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LIVE THOUGHTS FROM TURNING POINT

By Richard Trionfo on 2011-11-15 18:00:45
On Sunday night, Impact Wrestling held their Turning Point pay per view in Orlando, Florida and I was in the Impact Zone for the pay per view and here are my thoughts on the pay per view from the perspective of someone who was in the building for the show. I had a chance to listen to Mike’s post game show on the way home from Orlando and I hope I do not repeat some of his analysis of the show.

Coming into this pay per view I did not have high expectations for the show as a whole (more on that when I talk about the Chart of Expectations). There were a number of things that are expected at a TNA pay per view. There was some good wrestling in the ring. There were also some finishes that made you want to scratch your head. We even had a few Impact and Xplosion matches posing as pay per view matches.

I don’t think I liked the show as much as Mike did, but I agree with him that it is not necessary to purchase the replay with the number of matches that you will see on Impact. There was one segment that I did not remember seeing in the building (The Bischoff/Ray segment in the back).

Before I get into the pay per view we saw last night, I had an idea for the main event for Final Resolution, depending on the health of the people I mention. Since it appears that Fortune is done, I would have one final match involving the original four members. I would have James Storm versus A.J. Styles versus Bobby Roode versus Frankie Kazarian in a Four Corners of Fortune Match (possibly elimination) without the TNA Heavyweight Title on the line. It would be a No DQ Match with the only condition being that if Bobby Roode is pinned or submits, the person who defeats Roode gets the title match at Genesis.

Now on to the CHART OF EXPECTATIONS

If you regularly read my pay per view thoughts columns, I avoid looking at matches solely based on a rating, ranking, star system, or Dream-a-Torium. Before each pay per view, I look at the matches on the show and gauge my interest in the match. Then I compare my thoughts of the match before it happens and with what I saw in the ring.

A match can exceed my expectations, equal my expectations, or fall below my expectations but that does not necessarily mean that I liked or disliked the match. There could be a match that exceeds my expectations that I might not like because my expectations were so low before the show. On the other end of the spectrum, a match could fall below my expectations that I like because my expectations before the match were so high that the action in the ring could not match what I thought they could do.

There were nine matches on this show (I am considering the Jarrett/Hardy match one match with three parts for the purpose of this column. Four matches exceeded my expectations, two matches equaled my expectations, and three matches fell below my expectations. One of the matches benefitted from the crowd while one of the matches was hurt by the person who won the match.

Here are my thoughts on Turning Point.

With Sunday being the sixth anniversary of the passing of Eddie Guerrero and the tendency of the crowd to chant ‘Eddie’ when Hector Guerrero comes out to take his spot at the Spanish Announce Table, I was surprised that they did the introductions of the two commentary teams already seated at their respective tables. They did mention the anniversary of the passing when Jeremy Borash introduced Hector.

The crowd was very hot for the opening match. I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that they did not do the usual ‘which side of the building is the loudest’ bit to play one side against the other.

The Television Title Match exceeded my expectations. This was a typical Eric Young match where the comedy is the focus often at the expense of the wrestling. This made sense to start the show because I think if it was anywhere else on the card, it would have hurt the momentum of the program. The crowd was really loud for this match and into Eric Young. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that they did not do the usual pre-show ‘battle of the bleachers’. I think it is a shame that they have made Young such a comedy character that it is hard to take him seriously when he hits moves like the belly-to-belly after he caught Robbie coming off the turnbuckles. I was surprised that Rob Terry did not do more during the match to try to interfere and help Robbie before Rob got involved at the end of the match.

The Tag Title Match exceeded my expectations. There was some okay action in this match and I was a little surprised that they waited so long to get Sarita and Toxxin involved in the match. I was also surprised at Rosita’s attempt to interfere in the match only to see her drop the belt and not hit Toxxin with it. This was the second match in a row that I was disappointed with the finish.

The X Division Title Match exceeded my expectations. I thought this was Sorensen’s best match in TNA and he took a beating from Kash and Aries. As soon as you heard that Kash and Aries were going to work together, there was a good chance that something was going to happen between them. They did a good job showing their teamwork only to have it fall apart at the end. It was nice to see Aries pay tribute to Eddie Guerrero with the shimmy on the turnbuckles before trying a frog splash.

The Rob Van Dam versus Christopher Daniels was on its way to making it four for four in terms of exceeding my expectations, but the finish of the match brought it down to equaling my expectations. I thought Daniels’ promo before the match started was great with the way that he questioned the No DQ stipulation and then to say that he doesn’t run away from a challenge or ever quit when that is what he did last month against Styles. I liked the variation to the corkscrew leg drop off the ramp. This match reminded me a lot of the Van Dam/Lynn match with Daniels getting in most of the offense only to have Van Dam hit a move with the chair and then the frog splash.

The Crimson versus Matt Morgan Match was the first match on the show that fell below my expectations. This match did not feel like it got out of first gear. With the Crimson streak, I did not think that Morgan was going to win. The finish appeared to guarantee another match, but with what happens on television this week, who knows.

I thought the promo with Bully Ray and Scott Steiner was okay. I think Ray is one of the best on the mic and Steiner is more miss than hit, but the comment about finding Abyss’ home in ‘parts unknown’ was good.

The Bully Ray and Scott Steiner versus Ken Anderson and Abyss Match exceeded my expectations, but not entirely for what was going on in the ring. If you watch the match, you will notice a faint Steiner chant early in the match that got exponentially louder. It was funny to see how Steiner reacted to it and seemed legitimately pissed that people were cheering for him. With a Hebner in the ring, you can almost guarantee something happening that will make you shake your head. This time, Brian allowed Abyss to make a tag from Steiner and Ray’s corner.

The Knockouts Title Match equaled my expectations. The formula that TNA usually deals with worked in favor of the challenger. It seemed like they were trying to do too much with Madison and Karen and it took away from what Velvet and Gail were doing in the ring. This might have been one of the few matches where we have seen interference fail and then almost the same thing is done the second time.

The Jeff Hardy versus Jeff Jarrett Match fell below my expectations primarily for the way that it was executed. I thought the structure of the match was the biggest problem. I was hoping for a long match where Jeff Hardy could have shown the fans that he was back. Instead we got two falls (I didn’t hear the bell ring for the third one) where Hardy got a quick win with two moves (making the Storm/Angle match seem like it was a 60 minute classic) and then Hardy gets an inside cradle to counter a figure four leg lock. The beat down by Jarrett was okay but when he returned to the ring and had the lazy cover attempt, the result was inevitable.

The World Heavyweight Title Match fell below my expectations, even with the knowledge of Styles’ injury. I think the biggest factor that affected this match was the crowd. It felt like the crowd had been wiped out from what they had already seen and they could not muster anything for significant portions of this match. There was some good action in the match but it felt like things were a little slower than usual. I realize that Styles was injured, but if you are able to wrestle a main event, it should be treated as such, even though the company does not have the best track record. There were some good counters during the match which is what you would expect from wrestlers of their caliber, but the finish of the match seemed anti-climactic.

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