My World with Jeff Jarrett - Genesis 2011 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today on My World Jeff we’re going to be discussing Genesis 2011! This is a very eventful time in TNA’s history so let’s get right into it!

You’re coming off Final Resolution in December and there’s a lot of talk coming out of that show about Jeff Hardy’s condition. From the Observer: “There was a lot of concern when Jeff Hardy arrived, from people worried about his condition. At one point it was talked about pulling him from the show, announcing that he was injured, and putting the title up in a three-way with Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Jarrett. Anderson was actually cleared to wrestle and had his first match back the night before on an indie show in Waukesha, WI, facing Matt Hardy. Joe would have been pulled as most likely Jarrett would have gotten the title.

Hardy then said he wasn’t loaded, but was suffering from exhaustion from the trip to Abu Dhabi, which included a 20-hour flight back. Management accepted that story given that the other wrestlers on the tour were all exhausted, although none were in any danger of being pulled from the show. Hardy also did a personal appearance in Detroit the night before. One person said that actually Hardy has been in better shape now that his baby was born. “

Is this the first time you saw issues and signs of Jeff’s problems?

When something like this happens what goes through your head?

Coming out of the show is there concern regarding keeping the title on him?

We’re smack dab in the middle of the Hogan & Bischoff era of TNA. What is your role at this point in time? Just talent?

You defeat Samoa Joe at Final Resolution and in the Observer it’s noted that Joe’s contract had expired but there was an extension signed to get through the pay-per-view. Do you know of any issues with attempting to sign Joe as he wasn’t on the first set of tapings after the show?

There’s a lot of talent leaving the company. Hamada - who was one half of the Knockouts tag team champions - leaves the company without even losing the titles. Her tag team partner, Taylor Wilde, has her contract expire as well. How much is the shift of having Hogan & Bischoff involved with talent noticeable?

It’s reported in the Observer as well that Rhino’s deal came up and the sides couldn’t agree to terms as he was looking for a level of guaranteed money. Rhino was one of the guys who was a big signing for you in 2005. Here we are 6 years later and he’s unable to sign a deal. What happened?

From the Observer: “Hernandez’s contract rolled over. They want him back after spending so much time in Mexico. The idea was for him to learn Spanish by living there and then come back and be pushed as a Latin superstar. But he’s got the same issue with Cain Velasquez, in the sense his Spanish isn’t that good so the Mexicans won’t see him as Mexican. We’re told while he understands Spanish now, his Spanish was never good enough to where AAA allowed him to do any interviews in Spanish, and that was the deal was to come back and do Spanish interviews that would get over.”

When Hernandez comes back are you disappointed in him not achieving the goal that he was sent to AAA for?

12/9 Show:

“The show opened with Eric Bischoff meeting with the Immortal/Fortune group backstage but no Jeff Hardy. Bischoff said that nobody knows what is happening next in the Dixie Carter lawsuit because when you go to court, you never know what will happen. He said it’s bad and they have to get ready for the worst. He said it’s imperative that the group wins all the titles, because with the titles comes power, and they can leverage that power in case they get a bad verdict in court. He noted that Hogan is banned from working for the company due to the court injunction. Bischoff then started yelling at A.J. Styles for losing the TV title. While he was doing so, Rhino came out and demanded his contract for turning on EV 2. Bischoff yelled back, then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, NO! On it. He said Rhino lost to RVD and he didn’t have time for losers. Rhino asked what about his ability to feed his family and Bischoff didn’t care. Rhino tried to jump over the table when all the heels stopped him and starting beating him down and threw him out.”

It’s reported in the Observer as well that Rhino’s deal came up and the sides couldn’t agree to terms as he was looking for a level of guaranteed money. Rhino was one of the guys who was a big signing for you in 2005. Here we are 6 years later and he’s unable to sign a deal and being written off TV in this way. What happened?

In the next segment Bischoff comes out and calls out Matt Morgan and he tells Morgan they can’t jump him due to the lawsuit … but in the previous segment Rhyno is jumped. Is there a lack of quality control here in terms of booking?

