Results
- Stacks def. Eric Young, BDE & KJ Orso (TNA International Championship) (Four-Way) (Pre-show) (6:23)
- Tessa Blanchard & Mila Moore def. Vicious Vicki Venuto & Indi Hartwell (Pre-show) (7:54)
- AJ Francis def. Rich Swann (12:20)
- Mustafa Ali def. Elijah (9:35)
- Eddie Edwards def. JDC (17:15)
- Ryan Nemeth def. Mara Sadè (5:20)
- Lei Ying Lee def. Zaria (TNA Knockouts World Championship) (14:22)
- Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy def. Dutch & Vincent (TNA World Tag Team Championships) (12:39)
- Joe Hendry def. Cedric Alexander & Moose (Three-Way) (15:20) (Recommended)
- Mike Santana def. Frankie Kazarian (TNA World Championship) (Texas Death Match) (19:12) (Recommended)
Stacks retains International title on pre-show
TNA Wrestling’s first pay-per-view of the year, Genesis, got started with a one-hour free Countdown card inside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. The on-stage panel for this short broadcast featured Gia Miller, Ash By Elegance, Busted Open’s Dave LaGreca, and Tommy Dreamer.
The first match of the night took place 15 minutes into the show, with TNA International Champion Stacks defending his title in a four-way against Eric Young, BDE and KJ Orso. The story is that Santino Marella, who is still mad about his daughter, Arianna Grace, betraying him and siding with Stacks, booked this match in hopes of taking the International title off him.
Worth noting: Orso (formerly Fuego Del Sol) was making his first TNA appearance since 2019 here. He has been a big part of GCW’s programming as of late and it looks like he could also become a part of TNA. This was also BDE’s first appearance since it was confirmed that TNA had officially signed him.
Heels Stacks and Young got a jump on Orso and BDE to get the match started. This match had tag team vibes in the early goings, with the heels teaming up to battle against the babyfaces. Orso got a spotlight early on in this match with an exchange in the ring against Stacks, then later he also scored a torneo to the outside onto Young.
Orso got a near fall with an Orso Driver (Michinoku Driver) onto BDE at the five-minute mark. A minute later, Young hit Orso with a piledriver and looked to go for a pin. However, capitalizing on the moment, Stacks tossed Young out of the ring then earned the pinfall win to retain the TNA International Championship in six minutes. This was an alright match, there was only so much they could do in just six minutes. BDE stuck out here to me as an impressive talent, especially since he’s still less than 25 matches into his career.
Tessa Blanchard, Mila Moore score pre-show victory
During the pre-show panel, Gia Miller announced that a match had suddenly been added to the event after a backstage interaction. What played was a backstage clip where Tessa Blanchard, Mila Moore and others tried to bully TNA newcomer Vicious Vicki Venuto. Indi Hartwell stood up for Vicki, so Blanchard & Moore vs. Venuto and Hartwell was booked.
The idea that this match was suddenly made 35 minutes into the pre-show didn’t make sense since a graphic for this match was the thumbnail for the Youtube stream…
Anyway, that tag match was next. At ringside to watch it was the newly-crowned TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Heather & M By Elegance alongside the new “Mr. Elegance.”
This was a spotlight for Venuto, who has only made a pair of TNA appearances over the past couple of years. Neither of her past bookings had been as big as this one, though, as one previous match was a one-minute squash, and the other was on TNA’s Xplosion b-show.
Venuto was isolated by Blanchard and Moore for over six minutes, finally leading to a Hartwell hot tag. Hartwell earned a two-count from a Spinebuster to Blanchard. Venuto tagged back in and looked to deliver a top-rope move, but was tripped by Victoria Crawford at ringide while the referee wasn’t looking. Hartwell had a dust-up with the Elegance Brand at ringside, preventing her from getting into the ring to break up a pin attempt.
Back in the ring, Blanchard scored a DDT to Venuto for the pinfall win in just under eight minutes. This was a very boring match: Nearly all of it was a plodding beatdown to Venuto, then the babyface team suddenly lost due to cheap tactics. Not much of a showcase of Venuto, and it didn’t do much to animate a thus-far quiet Texas crowd before the show got started. Speaking of that crowd: They’re either late-arriving or simply aren’t going to fill up this venue. We’ll know which is the answer soon.
AJ Francis takes down former First Class tag partner Rich Swann
The main card for Genesis got started with a First Class grudge match: AJ Francis went one-on-one with former ally Rich Swann.
