighty, I mean, can no one else see the stupidity here? The New Movement has just debuted and have been buried back to back. It makes no sense, it lacks logic! Also along this line, this is JUST LIKE DX vs. Spirit Squad. Handicap matches, complete burial included. Horrendous. The ONLY good thing about the whole thing was the angle afterwards where Raven returned in his early 1990's EVIL VIDEO GAME BOSS gear and proceeded to cane Devine, who jobbed in the match. I loved it because he didn't speak and just beat him for losing, as this will be a slow build of this new faction.
Robert Roode - You know I said last month that it was ridiculous that they had Roode's big debut and manager unveiling on the PPV Pre-show. It made him look like a joke, totally not important and was a waste. So they take the time this month to hype him all month, they have him make it into the Fight for the Right tournament, and he even gets to beat Christopher Daniels. And then they go right back to putting him on the pre-show, in essence burying him again. I just don't see how this shit gets out of the booking meeting.
But maybe we should be glad this wasn't on PPV, because this was bad. The match wasn't good. Young looked like he got knocked loopy half way through as they blew some really basic shit late in the match. I have seen a few matches from these guys and they were always fine but this one wasn't, which surprised me and that is why I think Young got knocked loopy.
Roode won @ 3:50 with the feet on the ropes, but the match was restarted after the fans and Eric pleaded with the ref and then Eric Young then won with his feet on the ropes @ 4:50. In true Russo-riffic fashion Roode yelled at Brooks and teased more dissention playing up on the last time they were on Impact, but that doesn't make it any better.
Stripping LAX - First of all the match wasn't that good. It wasn't bad, but there was a ton of miscommunication in the match and it was a disappointment in the end considering the level of matches LAX have had, and what AMW have done. It just wasn't good and they lost the crowd. LAX eventually won when Homicide hit Storm with the blowtorch and got the pin. Then Jim Cornette came out and gave a promo saying LAX was EVIL…the heels mind you are evil, and since they were EVIL, Cornette STRIPPED THEM of the tag team titles of the world. The fans HATED this as well. How sad is it when the HEELS get stripped of the titles and the crowd chants BULLSHIT! Let's think about this, you stripped the heels of the titles for BEING HEELS! This is so dangerous due to LAX being so hot, and is such a Russo move. He loves the title changes because they create BUZZ~! Just a bunch of bullshit really. Maybe LAX can sue Cornette and get a title match in an "Affirmative Action" match, where LAX only needs a 2 count to win. DAMN MEXICANS! Although there is humor in the Evil Foreigners using the US legal system to defend their rights to bash the United States.
If you do not educate and you do not alter the product, you get the NWA Title match - I see what they were trying to do here, but all of the crap with the repel line is what killed it as it took forever. In theory it was a good plan and Mitchell's promo's set the stage. He promised that he would make Sting change his ways and turn to the dark side for lack of a better term, and in the end he did. Sting took the bump into the thumbtacks, which was VERY surprising. He hulked up and went wild and tortured Abyss. Sting continually shoved the ref down and in the end, the ref rang the bell for the DQ. They went back to the old DQ rule for title changes, which they have not used in a while and is a nice nod to continuity for the promotion. There is one major problem here though, well more than one considering all of the wild shit they did during the match and there was no DQ for. The biggest problem with this finish is that they have never educated the new fans on and old ones probably had forgotten about the rule. In essence the rule is fine, because you can bring it out once in a blue moon and have a title change without the pin or submission to protect the losing champion. But as I have said, you cannot expect this to work when the fans don't know about the rule. The last issue is that Abyss was laying in a pile of barbed wire and broken wood, having his ass kicked and laying there with the title. VIVA RUSSO…yeah.