From the Observer:“Bubba did a promo saying that anyone could have been Devon because he was the star of the team and he went out to prove it. He had an African-American guy, from the 3-D Wrestling Academy, and he pretended to be Devon including saying, “Oh, my brother, testify.” Taz, in fact, actually identified that the guy was from their wrestling school.”

Bubba & the fake Devon lose to Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal and Bubba beats up the fake Devon until the real Devon makes the save. Jeff - did anyone want to see Bubba & Devon feuding in your mind?

Tara & Generation Me…yes the Young Bucks…come out for a concert. Tara is singing badly while the Young Bucks are dancing badly. Yup. This leads to the main event of Mickie James and Tara in a Steel Cage Match. It’s a risk to put two women in the main event ratings wise is it not?

Jarrett came out and offered $100,000 to any man, woman or child (child because of the video from a few weeks ago) who can make him tap. Jarrett compared himself to GSP and Josh Koscheck. Borash was in the ring to find a volunteer. Here was the deal. To do this segment, they had several indie wrestlers as plants to come out. Several fans rushed the rail and tried to climb over to accept the challenge who were not plants. Here’s the funny part. Security and pretty much everyone including Jarrett didn’t actually get the plants. They got some muscular guys as plants and then all kinds of people, including some who were muscular apparently but weren’t the plants, started trying to hit the ring. So nobody in security knew who the plants were. Nor did the people in the truck. The agents were told to get muscular dudes who were local wrestlers. So it was a panic situation as some muscular guys came forward, and they had a look in their eyes that for $100,000, they thought they could whip Jarrett. The plus part of it is that they got a lot of footage that came across as real. Bischoff loved how the segment came across and actually came out in to the area where the fans came in and tried to interview with fans who wanted to get at Jarrett for Reaction. Apparently those fans cut some good promos. Everyone was remarking about how legit the whole thing looked, because an aspect of it was. This was heavily edited so most of the crazy stuff didn’t air. On TV it actually looked under control, which made it less memorable than showing all the fans charging at Jarrett and trying to hop the rail.

Jeff - tell me this is fiction from Meltzer. Please.

“James pinned Tara in 13:01 in the cage match. Solid match, really the only one on the show given any time. Tara got almost out the door but ended up pulled back in. James escaped the widow’s peak and threw Tara into the cage. Then James threw her into the cage again and she landed with her right elbow (great, she’s right handed and blows out that elbow) hitting the mat. It was pretty clear she was hurt and the elbow looked bruised. She tried to climb the cage and that was hard with one arm. James kicked her off and then climbed to the top and came off with the Thesz press. That was a tough move because landing like that from that height had a high injury risk. Tara tried to catch her and break her fall but James landed with her feet solid on the mat, and after the pin, got up limping.”

This is a hell of a match that you should go find on YouTube or Impact Plus but these two put themselves through hell as both come out of this banged up. What did you think of these two and everything they did?

“The Tara vs. James cage match was put on last on the show on 12/9 specifically because the company thought maybe it would keep the audience until the end. Instead, more people tuned out than during almost any main event in recent months. Needless to say that left people baffled.” The show draws a 1.1 cable rating with 1.5 million viewers. Was this a disappointment to the company?

Ring of Honor runs what is known then as an “internet pay-per-view” on December 18th for Final Battle. Did you check in on their progress as a company or streaming as we call it now as another revenue source?

You got a lot going on at the time Jeff. From the Observer: “Johnny Moss has not signed with TNA. He will be wrestling Jeff Jarrett in January when TNA goes to London. Jarrett is doing a deal where he will wrestle several different area independent wrestlers on shows to see first hand what they know with the idea of perhaps offering them contracts. When they perform in Glasgow on 1/27, Jarrett will face Adrian McCallum from Scotland. Also on that show, Scottish comedy actor Greg Hemphill will be working as s special referee. Jarrett also did an angle for a 1/25 show in Berlin where he did an angle with a well-known German musician, and the gimmick is the musician is going to find an opponent for him on the show.”

Are you handling your bookings on the independent scene? Coming up with the creative? How hands on are you?

