By Curtis Shanks, PWTorch Specialist

Welcome to TNA Impact "Under the Microscope." This is not a detailed recap of the show, but a review for those of you that saw the show but didn't actually "watch" it. We're here to point out those little tidbits you may have missed, make some random observations, or use a little research to dig deeper into what was on the show. Cue the opening pyro.

Living up to the name

As Impact begins this week with a look back at the Genesis PPV, I feel the Microscope should do the same. If you look at the actual definition of the word Genesis, it refers to the start or beginning of something - the formation of existence. This years Genesis was the start of the Hogan/Bischoff PPV era. We also started the TNA PPV careers of Sean Morley, Brian Kendrick, and Mr. Ke...Anderson as well. Wrestlers making their TNA PPV debuts at Genesis doesn't apply to just this year, though.

Kurt Angle, Booker T, Mick Foley, Team 3D, and even Desmond Wolfe (lost in the pre-show match at Genesis 2005) made their PPV debuts on a Genesis card. Those are some big names for the company, but smaller names have made a Genesis debut as well. Kiyoshi and Shane Sewell made PPV debuts at Genesis too, but those will probably not be quite as memorable as some of the others.

Only a select few

This year's Genesis card also seemed to simply things a bit looking at the matches. TNA has had a reputation for giving us PPV cards with throw-away three-on-three matches, four-way title bouts and 25-man X Division spotfests. But this year's Genesis PPV featured eight matches, each of them a one-on-one contest or simple two-on-two tag match. This was only the sixth PPV in TNA's history to only feature those two types of matches. Three of those six have been an Against All Odds PPV, the next show on the schedule.

The drought is over

There was a re-match for the tag titles this week, as Matt Morgan and Hernandez faced the British Invasion. Matt Morgan with a title belt is a first-time sight for anyone who's not a die-hard OVW fan. Despite a couple of stints on Smackdown and being a prominent member of the TNA roster, this is the first title he has won a title since his developmental days. D'Angelo Dinero is probably the biggest name left now without a major title to his credit, as Kiyoshi, Jesse Neal, Rob Terry, and Shark Boy are the only others left on the TNA roster.

WWE has some established talent who have never won a title as well. Evan Bourne, Chris Masters, Cryme Tyme, Paul Burchill, The Hart Foundation, and Yoshi Tatsu are all still toiling away in WWE mid-card purgatory awaiting their first run with a title belt.

Not the Goldberg TNA is looking for

If you're like me, you find it a bit humorous whenever Dinero gives a promo about Orlando Jordan. The Whoopie Goldberg references are amusing, despite the fact that Dinero has almost the exact same hairstyle. The Color Purple, Sister Act, and Ghost were referenced this week. Other references may come in future promos, as nerds will clamor for mentions of the bartender in Star Trek and TV fans will await mentions of The View or even Hollywood Squares. Whoopie is just a nickname for O.J., but a stage name for the actress as well, as IMDB credits her real name as Caryn Elaine Johnson.

Finish him!

I caught a sign in the crowd this week of a fan clamoring for some X-Division action. The sign read "I Want Sliced Bread #2," but I realized I still didn't know which specific wrestler the fan wanted to see. With the addition of Brian Kendrick to the roster, there are now two TNA wrestlers (Alex Shelley the other) who use Sliced Bread #2 as a finisher. Perhaps a match between the two is in order to see whose loaf wins out in the end.

I'm new here

Kendrick and Mr. Anderson were the surprise additions to the last PPV card, but even with the mentions of "TNA debuts" by Taz and Tenay throughout the PPV and this week's Impact, that's not the case. Both have wrestled in TNA before, although Anderson was just as a jobber on the syndicated Xplosion show. After a dark match in October 2002, Anderson was brought in for two tag team loses, the first teaming with Daivari (pre-Sheik Bashir character) and the second a loss to the Harris Brothers.

Kendrick had two prior TNA matches to his credit as well, but not as a jobber. He showed up on the November 5, 2004 Impact, winning a four-way X Division match. He was on the card two days later at the Victory Road PPV (the first monthly PPV in TNA history), losing in the opening 20-man Gauntlet match won by Hector Garza. Kendrick was an established name, as it was after his first WWE run as Spanky, but prior to his second run teaming with Paul London.

