My World w/ Jeff Jarrett - Genesis 2007 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome to My World and we couldn’t do it without the new AEW Director of Business Development - that’s Double J - JE - F - F - J - A - DOUBLE R - E - DOUBLE T. The man with more lives than cats…Jeff Jarrett. Jeff…anything going on in your neck of the woods?

AEW

Let’s get into our topic at hand today - Genesis 2007! It took place on November 11th, 2007 and boy is there a whole lot to discuss in the build to this show…

And the big stories in both dirtsheets are about the showdown between you & Kurt for the power play of Dixie…from the Observer:

“The big showdown ended up being pacified, as Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett apparently hashed things out. The list of names we were given that had agreed to go to Carter together to try and force a booking change consisted of almost every top name in the company except Sting, who wouldn't take sides. While we had multiple sources list names that were on Angle's side, at least one key person on the list also said he had not been asked to take sides. The complaint was the company should have a more traditional and logical approach to the booking. Different names were mentioned in different conversations as to what that entails, but right now it appears everything is status quo. . . “

How does this all get actually worked out because I feel like that story may not be exactly what happened…

You have someone who’s been long invested in booking right there as a talent in Jim Cornette and Meltzer would even bring that up…

“Jim Cornette's name did come up in conversations in recent weeks regarding that same thing of wanting logical booking, although as best I can tell, it was not from the wrestlers who were going to force a change and then compromised on the issue. But he was approached with a "what if' scenario, although that would be to become a vocal part of the committee as opposed to a singular booker. He was negative on adding the stress in his life. Cornette apparently tries to keep his frustration with the booking to a minimum, but he's very high on the ability of most of the company's wrestlers.”

Were you constantly talking to Jim about bringing him on the booking committee or did you think there was no way you could have Jim & Russo together working creatively at this point?

Meltzer is critical of the creative on the Impact coming out of Bound for Glory…

“I've got two versions of thoughts on the show. As far as a TV viewer watching it, I enjoyed it more than most episodes of Raw and Smackdown in recent months. Some of the interview verbiage was crap, and there were far too many useless conflicts with people I could care less about. Another negative is not only did they do nothing to build the 11/11 Genesis PPV, but when the show was over, as a fan, I wouldn't have even known the date.

They did build Sting vs. Angle for next week's TV well. They did a lot of backstage stuff revolving around Kurt and Karen, with Karen back being negative toward Kurt (you know, after all the swerve marital conflict angles they've been doing) but Karen even telling Kurt that there's no way he can beat Sting by himself, and Karen being scared for Kurt that Nash was after him. Having said that, Kurt, as much as he's often a laughing stock, was just tremendous on his promos. He was so entertaining that you could almost overlook how stupid all the stuff was. Almost.”

I think this does bring up a fair point - for as LOLTNA people tend to be - 2007 for the WWE on the creative side is…not great and it’s hard not to think TNA’s product was better than WWE’s. Were you watching the WWE shows at the time to keep in touch with the product?

For the show itself from your favorite fiction writer…

“Nash destroyed Angle, which is a complete swerve ala the Killings argument with Pacman where they build something up, do nothing with it, and then the two guys end up as a team.

Sabin vs. Shelley ended in a no contest, so I presume both are eliminated in the title contenders tournament, when 3-D attacked them and power bomb each into a table. Crowd was super into the match before the run-in. Christian wanted into the tournament and this set up a match with Joe as the TV main. Kong pinned Talia Madison.”

Swerves, bro.

Sabin vs. Shelley at the time were so good and they were young and not overexposed and fresh talent for TNA - why did they just never get going even though they would get great reactions from the Impact Zone?

“Cornette and Tenay had a Parade of New Champions. Cage came out with Styles & Tomko. Sting came out and accepted a match with Kurt Angle. Kurt came out in a wheelchair from the Nash attack and Karen said Kurt would be ready "next week."  Yep, from a wheelchair to a world title match in one week.”

One week Jeff…and we’ll talk about a different injury in the next segment…does this make it … I don’t know seem fake?

“ Kazarian pinned Hoyt. Hemme, who suffered a "broken back" and was helped out at the PPV, was there. Rave and Hemme tried to help Hoyt, but it backfired, and everyone ended up arguing after the match.”

Again…does this make injuries look like they don’t mean anything?

“Abyss pinned Disco Inferno in a minute squash. Reign attacked Abyss. Mitchell came out and they handcuffed Abyss to the ropes and put the rat in his face. This entire angle died in the building.”

This is the best use of Disco Inferno…but the Abyss - Jim Mitchell - Black Reign stuff - this isn’t good TV is it Jeff?