From the Observer: “There’s been more serious talk than ever regarding taping television outside of Orlando. The constant complaint is that the Orlando crowd is burned out and it’s nothing special to them, even if they often react great to the shows. But it’s hit or miss and you never know. For example, at the marathon week of taping, the stuff taped on Tuesday (the third day in a row) saw a largely burned out crowd. But on Thursday and Friday the crowd was better. The idea would be that most of the tapings would remain in Orlando but that at least on occasion they would tape from small arenas (they really shouldn’t do places larger then 3,000-seats). The mentality behind it is the crowds they get at house shows are more responsive as a general rule than television and want to replicate that house show crowd reaction to television.”

This has been a common theme about Impact and the Impact Zone many times over the years. Why now is it highlighted so heavy within the company?

From the 12/16 show and I bring this up because Meltzer talks about it heavily in his recap. “The concussion angle with Anderson and Morgan fell really flat, as did pretty much most of the show. Anderson showed up at the arena and kicked down the lineup sheet, and then held his head, so we were to know that he’s really not ready to wrestle. Morgan came out for an interview. The crowd was dead. Morgan said he turned down a lifetime’s worth of money in Fortune to protect Anderson because they both know about the issues with concussions. Morgan said he was trying to save Anderson from himself and Anderson said he’s an adult and gets to make his own decisions and is wrestling. The lack of response to this was interesting. It’s as if they know the story and know he shouldn’t wrestle, and unlike even three years ago when wrestlers would be hurt and say they were wrestling anyway to an easy pop, you either have a conflicted crowd or a crowd that doesn’t care. Morgan said that the fans would not want him to wrestle one tag team match if it would jeopardize the next 20 to 30 years of his life. Morgan also said how both of them had made a commitment to Chris Nowinski, that when piss-ant promoters like Bischoff try to put wrestlers in harm’s way, we are supposed to tell them to fuck off.”

I get the realism because I think it adds a layer to the storyline. But in the end is it too close to home for fans to know what’s going on with CTE, and concussions that it’s hard to suspend belief and not generally care about these guys?

Jay Lethal ends up winning the X title from Robbie E on this show. Jay Lethal recently debuted with AEW after a long run with ROH. Was there more to do with Jay Lethal than have him in the X division an doing imitations of Ric Flair?

In another highlight of the show…well I’ll let the Observer describe: “Eric Young debuted the finding the old world title belt in the garbage can angle. Young thinks he’s a world champion and he had two Hooter’s girls with him, who were there because they were plugging a Spike special where they are in bikinis in the snow. Young then went to the next room to his guru for guidance. Brian Kendrick played the guru which is a no money gimmick if ever I’ve seen one. Orlando Jordan & Young beat Generation Me in 2:49. Young came out with the Hooter’s girls. Jordan came out dressed like a Hooter’s waitress with the orange short shorts and small T-shirt. Young did a promo saying he was entering the most dangerous match of all–the Battle Royal. He then jumped in the ring and threw ref Brian Hebner over the top rope. I thought it was hilarious but this crowd didn’t care. He then threw both members of Generation Me over the top, and then clotheslined Jordan over the top, and celebrated like he had won. Audience didn’t care. Generation Me started hitting on the Hooter’s girls during the match. While they were trying to get phone numbers, you know, during a match, Young nailed both with a tope. Jordan ended up beating Max with the cobra clutch.”

Jeff. What in the hell is going on here?

The main event on this show features Jeff Hardy & Frankie Kazarian beating Matt Morgan & Mr. Anderson in 6:32. That’s a tough main event compared to the week before is it not?

From the Observer: “TNA ended 2010 with two bits of bad news, as their world champion is expected to plead guilty to drug charges and their secondary television show was canceled. The Moore County District Attorney’s office on 12/27 released information that Jeff Hardy would be pleading guilty on 1/20, the date of his next scheduled hearing.

Also several sources within TNA confirmed this past week that Spike TV informed the promotion three weeks ago that Reaction would be canceled at the end of its current ten-episode contract.

The contract ends with the 12/30 show and the show has been removed from the schedule after this week.

