“Genesis…The Beginning…Or The End?”
Immortal make their way to the ring. Eric Bischoff says that Genesis is the beginning. He claims that Immortal will win all of the titles without cheating or underhanded tactics. Bischoff introduces Jay Lethal, who is hesitant to enter the ring. The Motor City Machine Guns and Douglas Williams also come out. Bischoff congratulates them on being champions in TNA. He wants to give them an opportunity to sharpen their skills before the pay per view. Bischoff books Abyss/Lethal, Williams/Terry, and MCMG/Styles and Kazarian for later tonight. Immortal attack the champions until Rob Van Dam makes the save. He wants to know his opponent at Genesis. Bischoff refuses to reveal the surprise but RVD claims that he’s going to find out tonight.
Jeff Jarrett comes to the ring for his MMA open invitational. He tweaks the stipulations. No challenger can be taller than Jarrett. Additionally, there will no longer be competitions, just exhibitions. Jarrett looks for someone in the crowd and actually finds an actor from the Twilight series. Unfortunately, his dad is taller than Jarrett, meaning that he will be taller than Jarrett one day. Some random fan gets picked and signs the waiver. Jarrett knees him a couple of times and applies an ankle lock to win the exhibition. Jarrett won’t break the hold. Kurt Angle comes through the crowd and chases Jarrett out of the ring. Angle challenges him to an “exhibition” at Genesis. Angle finds the waivers in the ring and signs them.
Opening Match: AJ Styles and Kazarian vs. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley
Everyone starts brawling and the MCMG land stereo dives to the floor. Back in, Styles falls victim to some sharp double teaming. Kazarian hits a slingshot leg drop on Sabin and Fortune isolate him. He catches Kazarian with a clothesline and makes the tag. Shelley lands a plancha to the floor onto Kazarian and hits a brainbuster on Styles. He back drops Kazarian to the floor. Sabin catches Styles with an enzuigiri and Shelley follows with sliced bread for the win at 4:52. I shutter to think how good this match would have been with more time. The brief exchange between Styles and Shelley was spectacular and I’d love to see that match in 2011. **½
Beer Money attack the MCMG after the match. Bischoff appears on the ramp and isn’t pleased with Styles’ performance. After a commercial, Bischoff yells at Styles in his office. Ric Flair tries to calm everyone down to no avail.
D’Angelo Dinero is in the ring. Someone has been following him around with a video camera. He wants whoever it is to meet him in the ring. Samoa Joe’s music hits and he joins Dinero in the ring. Joe says that Dinero is just an act and he really doesn’t help the needy. Dinero does his best to defend himself and says that the next time Joe makes false accusations, there will be problems.
Match #2: Madison Rayne and Sarita vs. Mickie James and Velvet Sky
Sky connects with a dropkick on Sarita and hits a chinbreaker. She tries a few pin attempts to no avail. Rayne interferes from the apron and the heels work over Sky. Rayne repeatedly rams Sky’s head into the canvas and spits at Mickie on the apron. Sky hits a DDT on Sarita. Mickie enters the ring and immediately goes after Rayne. She hits a neckbreaker but the referee makes her leave the ring. Tara hits Sky with her elbow brace and Sarita covers for the victory at 4:43. Perfectly acceptable wrestling. I appreciated Sky trying her hardest to defeat Sarita early on, as it nicely referenced their ongoing feud. **
Match #3: Rob Terry vs. Douglas Williams
Williams uses his agility early on but walks into a shoulder block. AJ Styles attacks him, causing a disqualification at 1:02. Styles stomps Williams’ left hand in preparation for Sunday. Thankfully kept short. I say that because Terry was involved. ¼*
Brother Ray and Brother Devon have a confrontation in the parking lot. Security tries to separate them. Ray sneaks in a cheap shot and pushes away security. He tells Devon to stay home and miss the pay per view.
Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff are talking in the office. Jarrett says that he has an insurance policy on Sunday. Bischoff wants him to take care of RVD tonight in a no disqualification match.
Match #4: Abyss vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal utilizes his speed to connect with multiple strikes. He takes Abyss down with a missile dropkick. Abyss catches him up top and military presses him to the canvas. Lethal avoids a charge but walks into a Black Hole Slam. Abyss covers but pulls Lethal’s shoulders off the mat at two. Abyss starts choking Lethal and the referee calls for the disqualification at 3:40. The fact that it took this long for a segment to annoy me is astounding. Lethal looked terrible here and there were a thousand other ways to reach the same outcome without making him look weak. *
Kazarian comes out after the match and sarcastically tells Abyss to stop attacking Lethal. He mockingly asks Lethal to stand up. Abyss picks Lethal up and Kazarian shakes his hand.
A video is shown of Mike Tenay’s empty arena interview with Matt Morgan and Mr. Anderson. Anderson says that he’s thanked Morgan for defending him and leaving Immortal. What more can he do? Morgan says that Anderson is an intelligent athlete and questions why he can’t see through Bischoff’s mind games. Tenay asks Anderson about his family. Anderson refuses to talk about his family and angrily states that he just wants to wrestle. Morgan wants to know who has seen Anderson’s clearance papers. Tenay wonders if Anderson is working everyone. Anderson simply says “assholes always finish first.”
Match #5: No Disqualification: Jeff Jarrett vs. Rob Van Dam
Jarrett stalls for awhile before getting caught by a spin kick. RVD tries for Rolling Thunder but Jarrett retreats to the floor. Jarrett takes a few laps around the ring, seeking encouragement from his MMA team. Murphy trips RVD from ringside and Jarrett takes control. RVD finds an opening but Jarrett’s MMA team storms the ring. Murphy and Gunner beat down RVD and Jarrett adds a few punches. Hardy runs to the ring and hits the Twist of Fate on RVD. Jarrett covers for the win at 5:27. Illogical in the sense that Jarrett’s MMA team could have interfered at any time since this was a no disqualification match. ½*
Hardy and Jarrett attack RVD after the match until Matt Morgan makes the save. Mr. Anderson also comes out to save Morgan from a chair shot. Anderson goes to hit Hardy with the chair but inadvertently connects with Morgan. Anderson looks frustrated as the show comes to an end.
Overall: Believe it or not, I would consider the first Impact of 2011 to be a success. Every match at the pay per view received attention and I came away from this show more interested in Genesis. While there were some segments that annoyed me, a majority of this show was enjoyable. They also planted the seeds for an interesting feud between Joe and Dinero. TNA was 1 for 12 as far as recommendable pay per views were concerned in 2010. Hopefully 2011 starts off 1 for 1.