“Cage pinned Joe in a good match. Another ref bump. Styles and Tomko interfered but Morgan made the save. Roode hit Joe with a chair and Cage got the pin. Like with Sting-Angle, they were building a great match until they took it down with all the run-ins. I have no idea why they would have Joe break Christian's win streak if it wasn't to set Joe up for a title shot. Instead, they do the even-Steven booking where nobody can be on a hot streak or elevate themselves through the wins and losses.”

What say you to this Jeff?

Dave would also report…  “The Steiners and Kip James were mad they weren't used on TV, with Kip having words with Jarrett about it. He's probably not the guy to be losing his cool since he's one of the higher paid guys in the company, and isn't over a lick.. .”

When you expand to two hours I’m sure everyone is thinking they’ll be on the shows more but sometimes it just doesn’t fit…what do you remember of this between the Steiners and especially Billy Gunn?

The Oct. 18 TNA Impact drew a 1.0 rating last week, with 1.3 million viewers. That’s down slightly from the ratings for the first two editions of the two–hour Impact. What were the goals for the ratings of the 2 hour shows? To stay steady and have your peaks and valleys or was there like a goal for it to be 2 million viewers…and were you expecting an immediate Impact…pun intended.

We’re gonna keep talking about creative as the next week on Impact is panned hard by Dave Meltzer:

“10/25 Impact, which was one of those shows that makes you realize just how messed up things are. The angles aren't rushed, but there are way too many of them. Think about this. How many men and women together are fighting? Four. Four duplicate angles in the same promotion. And nobody but the most ardent TNA can probably name them. Of course there's Kurt and Karen, who are in the main event angle, and Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks, who have a long-time angle, who stay together but don't get along. Two identical angles is one too many, but you can probably handle that. But now we've added Christy Hemme and Jimmy Rave & Lance Hoyt that nobody cares about or wants to see, and now Jackie Moore and James Storm are doing the same angle involving Eric Young in the Kazarian role that Kazarian and Ms. Brooks were doing a few weeks ago. Apparently the feeling was they had no way to get out of the Kazarian/Roode/Brooks angle because they didn't want Brooks and Kazarian to end up together, so it may be dropped (I know you're asking why they started an angle that now, midway through, they have no idea how to finish?) and it was given to Young but with a different woman.”

Jeff - is this too much of the same story happening at the same time in your mind or do you think they’re just different stories with different backgrounds all happening at the same time?

Before we get to the main part of this show and there is a lot to discuss…the rest of the show from Meltzer:

“Steiners & LAX beat Styles & Tomko & VKM in an okay match. Storm pinned Young to advance in the title tournament. Jackie Moore took a bump and Young went to check on her. When he got up, he walked into a superkick. Moore and Storm then argued after the match. Pretty much everyone does. A four-way with Havok vs. Williams vs. Shark Boy vs. Dutt had no finish as 3-D destroyed all four. Ray ran down the entire X Division and they then put Williams and Havok through tables.”

Let’s stop here. The title tournament is the Fight for the Right Tournament to earn a title shot at the TNA World Title. Last year it was based around a reverse battle royal - this year it started with the reverse battle royal at Bound for Glory - and then into a single elimination tournament. Were you a fan of this concept?

How much is the X division hurt when you have Team 3D out there killing dudes?

So here’s where the show gets messy…

“The main theme was a show long build to the announcement of the Genesis main event, stemming from a controversial Angle vs. Sting match in the middle of the show. The early subplot was Kurt was wanting Nash back on his side, and went to the lengths of telling Karen to sleep with him ("Indecent Proposal," mentioned by name in case you didn't know) and also called her Mrs. Robinson (Kevin Nash & Vince Russo age pop culture reference). So Karen went to seduce Nash, and she's all over him, he's saying he's dreamed of it, then drops her and tells her off saying maybe ten years ago, but not now and talks about implants and all the work she's had done. You've got a woman who you are trying to sell as super hot, and Nash blows her off like she's an aging stripper, plus I don't even want to get into the back story here.

Angle pinned Sting. Ref Andrew Thomas was arguing with Nash, and Thomas got knocked down. Angle gave Sting an Olympic slam, and second ref Earl Hebner ran in and counted the pin.

Angle was announced as new champion. Then Thomas and Hebner started arguing. Jim Cornette came out and said he wanted to talk with Thomas and Hebner and would make a decision at the end of the show over who is the champion.”

Let’s pause here real quick - the Nash - Angle - Karen situation - is this Russo? Nash? What did you think of this creative?

“Then Mike Tenay and Cornette started arguing and Cornette left the announcers table to go backstage.

An argument with people who aren't going to draw money every minute to leave the show a blur and make it impossible for those whose arguments should draw. There really was once a day when bookers and promoters learned when they had a bad house or a bad buy rate. But those days are long gone.”

The attempt here is to bring realism but this is hard shot across the bow creatively…looking back… is he wrong here?