From a technical standpoint this is not being called by either side publicly a cancellation, only that no contract was offered by Spike for future episodes.

Spike officials told TNA that the cost of production of the show made it not worthwhile to continue. While the show did good ratings for an 11 p.m. show on the station, it was recognized that the show, a brainchild of Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey, was to an extent gimmicking its rating by having the television main event of Impact bleed into the show, giving it an artificial first quarter boost.

The cancellation is a financial hit for the promotion, which has already faced money issues in 2010 because of a huge increase in talent contracts.”

Jeff this isn’t the best news heading into 2011. What did you think of Jeff being champion while pleading guilty to drug charges and do you think it hurt the company?

What was the failure of Reaction in your mind? Content, creative, timeslot?

How big are these blows to the company?

What was Hervey’s role in the company?

As the year closes Meltzer talks about the company. “TNA is ahead of the same time last year for the most part. The house show numbers at this point last year were terrible. They were still below a 1,000 average each month, but they are at least up from last year. One should that should be noted is TNA runs far more house shows and with Don West selling merchandise, even though attendance at the shows is weak, they do make a profit on the shows by running in generally small markets where costs are down, or in big markets, doing very little advertising, running with less talent then WWE (which would lose their ass on TNA house show numbers). And with doing more events, the division is more successful from a total gross standpoint. But costs are higher as well, as guys like Jeff Hardy, RVD and Mr. Anderson are all making big money per appearance.”

Where is the company at this point in your mind?

From the Observer: “It’s kind of amazing that the career of Hulk Hogan is almost surely over with almost no fanfare. Hogan’s ten hour lumbar fusion surgery is almost a sure thing to end his in-ring career as there is no way he should ever take bumps on that back. The surgery, is generally considered the last resort when it comes to trying to alleviate lifelong intense pain. Any kind of falling after that surgery is likely to break a hip due to all the hardware in your body.”

Looking back at it, was it thought that his career was over? In reality he would wrestle 3 more times in his career. Against Sting at Bound for Glory later that year, and two six-man tags in England in January of 2012.

Did Hulk give TNA everything the company needed at this time in your mind?

“Jarrett beat Amazing Red in an MMA match. Jarrett then for the next week’s show wrestled “Amazing Red’s little brother” under MMA rules. Apparently this segment was great, as Jarrett thought it was a little brother and got on his knees. Then Tommy Mercer came out. He’s had a few tryout matches and they liked him, and he facially resembles Red. Creative had been looking for an idea to do something with him to be Red’s brother and this was the idea. Red’s brother dominated Jarrett, who got put in a few submissions and Jarrett had to make the ropes. Frustrated, Jarrett tried to use the guitar and Red ran in and stopped him so there was no finish. Jarrett turned the heat up when it comes to the mocking of Angle here.”

Tommy Mercer is the future Crimson. What was it about Crimson that you were interested in giving him the rub here?

From the Observer: “Jarrett did an interview and said due to liability issues and with all the TNA legal issues, he was told he can’t be out there doing matches with fans. So he announced the $100,000 challenge is for exhibition matches, and also that after what happened “last week” with Red’s brother, he would only face people who were smaller than he was. There are those who believe the booking of this Jarrett MMA storyline is some of Vince Russo’s best work in a long time, basing it on the intense crowd heat during every segment. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t heard it suggested it will make a significant difference in business as we’re apparently past that point where good angles mean bigger numbers. Jarrett faced yet another plant from the 3-D Wrestling school. He used the ankle lock on the guy and refused to break until Angle ran in for the save. Angle then said he was going to face Jarrett at the PPV. Jarrett went off on Angle living up to his word and that he’s retired. Angle said that he shouldn’t worry because it’s only an “exhibition” match.”

This really is the best stuff TNA has going at the time. Is it the realism of everything you think?

Kazarian ends up winning a X title division shot to take on Lethal while the main program being run is between Matt Morgan and Mr. Kennedy with the winner getting a shot at Jeff Hardy at the next pay-per-view. You have a lot of top talent in the company at the time…why Morgan and Kennedy on top?

