So Genesis is Sunday, followed by next week’s Live Episode of iMPACT! Let’s see exactly how we get to Genesis and not to bury the lead, the fact the WWE/TNA partnership was extended for a few years is very big news for TNA. More visibility for a nostalgic brand and the younger NXT wrestlers get more opportunities with potential sprinkles of a big name here or there (yes I only really mean AJ Styles, but that’s what we all want to see one more time).

Let’s get to the show and see if it’s a Go Home worth anything.

After her shocking appearance on @WWENXT, @mashaslamovich steps into the confessional with @WeAreRosemary…

WATCH #TNAiMPACT on TNA+: https://t.co/Dw7ITswj28 pic.twitter.com/YSTXfJZw6X

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 17, 2025

Ratings:

• Trent Seven vs Leon Slater: Slater wins via Swanton 450 – *
• Fir$t Cla$$ vs Maniac Marines (Eric Young & Steve Maclin): EY wins via Macho Elbow – ** 3/4
• Laredo Kid vs Jake Something: Jakes wins via Avalanche Something Bomb – **
• The Hardys vs Ohio Versus Frankenstein (Sami Callihan & PCO): Hardys win via Crouton Bomb – ***

Results:

Trent Seven vs Leon Slater

British on British violence! I just appreciate that Trent’s theme is a down tuned remix of Seven Nation Army. 

A little back and forth until Slater hits a Reverse Gamengiri, Trent tries to climb back to the apron after the powder, eats a Shotgun Kick. Trent dodges the dive, and Suplexes Leon down the steps at Center Stage. I feel like Slater over sold the spot, but I suppose using your surroundings is always interesting. Leon slides in at 9.5, Trent gets a little cocky and Leon hits two Flash Cradles for near falls, as Trent is reeling from the quick pinfall attempts he eats another Shotgun Kick for a near fall. Trent sells to the corner, eats a Jumping Bootwash, Leon perches Trent, goes for possibly a Spanish Fly but Trent turns it into an Avalanche Flowsion for two!

Bop and Bang, 7 Star Lariat, Piledriver with flourish and…still a two. Birminghammer attempt but Slater flips out of it, Crucifix pinfall for two, Uppercut by Trent and Birminghammer is hit! But Slater…kicks…out? He sells a Suplex where he slides down steps like death, but eats huge signature and finishing moves and kicks out. The psychology in this match is non-existent. Trent does the Finger Break, Leon sells away, hits another Shotgun Kick and Trent powders. X Plex gets reversed into a DDT from Slater. Trent powders off the Ramp, Leon goes to the entrance way runs and jumps off the ramp, then hits the Swanton 450.

Completely stupid match with spots that make no sense. All sizzle no steak, so dumb my IQ dropped 5 points.

The Elegance Clique have a “Pre-Launch Championship Celebration”. Tom Hannifan hates it, the crowd hates it, and the Personal Concierge uncovers a cardboard cut out with a Knockouts Title around their waists…and they are size accurate. Heather is like a My Size Barbie. Ash gives a very cringey speech where she thanks everyone except Heather, the Concierge passes the mic to Heather, Spitfire interrupts of course, and at least Dani cuts the promo to start so it’s tolerable. Yeah this is painfully bad cringe, as much as I didn’t mind the Ash gimmick to start with, this is lame. The only thing saving the segment is the crowd is hot for the the Elegance Clique getting their stuff ruined. So it was lame, but the crowd was into it and Ash sold the destruction of cardboard cut outs like Spitfire just murdered her puppy. 

.@PCOisNotHuman and @TheSamiCallihan take on The Hardys! If they win, they’ll secure their spot in the TNA World Tag Team Title match at #TNAGenesis!

WATCH #TNAiMPACT on TNA+: https://t.co/Dw7ITswQRG pic.twitter.com/fO9P2F5d9d

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 17, 2025

Well the first 40 minutes of this show are making me wish for a stroke instead of watching this. So hopefully it picks up somewhere. 

Fir$t Cla$$ vs Maniac Marines (Eric Young & Steve Maclin)

KC flips out of two of EY’s Back Body Drops and does his “First Class” taunt, so EY just slaps him upside the head and tags in Maclin to start beating on Navarro. I do really like KC’s work. He’s like WWE Lio Rush, but likable and talented. Maclin is beating the hell out of KC though, Lariats him out, goes for the SCUD, but AJ low bridges so Maclin crashes to the outside, KC hits the Tope con Hilo with blind tag so AJ is now legal and they start working over Maclin in the corner. Tennessee Whiskey, and there does seem to be a few First Class fans in the crowd.