The rest of the show…

“Kong pinned Angel Williams in a squash. Fatu pinned Roode. The Roode plant fan was at ringside. Another ref bump. Roode knocked Brooks off her chair and went to hit Fatu, but Joe ran in, got the chair, and hit Roode. Fatu used the Rikishi driver for the pin. Cage & Don West were doing the announcing with Tenay gone.”

Wade Keller damns this match and creative pretty harsh here Jeff…from the Torch:

“TNA keeps taking the same approach, week after week, month after month, year after year. Junior Fatu is the latest example of relying on someone's resume rather than their qualifications. There is a difference. Anyone who had been watching wrestling every week—or most weeks—over the past eight years would know that giving TV time to Junior Fatu (WWE's Rikishi) doesn't fit with a winning formula in 2007 for a promotion attempting to make inroads against a dominant brand that is synonymous with the industry. He was a WWE discard, but due to a personal favor or because the bookers of TNA marked out for his TV exposure, he was brought in and pushed on TV.

After several weeks on TV, including an inexplicable decision to let him flippantly talk about the late Rick Rude and refer to home grown young TNA star Robert Roode as a jobroni, he has been let go. He and TNA were unable to come to terms on a contract. He had been brought in on a trial basis, and like with Andrew “Test” Martin, TNA had reasons after seeing his work and reception, not to offer him what he felt he was was worth. TNA actually announced on Monday night in front of the fans that Fatu would not be at the taping and fans cheered.”

Jeff - what is all this? How does this even happen?

Now let’s get to the main event segment of the show…

“The main event was Cornette and Tenay coming out. Cornette said that since Nash never interfered and Angle got the three count, that Angle is the new champion.

He then announced Angle & Nash vs. Sting & ? with the winner of the fall getting the title. And why exactly do pro wrestling groups have world titles'? By the way, because they always have is not the correct answer. They are supposed to have prestige and represent something with credibility that, thus, sells more tickets. Sting then guaranteed after Genesis, the champ won't be Angle.

But the creative next…So then, Nash ends up helping Kurt win back the title. And Kurt goes to shake his hand, and then flips him off. He'll tell his wife, while she's arguing how much she hates him, but willing to do it because the title doubles their family income supposedly, to sleep with Nash, but then, when Nash is ready to make up as swerve No. 1 because he said he wanted to watch Sting win, then nonsensical swerve No. 2 is Kurt flips Nash off. There's a scene where Nash is so mad Kurt flipped him off that now he wants to get at Kurt, so Kurt & Karen run away but Kurt jumps in the getaway car and peels out, while leaving Karen behind. And because Karen is in heels, she has to stop, and take off her heels, and then run away. It's funny because Nash has told Jeff about not learning the lessons of 2000 WCW, so at least he learned something and these guys are just repeating it, except with lower ratings and buy rates.”

Jeff - hard to defend this is it not?

Could any of this been done differently you think looking back? Is this the best story to build to the main event?

Well the results in terms of TV ratings of a built to Sting vs. Kurt Angle match on TV for your world title doesn’t come out great…

From the Torch:

“TNA Impact last week drew a 1.0 rating (0.98 to be statistically insignificantly precise), a letdown since it featured a rematch between Kurt Angle and Sting in a match that had been sold to its fans for more than a month as the ultimate dream match worthy of headlining its biggest annual PPV.

Not only was the overall rating a letdown, but the match itself, amazingly drew a smaller rating than the opening quarter hour and the final quarter hour.

Sting vs. Angle was a dream match, one of few that are realistically viable in today's industry. Besides the mistake of giving it away on free TV before selling it on PPV, they then gave it away on TV less than two weeks after selling it on PPV. It didn't matter. TNA drew the same flat rating they have seemingly forever, following the same stale, inefficient pattern. If the Sting–Angle rating wasn't a wake–up call to try something new, nothing other than a force from the outside will.”

Was it a wake up call Jeff? Is this a massive disappointment or is this just the dirtsheets blowing up over this?

At the same time Wade & Dave are criticizing the company and you got Fatu leaving after beating a young star…there’s TNA sending out mobile alerts regarding Scott Hall & Kevin Nash teaming up at a non-TNA show over the weekend and asking if Fatu’s former partners Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor will join him in TNA - after it’s already been decided Fatu isn’t coming back.

Was Nash pushing for Scott to come back in?

Who was running the mobile alerts and who would push that type of information out? Jeremy Borash?

Booker T is released by the WWE and it’s known at this point that when Rob Van Dam’s contract expires he’s not coming in. How does the Booker conversation get started? You reach out to him or he reach out to you?

Was his exit from the company due to his objection to being suspended as part of the WWE wellness policy a concern about bringing him in considering the heat from the government regarding the Chris Benoit inquiry?

