Genesis was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

supercard

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW), which took place on June 15, 2002 at the

Viking Hall 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It was the inaugural event by MLW and featured an eight-man single elimination tournament to crown the inaugural

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

. Nine

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

were taped at the event with seven matches of the World Heavyweight Championship tournament being televised. The tournament concluded with Shane Douglas defeating Taiyo Kea and

Vampiro Ian Richard Hodgkinson (born May 31, 1967), better known by his ring name Vampiro, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler who most recently served as director of talent for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He also worked for Lucha Unde ...

in a three-way match in the finals of the tournament to win the title.

Event

Quarterfinals

The event featured a tournament to crown the new MLW World Heavyweight Champion. The opening match of the tournament took place between Jerry Lynn and La Parka. After avoiding a corkscrew moonsault by Parka, Lynn executed a

tornado DDT In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock/inverted headlock and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent's head into the mat. The classic DDT is performed by putting the opponent ...

off the ropes for the win. In the next match,

took on

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best kno ...

. After avoiding a lariat by Daniels, Vampiro hit a lifting side slam to Daniels for the win. Next, Taiyo Kea was scheduled to take on Bam Bam Bigelow but Bigelow did not show up and was subsequently replaced by The Wall. Kea countered a powerbomb by Wall into a

hurricanrana Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

and executed a bridging Northern Lights suplex on Wall for the win. It was followed by the last quarterfinal match between Shane Douglas and Steve Corino. Corino attempted to deliver an '' Old School Expulsion'' to Douglas but Douglas reversed it into a belly to belly suplex for the win.

Semifinals

The first semifinal match in the tournament took place between Jerry Lynn and Shane Douglas. Douglas countered a cradle piledriver by Lynn and nailed a '' Pittsburgh Plunge'' to Lynn for the win. The second semifinal took place between Taiyo Kea and Vampiro. Near the end of the match, Kea nailed a '' Hawaiian Smasher'' to Vampiro but the 17-minute time limit expired and the match ended in a time limit draw. Vampiro demanded five more minutes but Shane Douglas showed up to begin a three-way dance against both Vampiro and Kea.

Final

The tournament final three-way dance took place between Shane Douglas, Taiyo Kea and Vampiro. Kea and Vampiro quickly took down Douglas and then Vampiro attempted to hit a spin kick to Douglas but Douglas countered it and Vampiro accidentally hit Kea which allowed Douglas to hit a belly to belly suplex to Vampiro to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Douglas then insulted the MLW title belt by spitting on it and throwing it down in a repetition of him throwing down the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

on August 27, 1994. Referee John Finnegan threatened to suspend Douglas if he did not defend the title.

Aftermath

In light of Shane Douglas' controversial actions, he was stripped off the World Heavyweight Championship on September 13. A match was set up between Jerry Lynn and Satoshi Kojima to determine a new champion at Reload, which Kojima won. MLW later refused to acknowledge Douglas' reign as champion and officially recognized Kojima as the first-ever MLW World Heavyweight Champion.

Results

Tournament brackets

References

External links

Major League Wrestling official website
{{MLWPPV 2002 in professional wrestling Professional wrestling in Philadelphia 2002 in Philadelphia June 2002 sports events in the United States Major League Wrestling shows Events in Philadelphia