Closing Thoughts:
So where to start. The under card, some of which had potential, was very under-whelming. The VKM stuff is just DX-lite to a horrible degree, but I like the return of Raven and the potential his new movement could have. The X-Title match picked things up, as Daniels and Sabin had a really strong match. Unfortunately the crowd was deflated by the next match, and Nash while funny continues to bury the seriousness of the X-Division. AJ and Cage delivered in the ring, but once again the after match angle is questionable. The tag title match was a let down in the ring, and the stripping of LAX is a dangerous, and Russo-riffic move. Sting vs. Abyss was solid, but way too Russo-riffic. The title change on a DQ is fine, if you have educated the fans to that rule. Add to that the usual TNA main event and it comes off as totally confusing. The Angle vs. Joe match totally delivered and was a fantastic match, one I loved. It closed the show on a good note, and also makes you want to see more since Angle refused to answer Joe. In the end I will go with a 6.0 out of 10 for the show. While there was a lot of Russo-riffic booking, you had three matches (AJ vs. Cage, Daniels vs. Sabin and Joe vs. Angle) that were just great matches, and made the show worth it to me when it comes to great matches. TNA really needs to make themselves different from WWE, and when they do that they are great. AJ vs. Cage, Daniels vs. Sabin and Joe vs. Angle; all great matches with good stories and matches and angles that were given time are all different from WWE and were outstanding. The other shit was very WWE and well, not done well at all. Hopefully they can see what really worked and start booking toward that instead of all the stupid shit they are doing.
Reader Feedback on TNA GENESIS 2006:
From Mike -
Larry Csonka (TNA Round TableJ The scary thing is that I think I am understanding Russo-Riffic booking. Look, they had Angle face Abyss on a UWF/TNA house show and then they have them do the match on Impact with Angle winning. We also haven't heard if Sting has renewed his contract. I say that they use this to have Sting give the "rub" to Abyss and he wins the title. And then if you use my above angle for the Joe vs. Angle match, Angle is the #1 contender because he beat Abyss. Then they can have Angle beat Abyss for the title, run an angle to keep Angle and Joe apart for a few months, build another match with the stip it has to be by pin or submission to win and I think that could be money. If not, then they just wasted Abyss, again and nothing makes any bit of sense.
Winner: Abyss
You, sir, are a genius~!
However, I must say that I'm shocked that they never did Christian/Sting...still. But, whatever...at least now the most glorified jobber in all the land has finally won something...hell, actually won.
Keep up the good work...I always enjoy reading your guys' stuff.
From Johnny -
One thing I have noticed is that almost every heel has a veteran wrestler turned manager. With the exception of Austin and Alex, none of the others can talk. Anyway on the to the show. All the tag matches seem unmotivated. I hate VKM. The Naturals should realize they are on TV and can't afford to screw up. Ron Killings really didn't seem like he wanted to be there and Hoyt isn't anything special either. Poor Alex and Austin for trying to make that match interesting. Even the tag title match seemed off too.
But the good out weighed the bad. 3 matches got this is awesome chants which is always a plus. Speaking of, when AJ doesn't land on his feet when he does the Asai DDT it looks 10 times better. I think they were holding back because they are going to do something else maybe. Also why does every need to turn heel? Oh yeah I forgot, Russo.
The TNA fans just don't care about Sting. He can put on good matches still they just don't care and that saddens me. Sting has one of the best top rope splashes still and it got no reaction. I give Sting lots of credit for taking a chokeslam right in the middle of the tacks. This match had the set up syndrome, something the Jeff Hardy/Abyss matches had. I'm glad Abyss is champion too.
Angle vs. Joe equals good.
From Dan -
This was the first ppv I ordered and paid for since WrestleMania XX. I also went to the New Yorker Hotel to see JOE/KOBASHI so I am down for paying to see my Joe greatness. That match 100% delivered and from reading your Impact review, I totally agree we're going to see Abyss vs. Angle leading to a rematch with Joe a few months down the road. The problem with TNA and Russo is that they don't realize that ppv's are for blowing people away with matches and TV is where the angles belong. From watching this I can already book half their next ppv. They have a month of TV between ppv's and they have to learn to relax a bit and pace their bookings. While one can never be sick of AJ/Daniels, why rush it when it main evented 3 ppv's in the last few years. How about an AJ/Daniels/Sabin triple threat or a Sabin/Christian vs. AJ/Daniels match. And I have NO CLUE where they are going with the tag titles as the crowd shit on Cornette when he stripped LAX. This should simply progress to a 6-man with Konnan and Petey involved. Every match was like part match part angle, even Joe/Angle ended with an angle advancement and the World Title seems at an odd place now as Abyss has been booked to be the weakest champ ever tapping to Angle and then getting beaten badly by a 40+ year old. I think they better let him keep the gold for at least one ppv title defense just to get his rhythm back because he IS a monster and having him job this much this badly ruins the character. Oh and by the way...Hernandez has the biggest friggin head on the planet...I mean the man can be a Superman villain without a friggin costume!
Thanks for joining me for this special edition of the 3R's, and don't forget to check out the regular edition complete with all of the other shows from the week!
