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TNA: Turning Point
by Samoa Rowe

November 15, 2009

-From Orlando, FL. Our hosts are Mike Tenay and Taz.

-This event is taking place in the shadow of Hulk Hogan having just signed with the company. With Hogan’s pending arrival, TNA had kind of an unusual fall where they took some chances (putting Nigel McGuinness right into a feud with Kurt Angle, re-elevating the X Division icons) to hold the status quo until hitting the reset button for the move to Monday nights in 2010.

X Division Championship:
The Amazing Red © (with Don West) vs. Homicide

Homicide enjoys a rare size advantage and nails a shoulder block. Red responds with rapid fire attacks, including a hurricanrana off the apron. Homicide lands on his feet in a monkey flip and nails a hard lariat. Red connects with some kicks and a running clothesline for 2. Don West has been shouting useless encouragement to Red throughout and it’s highly distracting. Tirt-a-whirl backbreaker by Homicide, who takes control. Red absorbs some punishment but forges a comeback with a tornado DDT. Red springboards into another tornado DDT as the fans chant “He’s amazing!” Homicide catches Red with the Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Red blocks the Gringo Killer and counters with a standing SSP for 2. Homicide awkwardly counters a moonsault for another 2 count. Red catches Homicide with Code Red for the win at 10:06. Enjoyable opener that did just what it was supposed to do, **½.
Winner and still X Division Champion: The Amazing Red

Knockouts Championship and Knockouts Tag Team Championship:
Sarita and Taylor Wilde © and ODB © vs. The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, and Lacey Von Erich)

Both Knockouts titles are on the line, with the Beautiful People invoking the Freebirds Rule should they win. Velvet locks up with Taylor, and the camera isn’t shy about shooting the knockouts from the rear. Taylor and Sarita hold Velvet in place for a falling ODB head butt. ODB fights out of Beautiful People after Madison frets over her nail. Sarita is all business, locking up with Rayne. Sarita slams Taylor onto Madison for a near fall. Lacey makes the save, allowing the Beautiful People to isolate Wilde. A rude “You can’t wrestle” chant breaks out during this time. Taylor botches a kick to the face, so perhaps I spoke too soon. Hot tag to ODB, who cleans house. The match breaks down the Beautiful People are alone with ODB for a triple team attempt. ODB holds her own and finishes Rayne with a TKO at 5:56. Decent outing here considering the limitations of some of the participants, **.
Winners and still Knockouts Champions: Sarita, Taylor Wilde, and ODB

-Jeremy Borash interviews Desmond Wolfe backstage. Desmond guarantees that Kurt Angle will never forget his name after what he did to him on Impact. Wolfe says he’s been studying Angle for so long he knows him better than he knows himself. Wolfe effectively puts over his advantages.

TNA Tag Team Championship:
The British Invasion © (Douglas Williams and Magnus) vs. Beer Money, Inc (James Storm and Bobby Roode) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin)

The Machine Guns and Beer Money exclude The British Invasion in the early going. Williams forces a tag and Magnus trips Sabin, to give the Invasion the advantage. Hot tag to Storm, and Beer Money connects with a double suplex on Williams. Beer Money whips Magnus into Williams in a Tree of Woe, and the Machine Guns join in the fun by driving Magnus’ face into William’ groin. The match breaks down with all six men trading double team moves and dives in a complete spot-fest. Eric Young runs in and pulls Storm off the apron! Kevin Nash storms in and yanks the Global title from Young, but then clocks Storm in the head with it! Meanwhile, Roode is all alone and suffers an electric chair clothesline from the British Invasion for the loss at 10:20. This was a high energy spot-fest until the overbooked finish killed the good mood, **¾.
Winners and still TNA Tag Team Champions: The British Invasion

-Video recap from Impact highlights Raven returning to TNA to lay out Mick Foley.

-Jeremy Borash interviews Kevin Nash about what just happened. Nash says Hulk Hogan knows why he attacked Beer Money and that’s good enough for now.