From the Torch: “Austin “Consequences” Creed has been offered a contract by TNA, likely meaning the Truth & Consequences tag team with Ron “The Truth” Killings will continue, replacing Team Pacman.

PWTorch.com correspondent Larry Goodman reports that TNA Booking Director Bill Behrens handed Creed the envelope containing the contract in the ring at last night’s NWA Anarchy show in Cornelia, Ga. Creed received a tremendous ovation from the over 200 fans at the NWA Arena, the same fans who had witnessed Creed’s ascension to stardom over the last 17 months. Behrens referred to the contract offer as an opportunity to fulfill a dream.”

I mean after his debut at Bound for Glory - you could tell he had something. What did you think was the ceiling for Austin Creed?

Also it’s reported that D’Lo Brown signed a contract with the company. This would be D’Lo’s second go around with the company. Why D’Lo here in 2007?

The next Impact is built around these series of Kurt Angle & Jeremy Borash interrogation skits out of crime shows. This is some good shit here Jeff - who came up with these?

Meltzer would somewhat agree - After ripping the creative team last week, the one thing I have to say is some of the stuff in the Angle skits was real funny. Some didn't work. I thought the way the show built toward revealing the partner as Scott Hall was real good, but then the idea that it was all a swerve made it, from a building to the PPV standpoint, a waste of air time when it was over. As usual, some good wrestling, but it was made to be of such low priority behind the storyline that good match or bad match, it came off as not important. Angle is great at his role, but he was so badly overexposed here. The good thing is they've done a great job of getting Nash over for this run.”

With the expansion to two hours did you find the wrestling would fall by the way side for the skits and segments? Is that a Russo influence?

“Kurt & Karen came out and said by the end of the show, they would know who the mystery partner is. Sting came out and gave a hint, saying the partner is a former WWE and WCW champion. Nash then came out and told Angle that even though they are partners, he needs to worry about him as well. Nash and Sting then bounced Angle around. Kaz pinned Storm to advance to the finals of the Fight for Your Right.“

How much sense does it make for opponents to be bouncing the world champion - who is teaming with one of these guys at the pay-per-view…around?

Why the push for Kaz here? Not that he doesn’t deserve it but it comes really out of nowhere…

“Team 3-D came out and cut a promo on "Internet marks" and claimed they would destroy the X Division. Sabin & Shelley came out and called Ray fat (Shelley was calling Konnan during the week looking for advice on how to avoid being buried in the program). Devon went for the tables, but the X Division guys had stolen their tables. Shark Boy, Petey Williams and Son jay Dutt attacked 3-D and the whole X division beat on them and set up tables, but 3-D ran. There's still a problem to me when you have a gang of faces beating on two heels.”

I enjoy that Dave had Konnan reach out to him to tell him about Shelley calling him to make sure he wouldn’t be buried in the segment. Was that a real concern to them and did they ever express that to you?

“Christian beat Chris Harris (subbing for Fatu) in the tournament. Good match, with Cage winning with a roll up holding the ropes. After the match, Harris (who is teasing a heel turn) was yelling at the ref and Christian hit him with a ladder. He then jumped off near the top of the ladder with a frog splash on Harris.”

How upset were you regarding Fatu no-showing and no deal being made after giving him a push? Is this a learning experience for you?

Speaking of which from the Observer: “It is not 100% that Junior Fatu won't be back. He doesn't have a contract and did miss the 10/29 TVs, saying he had a prior commitment. There had to be a miscommunication because if they knew in advance, they could have changed the tournament around if they knew he was missing the 10/29 show. The explanation on television that he wasn't there For unknown reasons was JeffJarrett's call because he didn't want to say anything negative. There have been problems with him regarding travel because he lives in both Pensacola and Las Vegas, and at times they get his trans from Pensacola and he has to change it.”

What say you?

“Main event saw Styles & Tomko beat LAX to keep the tag titles in 8:00 of a good match. This was the title shot LAX earned by beating Senshi & Elix Skipper in the Ultimate X match at Bound for Glory. Styles & Tomko looked real good. Steiners attacked LAX after and they brawled to the back. Last I saw, both those teams were faces, but I guess it doesn't matter.”

Are you just trying to get something going with the Steiners? How much momentum had LAX lost at this point?

From the Observer: “They are working hard on signing Sting for 2008, which is definitely a controversial move. There were people in power who weren't even for them signing him for 2007 at $500,000 per. He no longer draws on top, but they always put him on top because they are so stuck in the past and on who used to be power instead of building a future. . . “

Is this a Dixie initiative? You? Do you think Sting was worth the money at this point?