Navarro is back in for the 305, quick tags though to keep Maclin eating offense. Splash into Big Boot into Assisted Splash while AJ leans on Maclin literally. KC starts picking on kids in the crowd near Judd Normand, he shoves the actor, the actor shoves him back and AJ comes over to mad dog the actor. Maclin takes advantage of the distraction and drops AJ on the way back in with an Olympic Slam, tags in EY and EY comes out hot. KC tags in, EY levels KC and they start messing around in the corner, AJ tries to break it up but eats a Busaiku Knee from Maclin and then a SCUD. EY manages to throw KC off the turnbuckle and then hit the Macho Elbow for the win.

After the match Eddie, Lish and Brian Myers stand at the entrance way to send a message but not cause any real chaos. 

Josh Alexander and his two bitch boys come out to cut a promo on Santana or something. I am about as interested in this as I am in Norwegian Dog Sledding. Josh trying to say Santana is too hurt to go at Genesis when we all know this was filmed the same time like a month ago. You really can’t do doofus attempts a story when you’re promoting the first live episode in nearly a decade or something for next week. At least the match should be good because this build is lame, the jabronis are useless, “Bald Ass Head” is the big insult…sheeeesh. 

Laredo Kid vs Jake Something

Well…someone has to win this match, so there’s that.

Nothing special start until Jake comes off the ropes and runs over Laredo sending him flying over the ropes onto the ramp. Jake panders to the crowd, Laredo tries to get something going but Jake steps on his foot to stop any Lucha things, and mollywops him. Jake runs him corner to corner until Laredo moves, strings a few moves together, tries to fly and then gets knocked out of the sky with a Forearm. Only a two count for Jake, but Laredo is definitely doing his best impression of a pinata so far in the match. Laredo gets a desperation Satellite DDT, misses his big attempt, but Jake misses the Spear in the corner, La Magistral gets a 2, a few bad spots from Laredo where it looks like he missed a Satellite Facebuster and sloppy Essex or Canadian Destroyer. Laredo goes to the top, Jake bear paw slap, goes up top and Avalanche Something Bomb for the win.

The Hardys vs Ohio Versus Frankenstein (Sami Callihan & PCO)

Before the Hardys intro, the 23 thing flashes a few times again. So at least they didn’t forget that.

Sami starts with Jeff and gets in a few early shots and goads Jeff with Hardys taunts, then all four get in, throw hands and we go to commercial. We come back from commercial to Matt Delete Turnbuckling Sami, and then Poetry In Motion the classic way! A few quick tags, but Sami eventually knocks down Matt, tags in PCO, Matt’s moves aren’t very effective, Jeff throws himself in too and they get their asses beat by PCO. PCO tags in Sami, Sami slaps around Matt, drags his face across the ropes, tags PCO back in and uses PCO as a battering ram into Matt’s chest. PCO keeps Matt in their corner, tags back in Sami, some simple tandem work and a short 2 count for Sami. Sami calls PCO back in and they’re formulating a tag move, they try the Double Back Drop, but Matt turns it into a Double DDT instead.

Jeff tries to fight them both off, Sami grabs Jeff, PCO goes for the Lariat, malfunction at the junction, Whisper in the Wind mostly hits PCO so Jeff Splashes Sami. Twist of Hate, Twist of Fate, Swanton Bomb from Jeff and the Hardy Boys win!

Before the obligatory contract signing on the Go Home before a PPV, Jordynne walks over to the announce table with the contract for her match with Tessa. Says she’ll leave it with them so she can’t miss it, but hey, “if she doesn’t show up at Genesis it wouldn’t be the first time”. That’s funny. 

Joe starts the promo saying he has to win, but its on him to take the title from Nic. There’s an intensity, so it’s not all cornball jokes and shenanigans. That’s kinda nice to start with. Nic takes the babyface angle of “you’re not wrong but I don’t think you’re ready yet kid”. Then he plays the JBL clip from Bound for Glory. Nic tries to use the video to clear his name because Ryan got attacked too. Joe is about to poke a hole in the defense but then Hollywood Abyss Mokuba shows up. “MY BROTHER SETO” Ryan interferes, Nic tries to stop the stupidity but Ryan plows through is about to eat a Standing Ovation but Nic Superkicks Joe to save Mokuba. Nic does stand there as the crowd chants “kick your brother”, but Nic doesn’t pull the trigger but you can tell he’s contemplating. 