Six Sides of Steel:
Tara vs. Awesome Kong

Tara desperately tries to knock Kong off her feet. Kong misses a splash and accidentally clocks the cage with a spinning back fist. Kong catches Tara with an Electric Chair slam. Kong counters with a missile drop-kick! Kong repeatedly knocks Tara against the wall, even using a giant swing. Tara blocks the Implant Buster and tries to put together some offense. Standing moonsault by Tara gets 2. They fight on the top rope but both get crotched. Tara catches Kong with a power bomb off the turnbuckle! Tara climbs to the top of the cage and delivers a flying cross body for the win at 7:54. This was a fun grudge match that could have benefited from a few more minutes, **½.
Winner: Tara

-Tara is interviewed on the stage. Tara is gushing with pride and celebrates with her prized tarantula.

Rhino and IWGP Tag Team Champion Team 3D vs. Matt Morgan, Hernandez, and Pope D’Angelo Dinero

Neither myself or the crowd knows who to cheer for going into this one. Hernandez scores a shoulder block on Devon, but The Pope tags himself in. Dinero delivers a showier shoulder block, prompting Brother Ray to rip up a “Dinero dollar” that fell during Pope’s entrance. He might as well just called Pope’s sister a whore as Dinero turns up the aggression. Brother Ray comes back with the Bubba Bomb. Rhino tags and is happy to put a hurting on The Pope. Tenay finally explains that Rhino has been crusading against TNA’s youth movement. Morgan takes the fight to Rhino in lumbering fashion. The match briefly breaks down, resulting in Pope isolated in the grumps’ corner. Just when I thought Bubba was taking things easy, he delivers an elbow drop off the apron to prove me wrong. Bubba then misses a senton, allowing the hot tag to Morgan. Hernandez tags and keeps the ball rolling with a double flying shoulder block. Hernandez clears the ring and delivers a running dive on Team 3D and Rhino! The match breaks down and bodies go flying. A Devon chair shot and Rhino’s GORE are enough to finish Hernandez at 14:24. This got better as it went along, **¼.
Winners: Team 3D and Rhino

-Scott Steiner is interviewed backstage. Steiner is accused of stalking Bobby Lashley’s wife. Scott is offended about accusations of violence, he just wants to be Lashley’s friend! It’s not his fault that Lashley cannot control his woman or satisfy her. This promo is probably making the TNA executives nervous. Steiner vows to beat Lashley and make Kristal Lashley a “big winner.”

Falls Count Anywhere:
Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley

Steiner meets Lashley in the aisle and immediately start brawling. Lashley takes control with a chair shot and directs traffic into the ring. T-Bone suplex by Lashley gets an early 2 count. They spill to the floor, where Steiner turns it around with some low shots. Back to the ring, Steiner delivers a Frankensteiner! Steiner climbs the top rope but Lashley counters with a Press Slam onto the turnbuckle. Lashley retakes control, smashing Scott into the announce table. They take their brawl backstage, and Steiner is busted open off-camera. Lashley suplexes Scott onto a table that doesn’t quite break (which Bobby apologizes for on camera). Lashley smashes a 2x4 over Steiner but misses a tackle into a wooden crate. Steiner chokes Lashley out with a power cord but only gets 2. Steiner grabs a steel pipe from the scaffolding by the Spanish announce table and knocks Lashley out for the win at 11:25. This was rough around the edges and petered out in the last few minutes, *¾.
Winner: Scott Steiner

-Kurt Angle rants to Jeremy Borash about Desmond Wolfe’s prison yard tactics. Angle is the biggest bad-ass in the yard, but nobody makes their reputation at his expense. Not bad, but Angle would be well-advised to stop trying to get “It’s real, it’s damn real” over as a catchphrase.

Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle

In case you don’t know, Desmond Wolfe is ROH legend, Nigel McGuinness. Nigel was supposed to go to WWE with Daniel Bryan, but didn’t pass the medical tests. TNA was happy to take him though. They feel each other out, trading wrist locks. Wolfe goes to work on the arm. Angle answers with a big boot and vertical suplex. Backbreaker by Angle gets a pair of 2 counts. Wolfe shifts the momentum back to his favor, targeting the arm. Desmond gets overconfident and Angle throws an overhead suplex. Series of clotheslines by Angle gets a 2 count. Angle throws six consecutive German suplexes! Wolfe counters the Olympic Slam and nails a lariat for 2. Angle counters with the Olympic Slam but Wolfe kicks out! Wolfe applies the London Dungeon, but Angle reverses into the ankle lock. Wolfe counters back into a hammerlock Figure Four, but Angle counters into the ankle lock again! Wolfe survives and counters with a tornado DDT! The Tower of London by Wolfe only gets 2! Angle surprises with a lariat but misses the moonsault! Wolfe reapplies the London Dungeon, with a knee to the back. Angle blocks on the top rope and nails a Frog Splash for another near fall. They trade submission counters until Wolfe taps to a side triangle choke at 16:14. Simply awesome match, with crisp technical wrestling and big bumps, ****.
Winner: Kurt Angle

-Jeremy Borash interviews Samoa Joe backstage. Joe doesn’t take responsibility for driving a wedge between AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. He claims he just shined a light on the problems that existed between the two former friends. Joe works best as a well-spoken bad-ass and that’s exactly how he carries himself here.

TNA World Championship:
AJ Styles © vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe

Daniels cheap shots Styles right away. Styles tries to establish control with quick offense. Joe drops AJ with an enziguri. Daniels tosses Joe and squares off with AJ, repeatedly knocking Joe out of the ring in the process. Joe trips AJ, allowing a Daniels STO, but then hangs Daniels on the ropes for an attack. Joe applies a leg bar on Daniels, but AJ drops a fist. Styles reverses a suplex on Joe and applies an inverted Indian death lock/chinlock combo. Daniels breaks it up and targets the head of Styles. Daniels sets up a chinlock/Boston Crab combo on both opponents! Joe answers with the uranage on Daniels and wipes his boot on AJ’s face. Joe dominates viciously, kicking AJ out of the ring while simultaneously hitting a senton on Daniels. AJ counters Joe’s dive, and suplexes Daniels. Styles prevents Daniels’ moonsault, holding him in place for Joe’s strikes. AJ wipes Joe and Daniels out with a dive! The crowd chants “Screw Hulk Hogan” as all three men go wild in the ring. Styles monkey flips Daniels into Joe’s power bomb back onto AJ! Style survives Joe’s submission attempts. Daniels comes back by slamming Styles onto Joe! Death Valley Driver on AJ by Daniels gets 2. Joe wins a striking contest with AJ, but Daniels catches him with an enziguri. AJ nails Daniels with the Pele kick and everyone is down. Styles puts together a string of attacks, complete with a springboard clothesline on Joe. Head scissor slam by Styles gets 2 on Joe, as does an inverted DDT. Last Rites by Daniels gets a near fall on AJ. Back suplex by Daniels on Joe, who retaliates with the Muscle Buster! Joe rolls Styles in a circle for a pinning predicament. They sprint through a series of rapid counters until Joe nails a double clothesline. Joe suffers TOTAL ELIMINATION! Styles and Daniels fight on the top rope and Joe breaks it up. Daniels hits the STO on Joe and the Best Moonsault Ever! Springboard 450 splash by AJ finishes Joe at 21:46. This was a worthy sequel to their original 2005 classic, with nearly flawless ring work and a string of innovative spots, ****½.
Winner and still TNA World Champion: AJ Styles

Final Thoughts: It’s a shame that nobody saw this pay-per-view, because it served up a pair of MOTYC’s. This show is part of a 3-pack that is currently on sale at TNA’s online store for five dollars, so go pick it up and enjoy some Thanksgiving Thumpin’. Thumbs up for a solid event with a double ****+ main events.

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