We kick off this week of Kurt Angle appreciation with his TNA in-ring debut at TNA Genesis 2006, which saw Angle go up against the unstoppable Samoa Joe after their fateful encounter during Angle’s first night with the company.
The Voodoo Kin Mafia (a.k.a. the former New Age Outlaws) defeated the team of Kazarian, Johnny Devine, and some dude named Maverick Matt in a somewhat subpar four minute opener. And in case you need a reminder that Vince Russo is handling the creative duties in TNA, Voodoo Kin Mafia’s initials happen to be VKM, which happens to be the initials of another fellow who was the chairman of another rival promotion that this company likes to take shots at. All I can remember about this stuff is the former Outlaws trying to antagonize Triple H and Shawn Michaels (using their real names of Paul Levesque and Michael Hickenbottom, so you know it’s a SHOOT!) and that went nowhere… well, unless you want to include the Outlaws eventually returning to WWE in the 2010s and being punished for their would-be transgressions during this time by getting another run with the tag titles. Yip.
The Naturals (Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas) defeated Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal in a match that was just there while everyone talked about Team 3D (the former Dudleys, for those unaware.)
X-Division Champion Christopher Daniels defeated Chris Sabin in a perfectly acceptable match to retain the title.
Ron Killings (a.k.a. R-Truth) and Lance Hoyt (a.k.a. the future Murderhawk Lance Archer – a guy who should be doing more these days and I don’t understand why he isn’t) defeated Austin Aries STARR and Alex Shelley in a match that shouldn’t have been boring because I generally like all four guys and think they’re great – but I couldn’t get into this one for whatever reason. Not bad, not great… it was just there.
Christian Cage defeated AJ Styles in a perfectly acceptable match. Cage is still pretty much in top shape at this point, so him getting a win over AJ didn’t bother me. At least it’s not Kevin Nash…
The World Tag Title match between LAX and AMW that resulted in the titles being declared vacant afterwards hurt my brain so much that I refuse to talk about it. Where are the Fire Russo chants when you need them?
Abyss defeated NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion STING via DQ when Sting was arguing with a ref and then clotheslined him… and since a title can change hands on a DQ in TNA, that means that Abyss is your new World Champion… and he did nothing to earn it. I should note that there were other spots in this match that are far worse than a ref getting bumped – Abyss was struck with a chair, Sting was chokeslammed into some tacks, Abyss was HANGED – and none of these were a DQ. I want to be extremely generous and say that this was a thing that happened, but honestly, a bunch of things happened here and now I forgot everything about it. Thank fuck I wrote all down beforehand so I don’t have to go back and watch. Once is more than enough, thanks.
And in the main event TNA dream match, Kurt Angle makes his in-ring TNA debut by defeating Samoa Joe via submission to hand Joe his first major loss in TNA. He had lost a match or two here and there; but those were three ways where he wasn’t pinned or submitted. Giving that to Kurt was certainly a choice they made and one wonders if maybe someone could’ve benefitted from giving Joe his first major blemish, but since Russo is behind creative, I don’t believe that would mean anything. In any event, the match itself was fine, but given that this was supposed to a major dream match for TNA and a showcase between two top-tier talents in Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe, you’d expect a little more out of the match and instead, it’s merely a good match… which is fine, but not quite something that lived up to the hype.
After the match, Joe wants a rematch and Angle says no… the plot thickens and the show ends.
Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about Genesis 2006 as a show in general. It had a couple good moments here and there, but there were enough sour points to drag the show down a couple notches. Kurt Angle got a strong start to what would prove to be the most significant period of his pro wrestling career, as that guy did more to carry TNA on his back than anyone would’ve expected (especially given the mindset he was in when TNA signed him, shortly after he and WWE parted ways) and would go on to give TNA some of its genuinely great moments. It’s just a shame that for all of Angle’s efforts to elevate TNA, there’d be more than enough dumb fucks to undo all that good stuff with their own brand of bullshit.
So yeah, I don’t know about this one. For the sake of watching Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe, they’d have better matches down the road and the rest of the show is just kinda, sorta there with some questionable booking mixed in for good measure. Eh, we’ll give it a thumb in the middle and call it a day, ya?
dtm666 