OH! Sexy Tessy shows up, signs the contract but Jordynne was waiting for her and leaves Tessa laying with a Grace Driver and solid intensity. Okay most of the show was kinda mid but the ending was pretty solid.

Overall Score: 6.25/10

As I said at the very end, most of this show was mid…or mediocre for the older crowd. Indie Spotfest Dumbassery to kick off the show, a few segments that made me question if I was tasting pennies, a decent match with First Class, the stalled push never relevant squad match between Jake and Laredo, and at least the main event match was fun.

The video packages always feel lackluster because the only people really watching TNA currently are hardcore fans. I never really see too many people pull the whole “whoa first TNA episode in 11 years and I decided on the random Go Home instead of the first live episode since 2015”. See, this is why logic matters in booking. WWE gets to have the mentality of “it could be someone’s first time watching it” every week because they the biggest show in town. The name alone will garner random views or transient lapsed fans if they get a whiff of something. However when it comes down to TNA, people are only surprised its still alive.

Even with many questionable hours it wasn’t terrible. It did fine…plus like I just said, there’s opportunity for more random eyes thanks to the WWE merger AND a live episode next week. So the Go Home format won’t change, but hopefully the exposure gives us more congruent storylines.

Well we kicked the year off with a great episode of TNA. Only a three match card, but the segments and promos were great, Ryan Nemeth’s new gimmick is wonderful cringe and the show was just generally a fun and easy watch. Let’s hope we get more of the same this week.

Here’s to hoping that last week didn’t set the bar too high.

.@theraveneffect has ideas for @WeAreRosemary!

WATCH #TNAiMPACT on TNA+: https://t.co/Dw7ITswj28 pic.twitter.com/xVir5pHHoL

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 10, 2025

Ratings:

• The System (Eddie Edwards, Dango & Brian Myers) w/Moose & Alisha vs Steve Maclin, Eric Young & Jonathan Gresham: Maclin wins via K.I.A. – ** 3/4
• Savannah Evans vs Lei Ying Lee: Lei Ying wins via Thunderstruck – ** 1/4
• The Northern Armoury Gauntlet Match: Northern Armoury vs Mike Santana: Santana wins via bad booking – zero
• The Good Hands vs The Rascalz: Rascalz win via Feed ‘Em To The Lions – **
• X Division Championship: Moose (c) vs Andrew Everett: Moose wins via Last Ride – N/A
• Rhino & Joe Hendry vs The Kaiba Boys (Ryan & Nic Nemeth): Hendry wins via Standing Ovation – ***

Results:

NEXT WEEK on #TNAiMPACT!

If @PCOisNotHuman and @TheSamiCallihan can defeat the Hardys, they’ll earn a spot in the TNA World Tag Team Championship match at #TNAGenesis!

WATCH #TNAiMPACT on TNA+: https://t.co/Dw7ITswj28 pic.twitter.com/7o7NENN5wQ

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 10, 2025

The System (Eddie Edwards, Dango & Brian Myers) w/Moose & Alisha vs Steve Maclin, Eric Young & Jonathan Gresham

Eddie and Gresham kick off the action, Gresham gets a few early shots before an Eye Gouge slows Gresham down. Eddie starts firing back but a Reverse Crossbody out of the corner turns it back around for Gresham and he tags in EY. EY and Gresham double up on Eddie for a bit, Gresham even lays the boots in a bit longer and the referee has to make him stop with the 5 count. EY tries to pull Eddie to the middle, but Eddie manages to slip away and tag in Myers. A little back and forth that ends with Alisha distracting EY and The System taking a few shortcuts to finally gain a measure of control. Dango tags in, lays into EY with some basic striking offense, nothing flashy but at least effective. Myers tags back in and they start playing coy with Maclin which forces him to try and get in the ring and distracts the referee so the heels can continue the onslaught.

The isolation game is strong on EY, Myers hits a Back Body Drop, lays out Gresham on the apron, taunts Maclin, looks for the Roster Cut but gets caught by EY and Spicolli Driver from EY! EY finally tags out, Maclin comes out hot and starts beating on everyone. Thesz Press meets Dango, Eddie tries to run in but eats a Busaiku Knee, Maclin levels both System members, Backbreaker on Dango, looks for the pinfall but Myers breaks it up. All six brawl a little until Dango tries a Blindside Bulldog, but Maclin sees it coming, throws Dango into the buckles, Tree of Woe, Caught in the Crosshairs! K.I.A. and Dango is out, no break, Maclin wins!

