TNA Genesis: A new world champion … champion
The TNA world title wasn’t even scheduled to be defended at Sunday night’s Genesis pay-per-view, but the show ended with Mr. Anderson winning the championship from Jeff Hardy in an impromptu match.
That wasn’t the only noteworthy development at Genesis. Matt Hardy made his TNA debut as Rob Van Dam’s mystery opponent, the Immortal/Fortune faction captured three titles and A.J. Styles was unable to wrestle due to suffering a legitimate injury.
After Anderson defeated Matt Morgan in the advertised main event to become the No. 1 contender, Eric Bischoff announced that Anderson was getting his title shot right now. It was basically the Money in the Bank gimmick in reverse, as it was the champion looking to take advantage of the weakened challenger.
Anderson, however, kept kicking out of Jeff Hardy’s finishers before finally hitting the Mic Check to capture the victory and his first world title.
I’ve been saying for quite a while that TNA should put the belt on Morgan – and I still think he should get a title run at some point – but I agree completely with how TNA booked this angle, because the story line really was more about Anderson than Morgan.
It was Anderson who had suffered a legitimate concussion at the hands of Jeff Hardy and subsequently was unable to wrestle Hardy for the title at the Turning Point pay-per-view two months ago. Then, in the build-up to Anderson’s match against Morgan, it was heavily implied that Anderson was not fully recovered from the head trauma.
In the end, Anderson not only managed to defeat the gigantic Morgan, but he also foiled Bischoff’s plan to screw him over by overcoming the odds – and Hardy’s big offensive moves – to win the title.
I applaud TNA for how strongly they put Anderson over and also for getting the title off Hardy, who reportedly will plead guilty to drug charges next week.
In the other title changes: Beer Money defeated The Motor City Machine Guns to win the TNA world tag team title; Abyss (substituting for the injured Styles) defeated Douglas Williams to win the TNA TV title; and Kazarian defeated Jay Lethal to win the TNA X Division title.
None of the title changes should come as a surprise, as it was made pretty obvious on Impact the past few weeks that the Immortal/Fortune group was going to attain all of the championships. The curveball was that the heel group lost possession of the world title.
Matt Hardy being revealed as the mystery opponent for RVD wasn’t much of a surprise either if you’ve been paying attention. Hardy won the match when referee Jackson James made the three count despite RVD’s leg being under the bottom rope.
As for Styles, wrestlingobserver.com reported that he had suffered a torn hip flexor. He is expected to be out of action for anywhere from four to eight weeks.
For complete results of the show, click here.
Comments
I watched the PPV and once I heard Bischoffs music hit I figured Anderson would soon be world champ. However I think that was one of the most sloppiest endings to a PPV ever but the ending was worth it.
I can not really buy that Hardy would lose to Anderson minutes after Anderson just battled Morgan but whatever, Im looking forward to Impact thursday night!
Posted by: HiMyNameIsMike | January 10, 2011 8:05 AM
Yeah I agree about putting Anderson over strong and eventually giving Morgan another shot at it. I COMPLETLY agree with getting the world title off Hardy...but I just wonder where Jeff and TNA go from here? He was billed as the franchise and cornerstone of Immortal and that was still under the threat of felony drug charges. He may or may not be going to jail, but I get no sense as to how TNA wants to book Jeff Hardy or if they've soured on him. Kev, how does this all play out...because I have no idea anymore?
Posted by: Jeremy W | January 10, 2011 9:07 AM
The sooner the Bischoff-Hogan era is over the better. I wish it would have worked out but it clearly has not. Cut them loose and go back to the way things were before. The IMPACT! Zone is as quiet as a library and the die-hard TNA fans are no longer attending. The current product just isn't as fun or entertaining as it was before.
Posted by: jt | January 10, 2011 12:48 PM
So what happened with the Double J, Double MA challenge with Angle?
RESPONSE FROM KE: The MMA Exhibition between Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle was thrown out after Jarrett got disqualified. After the bout, Jarrett bloodied Angle and injured him (from tnawrestling.com).
Posted by: BDK | January 10, 2011 1:07 PM
Shouldn't the TV title be for TV and not Pay-Per-View? What's the point of calling it the TV title?
Posted by: Rob | January 10, 2011 1:20 PM
I don't think it's ever a good idea to have that many title changes in a relatively minor PPV - especially the world title when it's not even advertised. But the world title change otherwise makes a lot of sense. It can be a star-making move for Anderson (I know he's got fans, but I've never bought into him.), and opens up options for the Hardys. Is anyone really interested in seeing Abyss and Kazarian as champions?
Posted by: Ruzious | January 10, 2011 1:37 PM
Anderson kicking out of 3 Hardy finishers right after a match with Matt Morgan while dealing (storyline wise) with post concussion syndrome. Dumbest thing I've seen in a long time. So Jeff Hardy is going to jail, and in comes Fatt Hardy. I think it's time for me to take another 6 month break from TNA and see how things are in the summer.
Posted by: Jay | January 10, 2011 4:50 PM
I thought it was a pretty decent PPV by TNA standards, but the middle of the card was pretty uneventful. Love putting Anderson over at the end, they needed to get Jeff out of the picture. I thought they could have done more with the concussion angle, though, and there were a lot of sloppy aspects to the whole show (Angle obviously blading, no real explanation on the collision/recovery thing at the end of Anderson/Morgan, etc.).
Posted by: Bob | January 10, 2011 6:35 PM
If Ty Pennington was typing this, he'd say, "HEY! I'M TY PENNINGTON! KURT ANGLE WAS ON EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER LAST NIGHT! BUS DRIVER, MOVE THAT BUS!"
Posted by: Xelpzat | January 10, 2011 10:40 PM
The era ot Mattitude (V.2) has begun!!!!!!!
OhhhYeeeeaaah
Posted by: The Mil | January 11, 2011 12:17 AM
One thing I couldn't figure out... I didn't hear there being a No DQ stipulation on the Beer Money-Machine Guns match, so why on Earth did they not ring the bell when Roode (I think) forcibly pulled the ref out of the ring during the 3 count? That made absolutely no sense to me.
Posted by: Chris | January 11, 2011 12:50 AM
Did anyone notice how obvious it was that Angle bladed himself? (cameraman made a mistake showing Angle holding the tiny blade when he was on the ground...) pretty pathetic I would say
Posted by: MitZi | January 11, 2011 1:43 AM
Is Matt Hardy heel or face?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Heel.
Posted by: XDreamItchy | January 11, 2011 1:55 AM
In case anyone wonders about the remaining two matches on the card:
Madison Rayne successfully defended the Knockouts Championship against Mickie James due to interference from Tara, and Bully Ray won the match against Brother Devon due to Devon getting himself disqualified after having dominated most of the bout.
Posted by: Are | January 11, 2011 6:35 AM
I'm not trying to spoil anything, but TNA is rehashing an old storyline this week at the Impact tapings. Hopefully it will go better this time around
Posted by: paul | January 11, 2011 5:17 PM
Shouldn't the TV title be for TV and not Pay-Per-View? What's the point of calling it the TV title?
Posted by: Rob
--They did defend the TV title at the big shows, like Starrcade, etc., back in the NWA days.
Posted by: Clint | January 11, 2011 6:54 PM