Genesis 2009: Angle and Jarrett Carry a Strong Road Show

The six-man elimination opener placed Eric Young alongside Latin American Xchange members Homicide and Hernandez against Jimmy Rave, Kiyoshi and Sonjay Dutt. The early portion featured quick tags, Young's offense against Rave and a flurry of dives as all six fought near the ring. The actual elimination order is essential: Sonjay Dutt used the ropes to pin Eric Young after a leg drop, then Rave rolled up Homicide. Hernandez was therefore left one against three, making the comeback a survivor's victory rather than a simple collective three-man win. With his partners eliminated, he countered Kiyoshi's attack with a Border Toss for a pin and then caught Dutt off the top rope and pinned him with a sit-out powerbomb.

Only Rave remained. Hernandez knocked him off the ropes and scored the deciding fall after a diving splash. Hernandez pinned Jimmy Rave at the recorded 13:43, becoming the sole survivor for the Eric Young/LAX team. The sources vary by a few seconds on interim eliminations but agree on the order and last wrestler eliminated. Young and Homicide were members of the winning side who had already been pinned, so neither should be credited with surviving or finishing the match. The inherited C+ / 6.8 reflects the lively dives and strong closing comeback while recognizing that the rest of the bout functioned as an undercard opener. SKIM the decisive run of Hernandez eliminations.

Motor City Machine Guns teammates Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin contested the vacant TNA X Division Championship after advancing separately through the tournament. They began by shaking hands, traded arm holds and modified stretches, then moved into dives and high-risk reversals. Shelley hit a frog splash, but Sabin survived and countered with the Cradle Shock for a close two. Shelley answered with Sliced Bread #2 and still couldn't keep Sabin down. Their mutual familiarity carried the match's rhythm: each recognized the other's next move, and the title opportunity briefly placed their partnership under competitive pressure without making the rest of the Machine Guns outsiders to the action.

When Sabin dodged another Sliced Bread attempt, Shelley landed awkwardly and pretended to favor his ankle. He began removing his boot as Sabin stepped down from the ropes to check on him and consult the referee. Shelley suddenly hooked his unsuspecting teammate in a roll-up. Alex Shelley pinned Chris Sabin to win the vacant title at 16:38, with Sabin accepting a post-match hug despite the deception. The inherited A- / 8.7 credits the near falls and the finish tied directly to their tag-team relationship. WATCH the full match for the transition from technical parity to a deliberately opportunistic deciding pin.

Sheik Abdul Bashir's months of hostility toward TNA officials culminated in a singles match with Shane Sewell, a referee who had been fired from his previous position and returned as a wrestler. Sewell opened aggressively, sending Bashir over the steps and into the barricades. Bashir answered with a neckbreaker and tried to demand a count-out, but Sewell beat the count. Later Sewell applied a Figure Four in Charlotte, prompting the announcers to mention that city's wrestling history, and Bashir reached the ropes. The bout carried a personal officials-versus-wrestler grievance, not a championship reward or a tournament advancement.

Bashir shoved referee Earl Hebner late and went after him again when Hebner retaliated. Sewell took advantage with a sunset flip; Shane Sewell pinned Sheik Abdul Bashir at 10:18. Hebner's involvement influenced the finish, but Hebner was the match official rather than a second wrestler and no disqualification was called. Other referees arrived to embrace Sewell afterward, making the feud's symbolic outcome more memorable than the technical quality. C- / 5.8 preserves the inherited assessment of a functional undercard grudge match. SKIP for a work-rate-only rewatch, or catch the Hebner exchange and post-match celebration to understand the storyline.

The three-way tag-title contest was fought among champions Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed, challengers Beer Money (Robert Roode and James Storm) and a third legal team, Abyss and Matt Morgan. The original editorial match sides accidentally omitted Morgan and Abyss despite identifying them in the title. Morgan's size threatened everyone, while Beer Money struggled to hold the X Division champions back. Abyss became a focal point of the closing chaos as James Storm introduced a title belt and the wrestler who tried to use it missed the intended target. The match was an actual three-team championship bout, not a standard two-team tag match with Morgan and Abyss as ringside seconds.

Abyss accidentally struck his own partner Matt Morgan with the belt while trying to hit Roode. During the ensuing confusion Lethal landed an elbow off the ropes, but referee Rudy Charles was occupied with Jacqueline. Storm superkicked Lethal and draped the downed Roode across Morgan. Robert Roode pinned Matt Morgan for Beer Money to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship at the recorded 15:19. Contemporaneous play-by-play and the Pro Wrestling History ledger identify Morgan as the pinned wrestler, although some summaries misattribute the fall. The inherited B / 7.8 credits the three-team interplay and real title change despite the tainted finish. WATCH the belt mistake and final cover, which also fueled the post-match argument between Abyss and Morgan.