Then we get the go-home Impact and well…from Meltzer:

“This show was hilarious. They spent two hours on the go-home show before a PPV, building up a confrontation between Nash and Hall, and at the end, they hug. Nash, on the heel side on the PPV, is a babyface the entire show. Hall, who looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep since the 90s and isn't even booked on the PPV, still in about 10 seconds kicked the ass of the world champion backstage. Now, if this leads to Angle vs. Hall, well, that would be stupid, but it would at least give the segment an explanation. If it leads to Hall & Nash as a team against Angle, at least that probably would have worked. At least the backstage segments weren't as bad as last week, and the wrestling this week was really good. It was an enjoyable two-hour show, and that can't be said for a lot of the TNA shows. But as far as building the PPV, they built an undercard that won't add one extra buy, and squandered the main event to tell their story.”

I mean it’s hard to disagree that this is all based on Scott’s return…do you think this helped or hurt the build to the pay-per-view?

“It opened with Christian and Kaz going to a no contest in the Fight for the Right tournament final. Christian won due to interference from Styles and Tomko. Matt Morgan came out and told the ref and he announced the two would have a ladder match on the PPV for the title shot. Kim pinned somebody named Alexis. Apparently she was a good worker. Post-match saw VKM distract Kim and Roxxi Lavaugh attacked Kim. Angel Williams then laid out Roxxi. ODB laid out Williams. Kim cleaned house hitting ODB with a missile dropkick. So an unfocused deal where nobody new gets a chance to get over because they try to push everyone at once.

3-D beat Lethal & Abyss. Black Reign and Abyss brawled to the back, leaving Lethal alone with both and he was pinned after a 3-D. They put Lethal on the table, which nearly broke when it wasn't supposed to, and whipped him with belts until Sabin & Shelley made the save.”

Too much going on is there not?

“Angle says he knows Hall is there and asks him to come out. Nothing happened. They took down the ropes for an amateur wrestling takedown challenge with Scott Steiner vs. Styles. Styles was an accomplished wrestler in high school and I believe small college. He actually didn't grow up as a pro wrestling fan and while doing amateur, his friends who were fans dragged him to a show and they started training and he just took to it. You'd think a guy who wrestles like Styles was a fan from childhood. Styles wore his old Gainesville Vocational high school wrestling singlet. Styles kept going for takedown and Steiner blocked all of them. Styles got mad, pulled powder hidden in his headgear and threw it in Steiner's eyes. He then scored three takedowns. Steiner cleared his eyes and got four takedowns to win. Tomko came out to attack Scott and Rick Steiner made the save. They then had to put the ropes back up. Apparently they kept screwing up.”

I thought this was some really good stuff but the Steiners were brawling with LAX last week and here we are this week…doing this. How hard was it to keep things on track when it comes to these stories?

“Final segment saw Nash call out Hall. Hall came out and they started joking with each other about going gray and getting older. Nash said he had to stop living like Hall because he didn't want to lose his family. Nash asked if he was Sting's mystery partner. Hall said he wasn't, and that he would always be Nash's partner and never team with Sting. Angle then comes out and demands to know who Sting's partner is. Sting comes out and tells Angle he'll find out Sunday.”

Then Angle gets bumped as referenced before…what’s the long term plan at this point?

What were your conversations with Scott when he came back? Did you think he was good and ready to go?

Was Scott the original partner and when Booker became available you shifted? Or was it always to be Booker…

And the results are…not great for the buyrates of Genesis…

Genesis 2006 - the follow-up from Bound for Glory and the first Kurt Angle match against Samoa Joe garnered 60,000 buys - and we covered that show in the archives so be sure to check that out…

But Bound for Glory last month drew 40,000 buys…

This show draws 25,000 buys. Is that an indication of fans not buying into the build, the matches built, the main event, what do you attribute that to?

From the Observer:

“TNA presented its usual PPV of hard-working wrestlers with Genesis on 11/11 in Orlando, featuring the debut of Booker T and Sharmell.

The entire show was built around the teasing of who the mystery partner was. The feeling was that not announcing the name would draw better than announcing the name. Based on our response level, the show looks to have done an average number. Debuts of Kurt Angle and Sting did double the usual numbers, although Booker, had his name been announced, was not, even for his debut, going to pull numbers like either of them as he was not the draw or considered the same level of star. Given this, it appears to me that announcing Booker would have helped the show more than the surprise aspect, but you can't prove it, and it's probably not a huge difference either way. ”

Genesis 2007 Highlights

If you had announced Booker - do you think it would’ve made a difference? Something you would change?

Let’s get into the show:

Abyss vs Black Reign: Shop of Horrors Match (TNA Genesis 2007): FULL MATCH | IMPACT Full Matches

“1. Abyss pinned Black Reign in 10:13. The only good things I can say about this match is Thank God there was no thumb tack or broken glass bag spot, and at least the crowd was into the match. But it was the kind of stunt show that made no sense in the opening match slot, and was completely overbooked. They were breaking plaster boards on each other's heads. They didn't get the memo about brain damage from blows to the head. Reign suplexed Abyss on the ramp onto two garbage cans. This was 3:00 into the opener. Reign used a stunner for a near fall. Abyss used a low blow and threw Reign's head into a chair.