I'm new here too

Kendrick and Anderson are not the only new faces who are actually making a re-debut. Scott Hall, Jeff Hardy, Shannon Moore, Tomko, Sean Waltman, and Angelina Love are all recent additions who have been in TNA before. Even Desmond Wolfe has prior TNA experience (the pre-show match mentioned earlier as well as a gauntlet match spot in 2004 when Petey Williams won the X Title). Other faces in TNA around for a second time include Amazing Red, Kaz, Sting, Daffney, Raven, Alex Shelley, and Roxxi. You could even include ref Mike Posey and Vince Russo. Or even all three road agents - D'Lo Brown, Scott D'Amore, and Simon Diamond.

WWE currently has plenty of second-timers too. The Big Show, Gail Kim, Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy, Chris Masters, Christian, R-Truth, Goldust, and of course, Bret Hart, are not in their first stint with the company. Maybe I shouldn't point out all the TNA names who are making a debut, but have actually been around before. After all, I'm probably just a cast member that's supposed to simply play my menial part in the show.

Breaking the fourth wall

I've long praised TNA for doing the some of the little things to improve logic, but two disappeared with the Hogan/Bischoff regime. The dual entrance tunnel is gone, and interviewers are no longer in every backstage segment, making it seem as though the invisible camera is present. But Eric Bischoff addressed that this week, as tempers got heated between he and Mick Foley. With a look straight into the camera and a suggestion for the camera operators to leave, I felt a bit of the old TNA creep through with the acknowledgement of their presence.

Same day, different s---

It's probably the most useless bit of trivia out there, but Brian Kendrick made history with his match in TNA this past Sunday. With his opening loss to Amazing Red, Kendrick became the first wrestler ever to have a match in TNA after appearing on WWE Superstars. Not exactly a career-defining moment, but I'm sure it's nice to be the first at something...no matter how pointless it is.

How could he do that?

Many of us were used to the fan-favorite A.J. Styles, but with his allegiance with Ric Flair, heel tendencies have surfaced. Mike Tenay treated this as a first, as he professed his hatred for the new A.J. stating that he's announced every Styles match in TNA history and has never seen anything like this. A.J. has been a heel before, though. After being crowned the first tag champs in TNA with Jerry Lynn, he began bickering with Lynn and the two ended up losing the titles as a result. A face turn would later ensue, although Styles once again turned heel after winning his first TNA World Title. Styles won the match due to interference from heel Vince Russo and celebrated with him after the match.

Tenay threw out the word "integrity" about A.J. Styles, and how he doesn't have any for the first time in his career. This mention not only made me think of Kurt Angle's three "I's" from his WWE days, but also made me think of another "I" word that summed up A.J.'s last heel run - Imbecile. He was a heel just a couple of years ago, but not the limousine-riding, kiss-stealing version we see now. Instead, he was just a lackey to Christian Cage and was portrayed as nothing more than a simple-minded goon who happened to have great in-ring moves.

Numbers crunch - Wall adornments

Although TNA tried to make us think otherwise on January 4, I knew all along that it would end up being A.J. vs. Angle at the PPV for the title. How did I know? The PPV poster told me, as it featured only Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles. We've become familiar with PPV posters due to the apparent TNA regulation that requires one to be posted every four feet backstage. But what do the numbers say if we look back through past PPV posters?

After Genesis, we've now seen 63 monthly PPVs presented by TNA. Looking at all 63 posters, Samoa Joe is the most prominent, as he has been featured on 17 in some form. Going down the list, A.J. Styles is next with 16 posters, Jeff Jarrett 13, and Sting and Christian with 12 each. If we look at the past 63 WWE PPVs, their posters have featured John Cena 18 times, Triple H 13 times, and Batista 12 times.

Some wrestlers just don't feel the love when it comes to hyping a PPV card. Despite some posters featuring a number of stars, TNA vets Eric Young, Robert Roode, and Kaz have not appeared on a single one. Neither has Matt Morgan, who's had a couple of main events in the past. WWE has the only World Title holders in that time frame who never received a poster. The Great Khali and Sheamus are the only two World Title holders in that time frame without one PPV poster.

The PPV poster is made months in advance, so it can be a bit hard predicting the future. Only 38 posters in TNA featured at least one person who ended up being in the main event. Only 36 in WWE during that time featured at least one main-event competitor. In fact, ten WWE posters and eight in TNA featured a wrestler that did not even appear in a match on the card. Most of these are the result of an injury, but not so with the poster from Destination X in 2009. The poster featured some X Division stars hyping the Ultimate X match. Two of them, Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams, were on the poster but were not even with the company when the PPV rolled around, as they had been fired the previous month.

Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd who, contrary to popular belief, does have a social life. Feedback is welcome! Send comments to curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com.

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