Genesis Preview & Predictions

The first pay-per-view of 2010 is here as Genesis comes to us tonight live from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.  Eight matches have been booked for the show and a new superstar will be making their debut.  Four of the matches will have a title on the line.

- AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle (TNA World Championship)
- Beer Money, Inc. vs. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
- Abyss vs. Bobby Lashley
- The British Invasion vs. Matt Morgan & Hernandez (TNA Tag Team Championship)
- ODB vs. Tara (2 out of 3 Falls for TNA Knockouts Championship)
- Amazing Red vs. TBA (X Division Championship)
- Sean Morley vs. Daniels
- D’Angelo Dinero vs. Desmond Wolfe
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle (TNA World Championship)
TNA gave this pay-per-view quality match away on Impact two weeks ago and AJ Styles came up victorious to retain his TNA World Championship.  Being as this match was already booked, it will still go on as planned, but Hulk Hogan stated that it will be Kurt Angle’s last shot at the championship in 2010.

I don’t think it matters to most wrestling fans on how many times these two face each other as it usually ends up being something special and it never gets tiring to see them go at it.  Angle has come up short on two occasions on trying to win the TNA World Championship – once in a time limit draw, the other a clean pin fall loss – so will the third time be a charm?  I doubt it as Ric Flair has seemed to align himself with Styles.

My guess is that Flair somehow factors in to the finish of the match and Styles retains the championship.  As for Angle’s final title shot of 2010, I find that hard to believe.

Starman’s Prediction: AJ Styles to retain the TNA World Championship.

Beer Money, Inc. vs. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
The band is back together and to make a statement, they laid out Beer Money in the backstage area.  The following week, Beer Money demanded that Eric Bischoff give them a match against Hall & Nash.  Bischoff said he’d get back to them on it and finally booked the match after Beer Money was beat down by the Band.

I think most people do not want to see Hall, in the shape that he’s in, compete in the ring and TNA will be lucky if he even does show up to the pay-per-view at all.  At least they will be able to put in Sean Waltman at a moments notice if needed.  In the end, I have a feeling that the veterans will be on the winning end of this match, burying one of the hottest tag teams that TNA had last year.

Starman’s Prediction: Nash & Hall on the winning end of this one.

Abyss vs. Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley announced through his wife, Kristal, that he wants to leave TNA since he has better things to do and requests a meeting with Hulk Hogan.  That meeting still hasn’t come and Lashley has promised to take out each and every TNA star until it does happen.  The response to that message, I guess, was to book him in a match against Abyss.

There wasn’t much more to it than that and I feel this match won’t amount to much either.  Abyss will be the sacrificial lamb for Lashley as he once again decimates another member of the TNA roster to get his point across and continues to demand a meeting with Hogan.

Starman’s Prediction: Lashley to easily win this match.

The British Invasion vs. Matt Morgan & Hernandez (TNA Tag Team Championship)
Matt Morgan & Hernandez earned a shot at the British Invasion by easily beating the team of Raven & Dr. Stevie in less than a minute.  The following week, Rob Terry interfered during their match.  Other than that, not much has come out from either side to hype this title match.

Both Morgan and Hernandez were set up for huge pushes but have since cooled off after being paired together.  The Brits, on the other hand, have been one of the better tag teams in a solid division, even though not much has been seen from them since they appeared on the New Year’s Knockout Eve show.  Even so, I doubt their title reign will end any time soon.

Starman’s Prediction: The British Invasion to retain the TNA Tag Team Championships.

ODB vs. Tara (2 out of 3 Falls for TNA Knockouts Championship)
Tara defeated ODB for the Knockouts Championship at Final Resolution in December and quickly lost it back to ODB on the first Impact of 2010.  ODB won the very short match with a roll up in which she pulled on the tights.  The battle isn’t over, though, as these two where then booked in a 2-of-3 falls match.

If these two are given enough time, this series of matches should be fun to watch.  They are not of the caliber of Angle/Styles, but they are two of the best wrestlers in their division.  At any rate, this will go to the third fall, of course, and ODB will come out with the victory once again.

Starman’s Prediction: ODB to retain the Knockouts Championship.

Amazing Red vs. TBA (X Division Championship)
Amazing Red will be taking on a mystery opponent and putting his X Division Championship on the line.  A Final Resolution, the X Division got snubbed and was left off the card.  A mystery opponent probably isn’t much better to hype the X Division, but at least it was booked in a match.  Could TNA’s hyped debut be the mystery opponent?  If it is Rob Van Dam it could be a lot of fun to watch, as would Jeff Hardy.  Since the opponent hasn’t been announced, though, I will not be casting any predictions for the match.

Sean Morley vs. Daniels
Sean Morley was one of the several new faces that made their debut on the first Impact of the year and was up to his usual bag of tricks with the ladies.  Morley announced that he has changed from the star of films to the producer, director and distributor of his works of art and will be starting a film division in TNA.  Daniels came out and showed him his thoughts of all of this by beating Morley down.

Towards the end of his tenure with the WWE, Morley basically became a jobber to the stars and I have a feeling he will be reforming that role in TNA.  As for Daniels, this is quite a drop after being in the main event last month for the TNA World Championship.  One can hope that Daniels doesn’t lose his spot as he stated on Impact to the influx of talent that is coming in.

Starman’s Prediction: Daniels to defeat Morley.

D’Angelo Dinero vs. Desmond Wolfe
D’Angelo Dinero put himself high on a pedestal as he was hand selected by Hulk Hogan to be in a match against Desmond Wolfe on Impact.  Dinero won said match but Wolfe regained some lost momentum by cleanly defeating Samoa Joe the following week.  Wolfe has demanded a rematch against Dinero and will get it at Genesis.

Neither of these wrestlers has been in TNA for long, but both should become major players in 2010.  They both have the talent and charisma needed to make it big and one can hope this match is a stepping stone for both Dinero and Wolfe.  With that said, although they both could use the win, I feel that Wolfe needs it more that Dinero and will even the score between the two.

Starman’s Prediction: Desmond Wolfe to earn his first TNA PPV victory.

With the timing of the holidays throwing a wrench into TNA schedule and the arrival of Hulk Hogan era, Genesis didn’t nearly get the attention that it needed to be a solid pay-per-view offering.  TNA tried to make the matches meaningful, but having a limited amount of time to promote the show is pretty evident when you look at the line up.

I believe TNA will be banking on the main event and the debut of a new star to carry this event, but this is really looking like a throwaway pay-per-view and isn’t getting TNA off to a good start in 2010.  I can only hope that I am wrong in that prediction.

As always, live coverage of Genesis will take place on Gerweck.net starting at 8PM EST.