At the 5:00 mark, Abyss pulled out a barbed wire baseball bat. A minute later they were brawling on the ramp. Abyss choke slammed Reign off the ramp onto the floor. That should be enough to end a main event, but this is the opener and instead of making dangerous looking spots mean something, Reign got right up and continued the match. Abyss put Reign's hands into a vice (there was a tool shop at ringside in TNA's latest themed street fight called the Shop of Horrors). Since he was stuck, Abyss grabbed Misty the Rat and went to use the dozens of mouse traps on him. But Jim Mitchell made the save. Abyss put the rat in Mitchell's shirt and he was selling it like crazy. Reign was let loose by Mitchell and he attacked Abyss, and gave him a pedigree on the mouse traps. Of course, Abyss kicked out.

The finish saw Reign go to hit Abyss with Brass Knucks, but Abyss ducked and used the black hole slam for the pin. After the match, Abyss got a key and unlocked this box that looked to have a man inside And it did. It was Johnny Stamboli (Jon Hugger), with a Great Muta mask on, and he blew mist in Abyss' eyes. His name is Relic. Relic and Reign put Abyss into the box and threw him off the ramp. Yep, all in the opener. Abyss asked that the crash pad be removed from the floor, you know, to make it legitimately more dangerous. He could have been hurt seriously because you can't control the box as it falls, but came out with a minor kink in his neck and a minor bloody mouth. Then they cut away, never addressed it again, and it was like it was just a bad dream. The crowd did get off on most of it, but for an opening match, it was 47 levels of stupid.

Observer *½

Torch ¾ *”

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo….yeah. Meltzer had this commentary:

“The crowd wasn't as hot as it had been for the last few PPV shows, I can't really point to a good reason why. When I watched them pull out a barbed wire bat and take stunt man bumps off the stage to the floor just a few minutes into the opening match, I thought they were going to pay for it later in the show. But the Team 3-D vs. Machine Guns match that followed got strong crowd reactions. The problem is that the women's match was a generic bout with women who have not developed personas, and even under the best of circumstances women's wrestling is a hard sell.”

“2. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley beatTeam 3-D in 17:37. Probably the most heated match on the card. 3-D are great heels to the live crowd in the sense they are the only ones the crowd truly doesn't like. Sabin & Shelley pushed themselves as the tag team of the future. Well, somebody has to be. They did all their fast-paced double-team spots. Lots of near falls by the Machine Guns, including a spot where Sabin did a huracanrana off the top on Devon followed by Shelley using a frog splash for a near fall. Devon got the first table but Sabin did a sliding dropkick on the table knocking Devon flying. Devon got another table in the corner and threw Shelley into it, but Shelley walked up the table, flipped, and landed on his feet. Devon charged and went through the table. Shelley & Sabin then gave Ray an enzuigiri for the pin.

Observer ***½

Torch ***¼”

I mean it makes sense to put them over if you’re going to build to them and get over on the heels. How good were and still are these guys?

Is this a sign you’re thinking about the future with having these two go over?

Gail Kim vs Angelina Love vs ODB vs Roxxi Laveaux (TNA Genesis 2007) | IMPACT Wrestling Full Matches

“3. Gail Kim retained the Knockouts title over Roxxi Lavaugh, Angel Williams and ODB in 9:01.

They gave them more time than WWE usually does, and these women are generally more advanced than the WWE's women. They are pushing them more as athletes as the announcers don't ogle them or put over their looks, even though Williams and Kim wrestled in fairly skimpy outfits. Kip & B.G. James came out with Lavaugh, but when they interfered, they got kicked out of ringside.

Most of the match was fine except Angel Williams tried to do the Ray Stevens/Flair flip into the corner and to say she didn't come close would be giving her more credit than she deserved. It was like she got scared halfway there. Even the TNA fans who are notorious for overlooking bad stuff did the "You fucked up" chant out of that one. ODB at one point grabbed Lavaugh, and while sitting on the top rope, smashed Lavaugh's head into her crotch over and over. Kim did a plancha. There was a tower of doom spot, although it didn't look as good or get over as well as when the guys do it. Kim used a missile dropkick on Lavaugh. Finish saw Lavaugh spit mist into ODB's eyes, which probably would have been more effective if we didn't already see it in the opener. Kim pinned ODB after the John Morrison style neckbreaker.

Post match saw Kong come out to confront Kim, but in mid-scene, they cut to Jeremy Borash and Karen Angle in the back with Angle hitting on security. They opened the limo they thought had the mystery partner, but instead it was James Storm and Eric Young in the middle of a drinking contest for the new TNA Best Drunk championship belt (really, a spinner belt with a beer bottle on it).