Aftermath: System attacks the faces with Chairs, gives Gresham the old steel chair necklace and runs him face first into the post! Gresham is down, EY and Maclin run them off, but the damage is done.

Savannah Evans vs Lei Ying Lee

Xia Brookside comes out to accuse Savannah of injuring people but has the surprise of Lei Ying being back. I do like the small wink that Xia reintroduced Lei Ying Lee. 

Lee comes out hot, lays into Savannah, hits a quick Crossbody that Savannah catches sloppily, Savannah tries to powder but the next few steps are sloppy looking (all on Savannah) until Lee just hits a nice Thrust Kick to rock Savannah and a few more nice high impact moves before Savannah just finally gets a chance to use her power and One Armed Sitout Powerbomb Lee. Savannah tries to keep the pressure on with the neck crank but Lee powers up, tries to go for some quick offense, looks for a Frankensteiner but Savannah blocks it and its a Speed Striker vs Powerhouse exchange where Lee just tries to stick and move while Savannah picks a few spots to dig in and counter with a big Lariat.

Savannah looks for her Full Nelson Bomb but Lee slips it with the Arm Drag counter, Savannah tries to turn around to run Lei Ying over and instead Savannah eats Thunderstuck (Trouble in Paradise) for the win.

It’s very shoehorn feeling to just have Xia say that Lei Ying was injured when it’s not like commentary even mentioned it (maybe because of Chris Bey’s legit injury) but, I’m just glad to have Lei Ying back. 

TNA+ Moment of the Week: Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett – NoDQ Genesis 2009

The Northern Armoury Gauntlet Match: Northern Armoury vs Mike Santana

Santana comes out first, the jabronis come out second without Josh. So we all know this isn’t going to matter until Josh shows up. This is like a Pokemon Gym but the Junior Trainers are inept morons with the skill set of a level 14 Magikarp.

Jabroni one tries to do death by 1000 cuts, Santana no sells all of his offense even with cheating, he tries some kind of Ripchord Rainmaker but Santana turns it into a Spin the Block and dude is dead. Santana beats Jabroni number 1, bald one is second…and he’s gonna do nothing worth talking about either. Remember I said I wouldn’t learn these two morons names because they are portrayed as nobodies, so no reason for me to care.

Bald Jabroni is so underwhelming we go to commercial, thank you Commercial Jesus, I didn’t want to watch a Jobber do useless things for 3 minutes to get blown up in a 20 second flurry from Santana. We come back, Santana tries for the Rolling Buck 50 but Bald Jabroni catches him into a Crucifix Bomb, but Santana powers out, Buckle Bomb, Reverse Powerbomb and Sitout Powerbomb puts the Jabroni to bed. Josh’s music hits again and he slowly walks down the ramp and looks dismayed.

Josh just has the nerd mug Santana after the bell, so its a three on one gang attack, Josh is DQ’d, so Santana technically wins. Josh punctuates the beatdown with a C4 Spike and then grabs his Headgear back from Santana. Lame finish, but when it involves two nobodies, I don’t think anyone is surprised.

The Good Hands vs The Rascalz

Wentz and Hotch start, Wentz dog walks him quick with a Tornillo out of the corner and then a little ACS Rush homage to the Machine Guns. Trey with a few shots, tags back in Wentz but a shortcut gives the Job Hands an opening. Granted, I like the Good Hands for their position in the card and they’re just a good classic heel team. They bait out Trey to distract the referee and then Double Crotch Standing whilst Wentz is in the Tree of Woe. Skyler tries to keep the pressure up, throws him into the ropes, Wentz runs by Skyler, Lethal Injection! Simultaneous tags and Trey takes out everyone, hangs Hotch on the middle rope and does this Cartwheel Spinning Rope Assisted DDT thing. It looked cool, that’s all that matters.

Skyler manages to dump Trey out, they double up on Trey, Hotch hits a Splash for two and then Wentz stops the Good Hands’ momentum with the Back Handspring Knee Lift into Feed ‘Em To The Lions!

The finish was never really a question, at least this was kinda fun coming off some awkwardness and a poorly booked gauntlet match. 

