TNA opens the new year with the Genesis PPV on January 17, 2026 from Dallas, Texas. Even though we have a ways to go until that date, two matches are official. Let’s also look at potential directions for
matches that could be added to the card.
Johnny Dango Curtis will retire from the ring at Genesis. He wants to close his career against a friend. Dango will wrestle Eddie Edwards.
Curtis and Edwards will bring it all in the ring out of respect for Dango’s last dance.
The other official bout for Genesis is Frankie Kazarian defending the TNA World Championship against Mike Santana.
Technically, only half this match is official. Santana is cashing in his contractual rematch after Kazarian took advantage of an NXT ambush to win the title. Santana is set for the world title bout. It could be a different story for Kaz. Santino Marella has a busy schedule planned for the champ. Kazarian has two more title defenses on the calendar prior to Genesis. First, Kaz has to defend the gold, presumably on the January 1 episode of Impact, against the winner of a battle royal. Second, the champion should have a title defense on the AMC debut for January 15. On top of that, Nic Nemeth is roaming the locker room waiting to cash in his Call Your Shot trophy. Assuming Kazarian gets past all that, then he will wrestle Santana at Genesis.
There are some directions brewing for additional PPV matches, however, some of these stories might play out before Genesis. TNA will want to stack the Impact episode for the live debut on AMC, which is two days before the PPV.
In the Knockouts division, Tessa Blanchard is pushing her ego at Lei Ying Lee. Blanchard believes that the only reason Lee is Knockouts champion right now is because she hasn’t gone after the title.
The X-Division has a #1 contender for Leon Slater. Cedric Alexander prevailed in a six-pack match over Dezmond Xavier, Jason Hotch, Jake Something, Ryan Nemeth, and BDE. The YouTube star thought he had victory on a frog splash to Jake, but Alexander pulled BDE off the pin for a Lumbar Check to win. No date has been given yet for the title shot. This would be Alexander’s third crack at Slater. The champ retained in a three-way with Hotch on Impact in July and a singles battle at Emergence in August.
The Hardys don’t have any clear challengers yet for the tag team titles at Genesis, however, I’m not counting out The Righteous. Vincent and Dutch approached the Hardys with respect to put over Matt and Jeff as gods among mortals. The Righteous admire the Hardys for how they revolutionized the business. We’ll see how this story plays out, but I wouldn’t trust The Righteous not to be snakes.
A grudge match appears to be brewing between Rich Swann and AJ Francis. Swann had enough of Francis belittling him, so he dumped First Class. Francis responded with violence.
Share your thoughts on the stories and matches heading to the TNA Genesis PPV.
