Genesis 2007 [DVD]

Every year, Genesis marks a debut of a new star in TNA. First it was Christian Cage to TNA...then it was the PPV in ring debut of Kurt Angle...and now, it's the former 6 time World Champion Booker T....and Sharmell too. But that wasn't the highlight of this PPV as two wrestlers "climbed the ladder" to success & steal the show.

Shop Of Horrors Match: Abyss vs. Black Reign - This was basically a typical Abyss hardcore match with various weapons & traps set up around the ring. The match wasn't really anything that you haven't seen in an Abyss match (minus No Surrender) in the past couple of months so there was nothing special about this match that you haven't seen before past the debut of a new character named Rellik to help Reign attack Abyss.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Team 3D - This was a very good match that gave the Guns back credibilty that has been lost with weird booking for the past couple of months. The teams worked well together & told a good story here. It's not a classic but it's real good.

TNA Womens Champion Gail Kim vs. O.D.B. vs. Roxxi Laveaux vs. Angel Williams - Another solid matchup as you can tell these women worked hard & well together...if you can get past the one part in the beginning when Roxxi looked like she was trying to put a trance on the referee. The real standout IMO was O.D.B. as she really had was connecting with the crowd.

X Division Champion Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt - If you can't take Sonjay Dutt seriously as an X division wrestler because of either his gimmick or that he was never given a chance for one reason or another, pay attention to this match. Sonjay brought his A game & even got more aggressive than I've seen him before. This match did more for him credibilty wise than anything his "guru" gimmick has or could do. These two put on a good athletic bout with the two's friendship becoming a factor in the match early on. The aftermath with Team 3D didn't take away from what I thought was the match of the night.

TNA Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Tomko vs. Steiner Brothers - This match was disappointing as Rick Steiner just dragged the match down for me. There really wasn't anything to mention about this match except the Death Valley Driver that Rick Steiner gave Tomko...that looked almost botched or heavily stiff. The Tag Team Title match with L.A.X. (who won the title shot at Bound For Glory) that happened on Impact weeks earlier would have been a better choice to put here instead of this...and concidering how L.A.X. wasn't in Japan unlike Triple X & other TNA talent, you have to wonder why they didn't just go with that after seeing this match?

Samoa Joe vs. Robert Roode - Robert Roode heavily stepped his game up & showed potential here by being able to keep up with Joe here. The crowd was into it & had a good reason too as this was a solid encounter eventhough Ms. Brooks passing out (which was reported as being legit & not part of the show) had some people like the announcers distracted a few times.

Ladder Match: Kaz vs. Christian Cage - You can quote me here...this was the best Ladder Match I've seen in TNA. We know what Christian Cage can do based on his WWE past but what Kaz was pulling off in this match as well made this the match of the night. There were alot of moves done that were unbelievable such as Christian's frog splash onto the ladder from the top rope and the ladder doesn't give...which happened in the first five minutes. Another moment to look out for wasKaz missing a legdrop drop the top of the ladder onto another ladder. I don't want to give away everything that happened in the match but this was the match of the night & the best in Kaz's career since his return (and maybe even before as well) in TNA while Christian Cage gave a showstealing performance..no questions asked.

TNA Champion Kurt Angle & Kevin Nash vs. Sting & Booker T - This was a tag match in which whoever scored the victory for their team also won the TNA Championship. Once you get past the fact that it was Booker T who was the mystery partner for Sting...the match was average as you got the type of performance you would expect from Nash (which isn't much) & Sting while this was probably Angle's "weakest" PPV performance just based on the talent around him & the calibur of his previous PPV matches for the past couple of months. The match wasn't bad at all, it's watchable but a big step down from previous TNA PPV main events from recent months. Again, a match that was as good as you would expect it to be.

Also thoughout the night, they had various backstage skits involing Eric Young & James Storm in a drinking contest for James Storm's beer drinking Championship belt which was a toy John Cena WWE title decorated with a beer bottle over the part where the "WWE" spins on the belt. I found some of the segments funny or silly but nothing that was so painful that it made you click the fast foward/skip button.

In the end, this PPV had a solid undercard with a showstealing Ladder Match with the opening & closing matches being about as good as you expect it to be. This isn't the best offering of 2007 for TNA but it's far from the worst (see Against All Odds) so this is something I would recommend...but not past other DVD's such as Lockdown, Destination X, and Bound For Glory.

I consider TNA Genesis 2007 to be a good ppv that is well worth any wrestling fan's money. I believe any fan of TNA and any fan of professional wrestling period will definitely enjoy this one. Booker T makes his TNA debut and Kevin Nash makes his return to the ring.