ODB teamed with Roxxi and Taylor Wilde against the Kongtourage trio Raisha Saeed, Rhaka Khan and Sojournor Bolt in a replacement six-woman tag. Christy Hemme's injury had taken a planned Awesome Kong singles defense off the card, leaving a stipulation in which the person who scored the winning fall would earn a future Knockouts championship opportunity. That distinction is important: the winning side would not automatically give all three women a title claim. Wilde took punishment from the Kongtourage before reaching her partners, and the bout gained momentum when ODB entered against the opponents who had controlled much of the middle section.

Roxxi kept opposing partners occupied while Wilde took Bolt and Khan outside. ODB caught Saeed in a small package and ODB pinned Raisha Saeed at the recorded 7:44, personally earning the next challenge against Kong. After the decision Kong confronted ODB, the women brawled and the champion chokeslammed her prospective challenger. The post-match attack did not overturn the pin or turn Kong into a participant in the six-woman contest. The inherited C- / 5.6 recognizes limited time and straightforward structure while preserving the contender-specific result. SKIP on a selective wrestling rewatch, but preserve the individual pin and subsequent Kong confrontation.

Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett fought a No Disqualification grudge match that received nearly twenty-two minutes, longer than the night's world-title defense. Jarrett stormed at Angle from the bell, rammed him into guardrails and threw a ringside spectator's beer at him. Angle responded with a ring-bell strike that cut Jarrett open; Jarrett later landed the Stroke for a near fall. Angle tried the Ankle Lock, and Jarrett repeatedly escaped. Their escalating use of chairs and the shattered guitar belonged inside the stipulated match rather than constituting an automatic disqualification, which was why the officials allowed the violent exchanges to continue.

Angle hit Jarrett with a chair, but Jarrett survived the cover. Jarrett then answered with his own chair shot and crawled over to hook the leg. Angle shifted his body, caught Jarrett in a surprise roll-up and Kurt Angle pinned Jeff Jarrett at the recorded 21:59. The victorious wrestler immediately returned to the injured ankle, trapping Jarrett's leg in a folded chair and stomping on it after the bell as officials tried to protect him. That post-match attack was not the finish of the legal bout. A- / 8.9 rewards the sustained grudge work, physical countering and sudden fall while noting that the aftermath kept their personal feud unresolved. WATCH the entire final sequence, not only the chair-assisted confrontation.

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting faced Rhino with the challenger already carrying damage from an attack associated with the Main Event Mafia earlier that day. Rhino rushed the champion at the bell and fought him around the guardrail, but the home-state-adjacent Charlotte crowd reacted warmly to Sting even when he controlled the challenger. Sting worked the injured midsection with repeated bearhugs and forced Rhino to answer the referee's checks. Rhino eventually fought out and hit a Gore, though Sting rolled under the ropes before a cover could be made. It was a legitimate opening for Rhino, not evidence that the champion had already lost the match by pin or submission.

Rhino brought Sting back inside and took another chance from the ropes, but Sting moved and Rhino crashed down. Sting applied the Scorpion Deathlock; Rhino escaped at the ropes, then tried another Gore later in the exchange. Sting sidestepped it and used the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting pinned Rhino for the recorded 8:18 retention. The inherited D+ / 5.4 reflects the abbreviated championship segment after a far longer Angle-Jarrett feud match. SKIP on a selective rewatch unless tracking the injured Rhino story and Sting's title run; the result was a pin following the Death Drop, not an Ankle Lock or Deathlock submission.

Mick Foley returned to active competition alongside A.J. Styles and Brother Devon against Main Event Mafia members Booker T and Scott Steiner and substitute Cute Kip. Kevin Nash had been ruled out, so Kip took his place; Sharmell was at ringside for Booker. The opening exchanges were fought as a regular six-man tag, with Styles relying on agility while Foley and Devon tried to wear down the larger opposition. The first phase ended when the brawl spilled outside and the referee counted both sides out. That decision would have left the final pay-per-view match unresolved, but TNA authority figures refused to let the show close on a draw.

Jim Cornette called for a restart and Foley asserted his authority to continue under Hardcore Rules, legalizing the garbage cans, chair and table used during the return bout. Styles sent Kip through a ringside table, and the winning side fought off Booker and Steiner's attempts to regain control. Foley caught Steiner with a DDT onto a steel chair and Mick Foley pinned Scott Steiner, recording the 14:02 winning result for Foley, Styles and Devon. Kip and Booker were not the pinned competitors, and Nash had not wrestled. The inherited B / 7.6 credits the colorful conclusion to the faction rivalry while recognizing the contrived double-count-out reset. WATCH the restart and chair-assisted finish for the match's defining facts.