Rob Van Dam is in an eight man tag match on the 12/23 Impact and talking about finally getting his hands on Jeff Hardy. Was RVD vs. Jeff Hardy a singles program TNA never capitalized on?

The 8 man tag - which is RVD, the Motor City Machine Guns & Matt Morgan against Jeff Hardy, Abyss & Beer Money… is for the TNA Tag Team Titles. Sabin gets the pin over Roode but I mean Jeff…is this one of those Russo ideas?

Douglas Williams is the TV champion feuding with AJ Styles and Fortune. What was it about Williams that never really connected with the American audience?

TNA is well represented at the New Japan Tokyo Dome show. Beer Money, Rob Van Dam, OKADA, and Jeff Hardy. I bring up Okada because, well, here’s Meltzer’s write-up about it, “Okada was billed as being from TNA, since he’s based in Florida. He works dark matches and Xplosion matches and they don’t deem him Impact-worthy because of being Japanese, as he’s a good worker with more size than most Japanese wrestlers. He’s considered to have a good future in New Japan which is why he was sent to TNA, and they did nothing.” Considering what Okada ended up becoming - and really probably is one of the all-time greats in Japan - do you think TNA missed the mark on him or was it just never going to happen with him in America at the time?

How important was the New Japan - TNA relationship for you and also for the company?

Let’s talk about ratings Jeff before we get to Genesis. Impact on December 30th had 1.4 million viewers. Raw on December 27th of 2021 had 1.592 viewers over 3 hours. I mean…did you ever think you’d see Raw and Impact viewership be comparable?

Matt Hardy is being brought in to be a mystery opponent for Rob Van Dam at Genesis. Was there concern or worry about adding Matt when Jeff was going through his issues with his court case or was the hope that Matt would be beneficial for Jeff?

Bully Ray is introduced as being the newest incarnation of Bubba Ray. This transformation is really going to be the highlight of Bully’s career. Did you have any idea at the time he could be a top level heel?

From the Observer…”Not sure what the status is of Desmond Wolfe. Wolfe was at the last tapings doing an angle scheduled for Impact, but then it never aired. He also mentioned a few weeks back on Impact in passing with Magnus saying that he was trying to play football but had got it out of his system and would be back soon, but then his name hasn’t been mentioned since.”

Do you know or remember what was going on at the time for Nigel McGuiness?

We’re finally here Jeff! The show gets a good reaction from the Wrestling Observer readers…51% thumbs up.

From the Observer: “1. Kazarian pinned Jay Lethal in 11:36 to win the X division title. Fast-paced opening with a hot crowd. Lethal was on the top rope and Kazarian fell into the ropes, causing Lethal to lose balance and crotch himself on the top. Kazarian brought him into the ring and hit the Omori piledriver for the pin. ***¼”

Here we are 11 years later and both are in AEW. How underrated is and was Kazarian?

“2. Madison Rayne pinned Mickie James in 10:27 to keep the Knockouts title. They tried, but the longer they went, the more the match fell apart. They were out there way too long for someone of Rayne’s ability on PPV. James spanked her at one point. James did a Thesz press off the top but then didn’t go for the pin. James set up for a DDT, but Tara came out. While James was distracted, Rayne loaded her glove and hit James and got the pin. *”

Do you think this was just too much time for Rayne … even with a pro like Mickie James in the ring with her? Was Rayne ready for prime time?

“3. Beer Money beat Motor City Machine Guns in 17:57 to win the TNA tag titles. This was the best match on the show, but was not close to the level of their TV match in August that everyone talks about. This was more of a traditional tag match much of the way. Storm pulled ref Brian Hebner out of the ring so he couldn’t count the fall. Shelley used a dive onto Storm on the floor. Sabin went for the springboard tornado DDT, but Roode blocked it and turned it into a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Beer Money hit the DWI on Sabin, but he kicked out. They tried a second, but Sabin blocked it. Sabin went to kick Roode, who moved, and instead kicked Shelley in the face. Roode then used a schoolboy with the trunks on Shelley for the pin. ***¾”

These 4 in the ring are really just an amazing combo. It’s just a simple recipe is it not? Book them for 20 minutes and let them go and have a great match. Why do you think Shelley & Sabin haven’t been brought into the full mainstream at this point?