Francis, who had a bone to pick with Swann after he attacked him during the last episode of First Class Penthouse, jumped him before the bell tonight. Swann was quick to recover and get control in the match, sending Francis out of the ring with a clothesline then a springboard dive to the outside.
Swann tried for a Lethal Injection but was stopped by a clubbing blow to the chest from Francis. Swann attempted to come off the middle rope with a crossbody but was caught and tossed across the ring with a huge Attitude Adjustment from Francis. They were playing up the size difference between these two significantly early on.
Francis delivered a running knee to the head in a corner of the ring, then choked Swann against steel steps at ringside. Francis started to set up for a chokeslam back in the ring. While Swann fought his way out of the Down Payment, Francis ended up tossing him over the top rope and to the outside just moments later.
Swann just barely beat the 10-count to get back in the ring. He avoided a senton at the seven-minute mark, providing him an opening to mount a comeback. He scored a crafty head kick, landed the Lethal Injection cutter upon second attempt, then a standing Shooting Star Press.
Swann hit a 450 Splash off the middle rope, but Francis kicked out at two. Swann returned to the top but was grabbed by Francis, who tossed him off the top rope for a huge bump. The fight went to the corner again, where Swann avoided a superplex attempt from Francis and instead headbutted him out of the corner. Swann came off the top rope, but Francis reversed it in mid-air to a spear (this looked weird).
After a long series of reversals, Francis gave Swann a Styles Clash then mocked an AJ Styles pose, earning him some heat from the Texas crowd. He tried for a second Styles Clash, but Swann reversed it into a Canadian Destroyer, earning him a near fall. This looked pretty great.
Swann came off the top with a huge frogsplash and went for another pin, but Francis escaped by putting a leg on the bottom rope. Swann had yet another Lethal Injection reversed into an inverted Down Payment. Francis hit a huge Down Payment chokeslam for the pinfall win in 12 minutes. This was a fun one, I’m not sure I would’ve had Francis win here though.
Mustafa Ali cheats his way to win over the returning Elijah
The next match of the night saw Order Four leader Mustafa Ali face off against Elijah. This was the second match back for Elijah, who spent a significant time on the sidelines last year due to a torn triceps.
Ali allies Jason Hotch and John Skyler attempted to attack Elijah before the match started, but he fought them both off. Elijah got a near fall less than a minute into the match, catching Ali for a pop-up powerbomb.
The attacks from the Great Hands Hotch and Skyler continued throughout the match, making this a three-on-one bout of sorts. Elijah got them both off his back, but this distraction allowed Ali to hit him with an awesome-looking tope suicida.
Ali caught Elijah with a rolling neckbreaker and seemingly tried to follow up with a standing moonsault, but Elijah countered by landing an upkick. A striking exchange between these two ended after a lariat from Elijah turned Ali inside out. He got a near fall moments later with a knee strike to the head of Ali.
Ali caught a move from Elijah and reversed it into a Death Valley Driver for a two-count of his own. He climbed to the top and started to eye a 450 Splash, but Elijah dodged the move and instead hit a Tombstone Piledriver. Ali bridged his way out of the pin, but then immediately collapsed back to the canvas.
The fight went to the top rope, where Elijah tried for another piledriver. The Great Hands were able to prevent this move while Tasha Steelz distracted the referee. Ali escaped the piledriver and attempted a springboard move, but Elijah reversed it to a huge powerbomb. He went for a pin but had the count stopped after the referee was pulled out of the ring by Special Agent 0.
The referee ejected Special Agent 0 and The Great Hands from ringside, following them up the ramp as she tried to lay down the law. As the referee wasn’t looking, Steelz brought a guitar into the ring. Elijah picked up Steelz for a piledriver, but Ali broke the guitar on Elijah’s back to prevent the move! With Elijah down and out after the guitar spot, the referee slid into the ring and counted three for the pinfall victory.
This match felt a little too much like an NJPW House of Torture match for my liking, with an endless amount of interference spots. However, I thought the finishing sequence was creative and these two had some fun counters in the ring at times. Overall, I definitely enjoyed it.
Eddie Edwards retires JDC
JDC (also known as Johnny Curtis, Fandango, Dirty Dango, and a few other nicknames), had his retirement match in the next segment. Before the 42-year-old stepped away from his in-ring career, he faced off against The System teammate Eddie Edwards in a singles bout this evening. The System entered together and JDC was given a standing ovation from the Texas crowd before the match got started.
JDC said in the lead-up to this fight that he didn’t want Edwards to hold back. To show that he was still there to win by any means, JDC tried to sneak by Edwards with a roll-up in the first minute of the bout.
