Genesis 2012: Monster's Ball and Angle-Storm Give an Uneven Card Strong Peaks

Austin Aries defended the TNA X Division Championship against Kid Kash, Jesse Sorensen and Zema Ion in a four-corners ELIMINATION contest, not a one-fall four-way. Sorensen and Ion attacked with quick rollups and dives while Kash used his strength to interrupt Aries. Ion scored the first elimination by landing a 450 Splash on Kash. Aries then tried a 450 on Sorensen, but Sorensen kicked out, keeping the younger challengers in contention. When Sorensen caught Ion in a small package, he eliminated Ion and brought the match down to himself against the defending champion.

Ion stayed at ringside after being eliminated and distracted the referee while Aries and Sorensen traded near falls. He eventually reached up and pulled at Sorensen on the turnbuckle. Aries capitalized on the interference with a corner dropkick and a second-rope avalanche brainbuster, pinning Sorensen to retain the title. The B+ (8.1) credits the energetic opener and clearly staged three-elimination progression while acknowledging that outside interference decided the final exchange. The results ledger must distinguish Ion eliminating Kash, Sorensen eliminating Ion and Aries eliminating Sorensen. None of the other three wrestlers won the championship.

Devon faced D'Angelo Dinero in a match built around a family feud rather than a championship. Dinero entered with Devon's sons Terrence and Terrell, who had begun siding with the Pope against their father. Devon attacked aggressively, but Dinero regained control by sending the referee into the ropes while Devon climbed the corner, leaving him exposed for a dropkick. Dinero followed with rope and ringside attacks, then went back to the sons and ordered them to strike Devon. They refused. Dinero shoved and punched the two men, turning his advantage into an argument with the same people who had accompanied him.

Devon rallied with a splash, clothesline and powerslam, then finished Dinero with a lifting inverted DDT for the pin. The sons returned to the ring and embraced their father afterward, marking their reconciliation and rejecting Dinero. The match earns its existing grade from a clear narrative payoff rather than unusual technique; the audience understands why the interference failed because the sons would no longer follow Dinero. This was a singles win by Devon over Dinero, not a tag match and not a victory secured by Devon's sons. The 10-minute feud conclusion is worthwhile primarily for the turn and aftermath.

Gunner wrestled Rob Van Dam with Ric Flair at ringside, and the six-minute match was built around exploiting exposed concrete rather than outwrestling the veteran. Van Dam began with kicks and a rolling thunder sequence, even using a springboard leg drop while Gunner was on the apron. Gunner tore away the ringside floor padding to reveal concrete, giving Flair a chance to steer the contest toward the vulnerable area. Gunner crotched Van Dam on the ropes and Van Dam answered with a crossbody, but the increasingly dangerous positioning made a routine in-ring pin less likely.

Flair helped Gunner back to his feet over the exposed floor and moved aside when Van Dam leaped at them, causing Van Dam to crash outside. Flair then distracted referee Earl Hebner while Gunner dropped Van Dam with a DDT on the bare concrete. Gunner rolled him inside and secured the pin. Afterward medical personnel arrived with a stretcher and neck brace as Gunner celebrated with Flair. The bout receives its existing grade for a specific villainous finish and storyline injury angle, not for a long competitive exchange. Gunner, not Flair, scored the official fall; the DDT happened outside the ring but the cover took place inside.

Gail Kim defended the Knockouts Championship against Mickie James while Madison Rayne attempted to help from ringside. Velvet Sky disrupted that plan with the suspended Velvet Touch cage, locking Rayne inside and raising her above the ring before the bell. Kim and James traded knee strikes, dropkicks and a ringside hurricanrana while Rayne shouted from the cage overhead. James appeared to have neutralized the champion accomplice and built momentum with a Lou Thesz Press, but the outside interference was only temporarily contained.

Rayne threw a set of brass knuckles toward the ring; the referee intercepted and removed the first pair. Rayne then tossed down a SECOND set that James caught. James chose to punch Kim with the weapon directly in the referee view and was disqualified. Kim was the official match winner by disqualification and RETAINED the title without pinning James. The existing grade should reflect an unusual reversal of attempted cheating rather than an unearned Kim three count: James decision to use Rayne contraband ended her own title opportunity. James left with Sky after the bell while Kim kept the belt.