“4. Bully Ray beat Brother Devon via DQ in 8:50. Super heated brawl and pretty much exactly what the first match of a program should have been. Or at least of this program where you’ve got Ray playing such a loathsome bully coward role. Bubba tried to use a chain but Devon ducked, started punching, and got the chain. He started whipping Bubba with the chain, although it was pretty obvious the chain wasn’t touching him. Well, that would be stupid if he actually whipped him with a chain. Devon was DQ’d for using the chain. Devon shoved the ref and Devon pounded on him. Bubba got a cheap shot in after and they did a pull-apart. Bubba finally landed a low blow as the agents and referees held Devon back. Bubba then ran off. ***½”

This really is the perfect match to start a heated feud. This two together - after being teammates for so long - really could work against each other and make it memorable. How underrated are these two as workers in your mind?

“AJ Styles, who suffered a torn hip flexor and torn labrum while playing with his kids, couldn’t wrestle on the show. Even though Williams vs. Styles stole the show on Final Resolution, TNA didn’t let its audience know the built up rematch wasn’t happening, even though the company knew in advance. Instead, the only acknowledgment was after the show started. “

Do you agree with this type of thought process of not advertising it ahead of time? How do you hear about this and how upset was AJ about getting hurt?

“5. Abyss pinned Douglas Williams in 9:46 to win the TV title. Williams came out with his left hand taped up from the TV angle with Styles. The idea was he couldn’t grip Abyss or throw suplexes and didn’t have the power when doing a cravat. Abyss worked over the hand, putting it into the post. Abyss then slammed the hand on the ring steps and the guard rail. Fans were chanting “We Want A.J.” here. Williams finally came back with a back suplex, and a kneedrop off the top for a near fall. Abyss’ hand ended up bloody. Abyss went to get the barbed wire board. Ref Andrew Thomas stopped Abyss from bringing it into the ring. Styles badly limped into the ring and hit Williams with a belt shot. Abyss then used the black hole slam for the pin. *¼”

I mean having AJ still involved helps but isn’t it kind of counter productive to have him part of the finish and not the match? Would it be better to keep AJ on the sidelines especially with a torn hip flexor? And what was he doing with his kids? Highspots?

“They also debuted Matt Hardy as the secret opponent for RVD. Unfortunately, that didn’t go well on a lot of levels. While they would have almost certainly increased business a little had they advertised Matt’s debut, that’s their own issue. Plus, he looked anything but like the WWE version of Matt Hardy. He didn’t appear in shape, or have much of a spring in his step.

6. Matt Hardy pinned Rob Van Dam in 11:49. Even though it was Hardy’s debut, the match wasn’t much and crowd lost interest at the 5:00 mark and never really came back. Matt used a skull crushing finale for a near fall. As ref Jackson James counted, he saw Matt’s hand under the plane of the bottom rope and stopped the count. Matt didn’t grab the ropes. Hardy then used a twist of hate and Van Dam’s leg was so far under the ropes that it was hanging off the apron, but James counted three anyway. It looked like they were building to acknowledge James as Bischoff’s son, or at least making him a heel ref. *½”

This is really the start of Garret Bischoff becoming a character and it seems oddly placed in this match when it’s a big debut and a big win over Rob Van Dam. What did you think of Matt here and was it the right debut for him?