Edwards scored a hurricanrana out of the corner at the five-minute mark, sending JDC out of the ring. Edwards followed with a tope suicida to ringside. The fight stayed at ringside for a minute, where JDC scored a belly to back suplex onto the ring apron. Edwards pushed JDC into a steel post at ringside. He tried to chop JDC, but JDC dodged the move, and Edwards instead had his arm go full-force into the ringpost.
Back in the ring, JDC dropped Edwards with a spinning heel kick. JDC sent Edwards through the ropes with a front kick to the head then came barreling over the top rope and to the outside with a dive of his own.
JDC dodged a move from Edwards in the ring, leaving him set up for a draping leg-drop. JDC earned a two-count from the move. JDC hit a DDT followed by a Falcon Arrow, but Edwards kicked out at two again.
JDC came charging at Edwards for a move, but Edwards countered into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Edwards pleaded with JDC to tap out to a sleeper hold he applied, trying to sell the idea that he didn’t want to hurt his friend any further. JDC returned to his feet and escaped the submission, then countered a move out of the corner to a Boston Crab. Edwards escaped with a roll-up attempt.
JDC got a two-count with a Codebreaker, causing the crowd to chant “This is awesome.” A back-and-forth in a corner of the ring between these two ended with an awesome Air Raid Crash from JDC for another near fall. He attempted a Down and Dirty leg drop off the top, but Edwards escaped and instead landed his Boston Knee Party (Shining Wizard) for a two-count. He landed the finisher again, but JDC wasn’t ready to quit yet.
Edwards landed a thrust kick, a Diehard Driver, then, getting waved on by JDC to pull the trigger and put him away, a third Boston Knee Party to win the match in 17 minutes. The pace for this match halfway through felt slow, but it picked up near the end and the finishing sequence for this one was great. Salute to JDC for his 26-year career, which saw him appear in over 1,400 matches, wrestle in dozens of promotions all across the world, and have quite the significant run as a viral sensation in 2013.
Ryan Nemeth gets payback against Mara Sadé
The next matchup saw the comedy storyline between Mara Sadé and Ryan Nemeth hit the ring in a rare TNA intergender bout.
Sadé has attacked Nemeth in numerous backstage and ringside segments in recent weeks, wiping him out with a superkick each time. After their past run-ins, they were paired up for a match this week.
Nemeth rolled out of the ring to avoid a superkick in the second minute but ate a dive to the outside from Sadé moments later. Nemeth caught her coming through the ropes and back into the ring, then dumped the ex-Meta Four member with a belly to back suplex onto the ring apron.
Sadé battled back into the match with a series of strikes then a DDT for a two-count. Nemeth gouged an eye of Sadé then tried for a roll-up but the referee stopped a pin attempt after noticing that he was holding a rope for leverage. Sadé scored a slingblade and climbed to the top for a move but was hit with a dropkick from Nemeth. Nemeth went for another pinfall and, in a blind spot where the referee couldn’t see, grabbed a rope for leverage to earn the pinfall win. This was a bad match and felt like a waste of time. Luckily, it was only five minutes.
Lei Ying Lee defends Knockouts title against NXT’s Zaria
In a cross-promotional match with NXT, Zaria took a crack at TNA Knockouts World Champion Lei Ying Lee in the next bout. This matchup was announced on Thursday due to Lee’s original opponent for this weekend, Dani Luna, being unavailable due to visa issues.
Zaria was on a roll early, catching a crossbody out of the corner from Lee and turning it into a suplex. She put Lee into a Texas Cloverleaf at the four-minute mark, eventually letting the submission go to instead powerbomb Lee to the mat.
Lee escaped a second Texas Cloverleaf then tried for an STF. Lee unloaded on Zaria with a series of kicks, sending her into a corner of the ring with a hard one to the chest. After landing 10 punches in a corner of the ring, she got a near fall with an exploder suplex.
Lee hopped onto Zaria’s back with a sleeper, which the NXT talent escaped by running them into a corner of the ring, cannonball-esque. This looked great. The fight went to the ring apron, where Zaria scored a huge belly to back suplex (we’re seeing a lot of those on “The Hardest Part of the Ring” tonight).
10 minutes into the match, Knockouts tag champs Heather and M By Elegance appeared on-stage to watch the bout. Back in the ring, Zaria caught Lee with a spear then scored a Tornado Facebuster, but took out the referee in the process! Unforunate for her, since Lee was down for much longer than a three-count.
Xia Brookside and Sol Ruca started to fight with the Elegance Brand, who came down to the ring at this point. All four of them brawled to the back, leaving nobody at ringside for the rest of this match (not that any interference was expected from these super-babyface duos).