.@TheEricYoung and @SteveMaclin are FURIOUS after The System’s brutal attempt to end @TheJonGresham’s career! @AJFrancis410 and @KCwrestles couldn’t care less!

WATCH #TNAiMPACT on TNA+: https://t.co/Dw7ITswj28 pic.twitter.com/inm0HIFPTr

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 10, 2025

X Division Championship: Moose (c) vs Andrew Everett

Moose comes out to say he’s going to unveil a new belt a Genesis because he thinks the current X Division title is garbage. Andrew Everett randomly comes out to literally no reaction, tries to say he’s X Division and Moose ain’t the face of shit. Moose kicks his head off in what looks like Neon Green Crocs (they’re sneakers, they just look silly as hell). Moose calls for a referee and makes an impromptu title match.

Skywalker gets in a couple shots at best before Moose just has his way with him. Single Arm Powerbomb from the Buckles to the apron, another Apron Bomb, goes into the ring, Last Ride and puts a foot on his chest, easiest duel of his life. Moose wins in street clothes and barely breaking a sweat.

Jordynne comes out to call out Tessa, amusingly says that Tessa should be afraid that she has a live mic, but she won’t stoop to her level. Says a few things and then Tessa comes out of the crowd, they brawl for a little bit until broken up by security and we go to commercial.

Rhino & Joe Hendry vs The Kaiba Boys (Ryan & Nic Nemeth)

Points to the real ones who understand the Kaiba Boys reference. Oh and Kaz comes out to commentary during the commercial break.

Ryan and Rhino start, Ryan powders, plays coy and then tags in his big brother Seto, I mean Nic. Rhino turns around Nic’s early attempt at a Headlock with Arm Wringers, Should Tackles and then he eats a Dropkick from Nic. Ryan tags in, Double In and Out Wringers into Short Clotheslines for a near fall. Rhino quickly flips the script on Ryan, shoves him into his corner and tags out to Joe. Joe gets one Knife Edge Chop and then tags out, they take turns tagging in and out for Chops, Ryan tries to fire against Hendry, lays in a Chop of his own and Hendry no sells it. Lays out Ryan, Ryan tries to get away from Hendry, run the ropes and eats another Shoulder Tackle. Hendry lifts up Ryan for the Stalling Suplex as he also decides to walk around the whole ring with Ryan inverted, just toying with him. Stalling Suplex connects, Hendry tags out and Ryan turns things around Rhino pretty quick and tags out to Nic.

Nic with some of his more signature offense, Rude Awakening, Shot to the Heart Elbows, but tags back out to Ryan. Mokuba needs to get his reps in. Ryan chokes Rhino on the ropes and then tags out to Nic as they gang up on Rhino a little. Nic strings some offense together, looks for the FameASSer, but Rhino catches him, Powerbombs him and simultaneous tag time! Ryan gets dog walked early, Attitude Adjustment from Hendry, Nic tries to jump in literally, Hendry catches him, Sack of Shit, Kip Up and looks for the Standing Ovation on Ryan, but the thumb to the eye stops that. Hendry Cutter with a pinfall but Nic breaks it up. Belly to Belly from Rhino to Nic, Ryan stops Rhino from Goring Nic, so Ryan eats the Gore instead. Superkick from Nic sends Rhino reeling, Joe Lariats Nic to the outside, Standing Ovation on Ryan, Mokuba is a card.

Overall Score: 5/10

Potentially the dictionary definition of average. Some aspects of this episode were enjoyable, Xia Brookside, Lei Ying Lee, Raven, Joe Hendry, DeathMeat and KC Navarro existing. But plenty of other things to lull me to sleep or make me ask why, like why book a gauntlet match when we all know the jabronis suck and you just cock teased us with an immediate Josh DQ. Yes yes, “It sets up Genesis” – but wait – NO IT DOESN’T! It’s just like the SDL broken neck angle, there is no reason to promote a match happening just to bait and switch or ‘swerve’ the logic. It just comes off desperate because you booked yourself into a corner, and proves the booker is an imbecile.

And we didn’t get any whiny Ryan promos! How dare you ram it down our throats last week, and it was wonderful cringe, to just ignore it the next week. Stop with not knowing how to right cohesive stories. Christ on a crutch, did no one on the writing staff pass sixth grade? Or did everyone score less than a 1000 on their SAT? Because damn…I mean damn.

Write better.