Observer **½

Torch *”

These 4 ladies were all really good athletes and maybe Angel Williams wasn’t ready - but definitely a different presentation than the WWE. But the post-match is what I want to discuss. Kong and Kim will be a feud that pushes the Knockouts to another level - but the mid-scene cut to Borash and Karen and then Storm & Young drinking - does it make it seem like the women end up being an after thought? I mean “TO THE BACK…” has become a TNA meme for the next lifetime…

“4. Jay Lethal pinned Son jay Dutt to keep the X Division title in 12:01. Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt had the credibility issue. No matter how great the match was athletically, Dutt has been pushed as largely a jobber and his gimmick doesn't help him get any reaction. Plus the two are pushed as a team and the match had no storyline behind it. Some will be critical and say they worked too fast, and they did in spots, but the problem was the build-up before they hit the ring.

Very good action, but no heat for the match, only for the moves, for reasons mentioned earlier. During the match they teased So Cal Val becoming the new Elizabeth. Dutt did a running flip dive. Lethal came off the top into a Dutt dropkick. Dutt did a bunch of new moves. He did a sequence where he went for a moonsault, landed on his feet as Lethal rolled out of the way, and then immediately did a standing moonsault onto him, followed by a standing shooting star. Dutt got lots of near falls, but nobody really believed he could win. Lethal won using the Lethal combination on Dutt, followed by an elbow off the top rope. Post match saw Team 3-D hit the ring and laid out both Lethal and Dutt, and whipped both with belts, one with the X belt and the other with the studded belt they've been using. Bubba left, stealing the X Division belt.

Observer *** ¼

Torch **¼”

The irony of us talking about this match considering what you did this past week at AEW…you know you can put these two in a ring at this point and have a great match regardless on if there’s a story or not right?

“5. Tomko & A.J. Styles beat Rick & Scott Steiner in 10:43 to keep the tag team titles. Even though these are all pushed guys, the crowd remained dead for the third straight match. Bout was pretty bad, as the Steiners are just so limited. At one point the Steiners were suplexing Tomko & Styles all over the place. They did the sky high bulldog on Styles but Tomko saved. After the ref was knocked down, Styles gave Rick a low blow and a hard chair shot to the head for the pin. It's pretty sad when WWE cares more about its talent, since as much as it doesn't want to acknowledge the report on Benoit's brain, it still bans hard chair shots to the head.

Observer *½

Torch *½”

Looking back the chair shot sucks - but Rick & Scott were probably out of their line being in the ring with these two are they not at this point in their career?

“6. Samoa Joe pinned Robert Roode in 15:43. The two were having a good match, but just as they were building for the finish, Ms. Brooks collapsed. We're still not sure what happened, but EMT's were out, and she was fine later in the evening and wrestled at TV the next night. But seeing her down took the crowd out of the last few minutes and made the match drag on television because of the lack of crowd response because of the crowd's divided attention. It started off strong.

Roode missed a pescado and crashed on the floor. Joe then hit the elbow suicida. He tried for the Ole Ole kick, but Roode grabbed his leg and rammed it against the guard rail. Roode used a suplex on the ramp. Joe came back with an Ole Ole kick into the steps. Roode used a blockbuster for a near fall. Roode came off the top rope again, but Joe caught him with a diamond cutter. Joe used a leg lariat for a near fall This was the point where Brooks collapsed. It was portrayed on TV like it was

a mystery attack and part of the show, since Mike Tenay was talking about how they didn't see what happened. Joe used a powerbomb into a Boston Crab into an STF. Roode got out and used a low blow and a DDT for a near fall. He also used a Northern lariat for a near falI, and a piledriver for another near fall. Finish saw Joe block Roode's payoff, a fisherman suplex, and use the muscle buster for the pin.

Observer ***

Torch **¾”

What do you remember of Tracy collapsing and what was going on? Was Joe or Roode upset about what was going on afterwards or just happy she was ok? What’s going on in the back when this happens?

“7. Kaz (Frankie Kazarian, who needs to drop that jobber name now that he's being pushed as a serious player) beat Christian in 15:13 of a ladder match to make him the top contender for Angle's title by winning the Fight for the Right tournament.  The key with Kaz is he now needs to be portrayed in a new light, which means significant interview time. We'll see if this was just a result to build a TV match and then it goes nowhere.

Lots of crazy spots. The first was Kaz doing a springboard off the middle rope into a crossbody on the floor onto Christian, who was holding a ladder. The ladder went into Christian's face. He waw bleeding from above the right eye. Christian put the ladder horizontal between the ring apron and the guard rail. In a rough spot, with Kaz laid out on the ladder, Christian did a plancha off the top rope onto him. The ladder didn't bend at all on impact, which means it probably hurt more, and looked less impressive than had it collapsed. At one point, both men climbing the ladder, Christian used a reverse DDT off just below the top of the ladder.