Zaria tried for a spear in a corner of the ring, but instead went head-first into a ringpost after Lee dodged the move. Lee took Zaria off the top with a huge hurricanrana, keeping them both down for a moment afterward.
They went back and forth with blows after getting back to their feet. Zaria picked up Lee for a facebuster but had it countered into a DDT. Lee landed a spinning heel kick then her Warriors Way finisher for the pinfall in 14 minutes. A striking-heavy battle with a solid final stretch. As much as it pains me that we didn’t get the payoff to Dani Luna’s push this weekend, this was an enjoyable replacement.
Recent TNA signing Elayna Black (formerly Cora Jade) appeared on the ring apron to signal that she wants next for the Knockouts title.
The Hardys turn back The Righteous in tag title match
The creepy duo of Dutch and Vincent of The Righteous tried to win gold in their TNA in-ring debut next, facing tag champs Matt and Jeff Hardy.
The Hardys dragged The Righteous out of the ring for a brawl before the match officially got underway. The crowd was red hot for this match as it started.
Matt and Jeff successfully isolated Vincent in the first few minutes of the bout, although their run of success stopped after Dutch caught Matt with a clothesline while on the ring apron.
Matt found himself stuck in the ring with Dutch for minutes on end, finally escaping after landing a Twist of Fate. Jeff got a hot tag against Vincent, at one point delivering a Plot Twist double-team with Matt (Twist of Fate into a neckbreaker) for a two-count.
Matt got back into the match and started setting up for a third Twist of Fate, but Vincent escaped. Matt tried to run the ropes but was tripped by Dutch, who got back into the match after the illegal interference.
Matt came running off the ropes but got caught with a huge Black Hole Slam from Dutch. Dutch hit a Twist of Fate, then Vincent tagged back in and scored a Swanton Bomb. Vincent conveniently positioned himself for a pinfall in a part of the ring where Jeff could pull him out to break the count.
Dutch tried for a senton off the ring apron and onto the floor, but Jeff rolled out of the way, causing him to take a rough landing. Dutch got on the mic as Matt and Vincent battled in the ring: “This is exactly what we wanted. We want to hurt,” he said, laughing afterward. Matt looked confused as the crowd chanted “Shut the f*** up.”
Matt hit a Twist of Fate to Vincent, then Jeff tagged back in to hit a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall win in 12 minutes. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t understand anything about The Righteous. I’m just glad this storyline is over… If it is.
Joe Hendry takes win in hectic three-way
Before world title action closed out the night, we saw a three-way bout between Joe Hendry, Moose and Cedric Alexander. This was originally scheduled to be an X-Division title match involving Leon Slater, but he was replaced by Hendry after visa issues prevented him from being in Texas.
This match was off to a fast pace from the start: Moose took down Alexander with a gigantic dropkick, Hendry caught a crossbody from Alexander into a fallaway slam, then at ringside, both Alexander and Moose took powerbombs onto the ring apron.
Alexander came flying through the ropes with a tope suicida onto Hendry. The Smackdown talent responded by sending Alexander into the steel steps moments later. Moose came charging at Hendry and took a nasty back bodydrop onto the steel stairs.
A medical professional checked on Moose after the bump, as well as TNA President Carlos Silva, starting a worked injury angle which would be played up for the rest of the bout. With Moose down and out, it essentially became a one-on-one bout between Alexander and Hendry in the ring.
The pace hardly slowed down, even with one man out of the equation. Hendry got a two-count from an Olympic Slam, but Alexander countered a minute later with a beautiful Michinoku Driver. After both wrestlers took each other out with clotheslines, a hurt Moose hobbled back into the ring. “What the hell are you looking at?” he said. “Let’s go!”
Moose wobbled Alexander with a headbutt, then gave Hendry a uranage followed by a senton. Alexander tried climbing to the top rope but ate a dropkick from Moose, who had to get some serious height on his kick to reach him up there.
Moose scored a superplex off the top, but Hendry immediately shot back up to his feet and countered with a suplex of his own. Alexander capitalized on this exchange, coming off the top with a frogsplash to Hendry for a near fall.
Moose gave Alexander his Go To Hell top-rope powerbomb, but it wasn’t enough to end the match just yet. Moose came running off the ropes for a move, although it was Hendry who connected with a pop-up powerbomb for a two-count.
Alexander couldn’t put Hendry away with a Death Valley Driver but immediately followed up with a crossface, attempting to end this via submission. Hendry was about to tap but was stopped by Moose, preventing the match from ending.