“7. Kurt Angle beat Jeff Jarrett via DQ at :40 of the third round in what was called an MMA exhibition. Angle and Jarrett, instead of having a great match as they have the ability to, did a weird grappling exhibition match that made no sense the way they worked it, although at least they got super heat doing it. It was something that would have made a great television angle, but when you are buying a PPV to see Angle, and expect an Angle match, a three two minute round grappling exhibition can feel a little like a rip off, especially when it combines with not getting Styles as advertised. During the show, Jarrett announced it was three two-minute rounds, that no striking was allowed because he didn’t want Angle to get hurt, but his $100,000 was still at stake. Of course, the way they worked the match, that made no sense. The first round was a complete stall, trying to remake the Antonio McKee vs. Jacob Volkmann fight. Jarrett wouldn’t get near Angle, who dared him to lock up. Then Kurt dropped to his back and laid down to try and get Jarrett to jump on him, but Jarrett wouldn’t do it. As bad as this sounds, it was, the crowd was hotter for this than anything on the show except Bubba vs. Devon. The story of the second round was Angle humiliated Jarrett by getting him into one submission after another, and then breaking, and putting on a new one. That is totally illogical with the money at stake. He used a Kimura, an arm triangle, and armbar, and then an ankle lock when the round ended. Third round saw Jarrett spit in Angle’s face. Jarrett then rubbed something in Angle’s eyes and the bell rang. It rang early as this wasn’t supposed to be the finish and they kept going, pretending there was no bell. Angle then bladed himself right as the camera had the perfect angle to see it. Jarrett then started punching the cut, violating his self-imposed rules. The bell rang again for Jarrett punching. Angle was bleeding bad. Heat was good. *½”

Jeff - Meltzer obviously didn’t like this besides the heat. What do you say towards the criticism of the match? How was it to work? Did you feel it was executed well with the way the crowd reacted?

“8. Mr. Anderson pinned Matt Morgan in 15:29 in a battle for the No. 1 contender spot. They largely dropped the entire concussion angle, including Morgan posting Anderson. Anderson did two mic checks but was slow to cover, teasing he wasn’t 100%. Finish saw the two collide heads and Anderson used an inside cradle for the pin. **½”

The main focus of the TV up to this show was about the concussions but as we get to the pay-per-view it was largely dropped. Why is that do you think?

Now the shift afterwards with Anderson and Hardy wrestling for the TNA Title. Before we get to the match - do you know when this decision is made? Was it because of Jeff pleading guilty? Is this one of the pratfalls of taping 5 weeks of TV in 2 days and then things happen and where else do you shift?

Do you think you would’ve gotten more pay-per-view purchases advertising both Hardys as wrestling especially with the debut of Matt and Jeff defending the title?

“Bischoff then announced Anderson would get his title shot at Jeff Hardy right away. They had a match, which under normal circumstances would be considered an over booked mess, given there was interference or distraction from seven different people at different times: Matt Morgan, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Matt Hardy, Rob Van Dam and Bischoff. But it wasn’t like anything but the constant run-ins and Anderson kicking out of all of Hardy’s moves was going to get the crowd into the match, so it was for the best.

The idea is Anderson was hurting badly, the mentality was they were doing the WWE Money in the Bank cash in on the babyface who just went through a tough match and was injured. Hardy came out in clothes, smoking a cigarette. Seeing this, my reaction was that if he cares so little about the title, then why should I? But I’m ten years behind the times because nobody had cared about this title in forever. Anderson kicked out of the twist of hate right away. And people didn’t even care. No pop for a spot you’d think was easy. But to their credit, with all the near falls and run-ins, people were into it down the line. Hardy came back and hit the swanton, but Anderson kicked out. Anderson was bleeding at this point. Anderson did the Lambeau plunge but after delivering it, started selling himself like he was exhausted. Hardy used a running clothesline and called for Matt to run down. Matt ran down the aisle, and that wasn’t pretty. Van Dam then attacked Matt and they brawled in the aisle. Bischoff grabbed a chair, but before he could use it, Anderson gave Bischoff the mic check and rolled him out of the ring. Jeff Hardy went for the twist of hate, but Anderson blocked it and hit the mic check for the pin. As noted, normally this kind of over booking burns out the crowd, but I guess because the match was a bonus, it actually saw the crowd pretty hot at the end for a match they didn’t care about at first. ***½”

This is 1 year after Ken’s debut for the company at Genesis 2010 and here he is winning his first major title. Was Ken ready to lead the company or was he just a band aid considering all that Jeff had going on?

Was Ken ever a top guy in your mind?

Are you a fan of this booking - win one match and head right into the next.

What say you Jeff? Thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs in the middle?