They needed a ceiling camera for this match like WWE has done in similar bouts to get over the move. Kaz monkey flipped Christian onto the ladder. Kaz suplexed the ladder onto Christian. Kaz came off the top of one ladder with a legdrop, but Christian moved and Kaz landed on a ladder that was on the ground. Christian was climbing, but Kaz used a springboard dropkick to the ladder, knocking him over. In doing so, the contract for the title match hanging from above fell to the ground. For a moment, nobody knew what to do.

This has happened in the past in TNA and they have re-hung it, but that would have killed the flow. Luckily, the clipboard didn't fall so they said the winner is the person who grabs the clipboard. Styles and Tomko came out. It should be noted in a promo earlier in the show, Christian told them not to come to ringside during his match. Styles took that as a wink, help me if things were bad, but then he made it clear it wasn't, but Styles didn't believe him. Christian climbed to the top, saw them and started yelling at Styles. This gave Kaz a chance to climb up with him. The ladder tipped over and Christian went flying over the top rope onto Styles & Tomko on the floor. Kaz landed, feet first, on the top rope, balanced, held onto the ladder and stepped on it and kicked off the ropes to where he could grab the clipboard and won.

Observer ****

Torch ***½”

This is one of those matches that has been forgotten about but it’s so good. Why did TNA always have issues with hanging stuff in TNA?

Do you agree that Kaz needed to stop being Kaz? How crazy is it that 15 years later Kazarian just gave up his X division title to wrestle for the Impact title against Josh Alexander?

“Another show-long angle was the Storm vs. Young drinking contest with Jackie Moore also there. They were in a room in the back. Jeremy Borash came in. Borash was all over the show. This is my thoughts on this from a decades old perspective. One of the most subtly funny characters I ever saw in wrestling was Gene Okerlund in his AWA days. The reason is because he'd just get in a line or make a face at the right time. He gained a lot more fame, and money, in his WWF days, but his comedy there was always forced. In the AWA, it was clear the talent were the stars and Gene was to accentuate them. In the WWF, Gene was the star. Borash has the similar timing as Okerlund, but instead of being a funny guy who adds to the skits, in becoming a key character who is clearly attempting to do comedy as opposed to being funny naturally, the whole dynamic changes.

Not that some of the segments weren't funny, because the skits where he tried to find out who was in the limo, got nowhere, and then Karen Angle got them to open the limo was good. But at this point, Borash said he needed a drink while Storm and Young were both loaded, but still drinking. They agreed that whoever could stand up and get out of the door would win the drinking championship belt. Storm got up, acted dizzy, and collapsed, so Young won.”

That’s a lot of words to discuss Jeremy Borash - but would you compare him to Gene Okerlund?

Booker T Debuts in TNA as Sting's Mystery Partner (Genesis 2007) | Classic IMPACT Wrestling Moments

“8. Kurt Angle retained the TNA title by winning the Fall pinning Sting in an Angle & Kevin Nash win over Sting & Booker T in 13:41.

Nash's new nickname, according to ring announcer Dave Penzer, is "The Silver Fox." I wonder who came up with that one?

They teased Booker coming out forever, and the crowd went nuts for him. He seemed almost overcome by the reaction, because it's probably as big as any he's gotten in his career. But the match never really got going. Sting worked the first three minutes and then tagged off to Booker. The tone of the match was set when Angle had Sting pinned but Nash made the save for Sting, since whomever got the pinfall was champion and it actually made sense. I mean, the match made zero sense but what Nash did given the no sense match made sense.

Angle went for the Olympic slam but Sting turned it into a DDT. Later, Booker delivered the ax kick to Nash, who was totally out of position and the move looked bad. The finish saw a ref bump, and Styles and Tomko came out again. Styles was supposed to do some sort of the springboard move onto Sting, but slipped off the ropes and fell on his face. Sting threw him out of the ring. Tomko clotheslined Sting. Sharrnell came out to attack Karen Angle. Styles then threw the title belt to Kurt. Nash had set Sting up for the power bomb, but Angle hit Nash with a belt shot and used theOlympic slam on Sting. Angle then went outside the ring and got ref Rudy Charles back in. The delay was so long between the Olympic slam and the cover and everyone expected Sting to kick out. This made the finish flat when he didn't.

Observer **¼

Torch **¼”

The tag team match for the world title was such a WCW move…but there is SO MUCH going on here Jeff. Looking back 15 years later…Booker’s debut is a big moment for TNA and Angle continues to be champion and this is all going to lead to quite the situation we’ll discuss next month…but are you happy with the match?

Overall Jeff - what did you think of the show?