A series of counters ended with Alexander giving Moose a Styles Clash. Alexander caught Moose with a hard lariat and attempted to come flying off the middle rope with a move, but Moose countered it mid-air into a spear.
Moose tried for a spear, but had to stop himself after his back gave out. Alexander sent Moose rolling out of the ring after scoring a Lumbar Check to his injured back. Hendry, who had been out of the ring for a few minutes, rolled back in and caught Alexander off-guard with a Standing Ovation chokeslam for the pinfall win in 15 minutes.
Was this a low-stakes match with no real story? Sure. Was it a great match and one of the highlights of the night anyways? 100 percent. Really enjoyed this one, it earned its spot as the co-main event. Also, a nice send-off of sorts for Hendry, who is a full-time WWE talent at this point.
Mike Santana defends against Frankie Kazarian in Texas Deathmatch, prevents Nic Nemeth from cashing in
The final match of the night saw the newly-crowned TNA World Champion Mike Santana defend his title against Frankie Kazarian in a rematch. But this wasn’t just any rematch, they were facing off under special Texas Deathmatch rules, with Call Your Shot gauntlet winner Nic Nemeth as the special guest referee. For a quick refresher on the rules: In a Texas Deathmatch, you win by earning a three-count, THEN also a standing 10-count.
Kazarian was the first one to bring a weapon into the match, getting a steel chair out from under the ring. Santana came flying off a set of steel stairs for a lariat at ringside early on. A small cut near Kazarian’s left ear drew first blood (I don’t think this was planned).
Santana set Kazarian up against a set of guardrails then delivered a gnarly-looking cannonball. The brawl went into the crowd at the Curtis Culwell Center, where Santana dove off the top of a barricade onto Kazarian. The fight went backstage, with Kazarian getting driven into a garage door twice by Kazarian.
Kazarian hit Santana across the back with a garbage can, then a nasty slam onto the concrete. This greedy crowd started to chant “We want tables.” Just WAIT! The fight went back to ringside, where Kazarian scored with another hard suplex onto the floor.
Kazarian set up a pair of steel chairs and attempted to put Santana through them. Santana countered a move from Kazarian into a piledriver through both chairs. Santana got a three-count, causing a standing 10-count to begin. Kazarian just barely beat the count, using a rope from the ring to help get himself up.
The fight went to the ring apron, near where a table was set up at ringside. Kazarian, who was bleeding from the forehead at this point, countered a move from Satana mid-air into a cutter through the table. This looked weird – it wasn’t even plausible that Santana was actually trying for a move here and not just diving into a move from Kazarian. Kazarian got his three-count, but Santana got up before the 10-count ended.
Kazarian kept the pressure on Santana by running him into steel steps at ringside. While Santana was down, Kazarian set up a huge ladder beside a table inside the ring.
Santana emerged on the ring apron with a barbed-wire baseball bat. He tried to strike Kazarian in the head with it, but the challenger dodged the lethal move. However, after escaping a chickenwing, Santana took the barbed wire bat to Kazarian’s head.
Santana hit a Michinoku Driver, then put Kazarian onto the table set up in the ring. Santana climbed to the top of the ladder and delivered a gigantic frogsplash through the table, but Kazarian surprisingly kicked out at three! No standing 10-count even needed! In a weirdly similar error to Thursday night’s title match, Nemeth’s hand hit the mat for the three-count even though Kazarian kicked out in time. That’s a bizarre coincidence.
Kazarian disrespectfully spat in Santana’s face during a back-and-forth lariat exchange, causing Santana to wrap his right arm with barbed wire. Santana hit Kazarian with a Spin The Block with the barbed wire-wrapped arm, giving him the three-count. Kazarian nearly got up to beat the 10-count but slipped and fell back down to the mat, showing he was in no shape to keep competing. Santana has put away Kazarian in their trilogy match and is still the TNA World Champion.
Nemeth raised Santana’s arm, then gave him a ZigZag! Would Nemeth use this moment to cash in his Call Your Shot trophy? He walked to ringside and placed his trophy on the commentary desk, then asked for a referee to come to ringside for a title match.
A referee made their way down to the ring, but Santana prevented Nemeth from getting the match started by taking him out with a Spin The Block. No cash-in tonight.
The “deathmatch” title might mislead people to think this would be a nasty, bloody battle like what you might see in other promotions. Instead, this was much more the style of a WWE street fight-type bout. However, with that style, Santana and Kazarian put together a solid 19-minute main event without many major issues. A strong way to end the show – TNA still has a star in Santana on top of the promotion.