Shop Of Horrors:
Abyss Vs. Black Reign
This match was your basic hardcore match there were a couple of good spots in the match but I believe these 2 wrestlers could've put on a little better of a show. I liked the debut of RELLIK it was a nice surprise end to the match. Rating 3/5

The Motor City Machineguns Vs. Team 3D
This was a good tag team match, Sabin and Shelly (the machineguns) put on a hell of a show and Team 3D kept up with them. I like the mixture of the high-flying fast-paced x division with the slower style of Team 3D they really worked well together. Team 3D shows no signs of getting old or becoming irrelevant. Rating 4/5

TNA Knockout Women's Championship
Gail Kim (C) Vs. ODB Vs. Angel Williams Vs. Roxxi Laveaux
This was a really good women's wrestling match. These 4 knockouts worked really well together, they kept the pace up and the match stayed exciting and enjoyable. Gail Kim and ODB definitely stood out above the rest but they all should be proud of themselves somebody needs to tell WWE that this is how women's WRESTLING should be done. Rating 4.5/5

X-Division Championship
"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal (C) Vs. "The Guru" Sonjay Dutt
This match started out slow with these best of friends hugging each other and apologizing for showing one another up but once they got started it was total nonstop action. Sonjay Dutt is just so quick and Lethal works really well with him this was a good match with a good ending. Team 3D comes out after its over to continue their assault on the X Division. Rating 4.5/5

TNA Tag Team Championship
AJ Styles & Tomko (C) Vs. The Steiner Brothers
This match for me was the worst match of the night it was repetitive and it really didnt impress, its easily the worst AJ Styles match I remember seeing it was average at best. Rating 3/5

Samoa Joe Vs. Robert Roode
I continue to be impressed by Samoa Joe this big overweight guy can move just as fast as anybody else on the TNA roster and Roode really stepped up and put on a good match as well. This was easily the #2 match of the night and the most surprising as well. Rating 4.5/5

Fight For The Right Finals (Ladder Match)
Kaz Vs. "The Instant Classic" Christian Cage
Ok now this match should've been the main event cause it was easily the best of the night, this has got to be the best ladder match TNA has ever put on. Cage got busted open early on in the match and they both took alot of bumps from the ladders, The Captain and Kaz deserve a standing ovation for this one shoot i was standing up during this match chanting TNA TNA TNA most of the time. Rating 5/5 easily an instant classic

4 Man Tag Team Match For The TNA World Heavyweight Championship Belt
Kurt Angle(C)& Kevin Nash Vs. Sting & Booker T
This was a pretty solid main event, it was good to see Nash back in the ring and you gotta love seeing Booker T back to his old self without that stupid KIng Booker gimmick. I liked the ending of the match I think Karen, and Kurt have good charisma together but Kurt has usually been able to bring out the best in others during his career.

Well TNA Genesis was a good ppv that's well worth the money, I gave the show 4 out of 5 stars and I can't Wait to watch Turning Point when it comes out. I also enjoyed the backstage segments with James Storm and EY Eric Young the heavyweight drinking champion of the world lol. See ya next month TNA!

Abyss VS Black Reign: A decent hardcore brawl but nothing speical. The end came quick and was boring. Relik debuts after the match and attacks Abyss, him and Reign lock him in a box and throw him off the stage.

Team 3-D VS Motor City Machine Guns: This was a typical big man vs small man match up. Not a bad match but I felt it went on far too long and the ending was seen from the start.

Gail Kim VS ODB: When I hear ODB, I think of the late great rapper[...]. Anyways, I skipped this match.

Jay Lethal VS Sonjay Dutt: This was before Lethal and Dutt feud over So Cal Val. It was a good match up but i've seen better matches from the two. I really didnt care for Dutt's gimmick as a guru.

Styles and Tomko VS Steiner Brothers: This match plain sucked.

Samoa Joe VS Robert Roode: Roode has the loose cannon gimmick of Scott Steiner and Test but they scrapped that idea. I thought the match was decent but nothing speical.

Kaz VS Christian Cage: Awesome, excellent, nothing else to say. I always loved Cage in ladder matches and this did not disappoint. A must watch wrestling clinic. Kaz became a superstar of the moment.

Angle @ Nash VS Sting and Booker T, sucka: They sold hard for the mystery partner but I didnt think anyone care. They probably already knew who was going be the partner anyways. This match was decent but i'm sick of these tag team matches with the world title at stake.

Overall, it was a one match ppv. The ladder match stole the show and the rest of the card could not live up to the hype. I think the second best match was Abyss-Black Reign, which may be scary to be some readers.