Abyss and Bully Ray settled a violent chapter of their Immortal rivalry under Monster's Ball rules, with Abyss obliged to rejoin the faction if he lost. The fighters used steel chairs, a chain, a staple gun, a cheese grater, tacks and barbed-wire boards. Ray tried to avoid the fight after Abyss brought out the nail-covered Janice weapon, then caught Abyss near the entrance and hurled him shoulder-first into barbed wire. Abyss bled from his hand as he tried to escape the strands, while Ray converted that injury into another series of chair and kendo-stick attacks.

Abyss survived a Rock Bottom into barbed wire and a second-rope splash while sandwiched between boards. Ray tried to use Janice, but Abyss caught him with a chokeslam into thumbtacks, then endured more kendo shots before catching Ray charging into the Black Hole Slam ONTO a barbed-wire board for the pin. Under the stipulation this was a successful defense of Abyss's independence from Immortal, not a title change. B+ (8.2) reflects the event's most substantial hardcore escalation and a decisive finish after repeated recoveries.

Crimson and Matt Morgan defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Samoa Joe and Magnus in a matchup of the two teams that would reverse fortunes at Against All Odds one month later. Joe tested Morgan with shoulder blocks and a kick to the head before Magnus worked over Crimson with quick tags. Joe used his corner to isolate Crimson, dropping a knee to the chest and cutting off the champion's attempted comeback. The challengers appeared to have an actual coordinated strategy rather than being two singles wrestlers sharing a corner.

Crimson finally escaped with a spear and Morgan made the decisive comeback against Magnus. Joe leaped at Crimson at ringside, but Crimson countered by driving Joe against the steel steps. Magnus tried to avoid a chokeslam inside; Crimson and Morgan instead hit a double chokeslam, and Morgan covered Magnus to retain. B- (7.2) reflects the functional team wrestling and clear finish while recognizing the relatively short contest. The challengers did NOT win the belts at this Genesis match; Joe and Magnus captured them in the later February rematch.

Kurt Angle entered Genesis against James Storm with no title involved, but the feud carried enough momentum to occupy the final stretch before the world championship match. Storm tried the Last Call superkick early; Angle repeatedly escaped to ringside. Storm followed with a slingshot dive and a neckbreaker, and Angle answered with suplexes and a top-rope moonsault. Angle kicked out of Storm's backcracker and jumping cutter while Storm escaped the ankle lock and endured an Angle Slam, bringing the bout to a string of genuine near finishes.

When Storm attempted another Last Call, Angle pulled the referee between them. With the official unable to see, Angle delivered a low blow, then struck Storm in the head just as the referee turned back. Angle made the pin and was declared the winner. B+ (8.0) reflects athletic reversals and strong near falls, while the deliberate referee distraction and low blow explain why the result was a tainted win rather than Angle simply outlasting his rival. No championship changed hands; Storm was pinned after the hidden foul.

Jeff Hardy challenged Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in the Genesis main event. Hardy targeted Roode's leg against the ring steps, while Roode slowed the challenger with holds and a Crossface. Hardy got near falls with the Twist of Fate and Whisper in the Wind, and Roode survived another close count after sending Hardy off a turnbuckle. The champion repeatedly attempted to leave with his belt rather than engage Hardy in the ring, forcing the challenger to chase him down the ramp and back inside.

Roode finally brought the title belt into the ring, but the referee stopped him from using it and refused to count a rope-assisted rollup. With Hardy building momentum, Roode deliberately PUNCHED the referee, prompting an immediate disqualification. Hardy won the match by DQ, but Roode kept the championship because the belt did not change hands on a disqualification. Hardy delivered a post-match Swanton Bomb and displayed the belt before leaving; that was not a title-winning fall. The B- (7.4) weighs an effective 19-minute challenger effort against a deliberate non-finish that protected Roode's reign.