“Life is a series of peaks and valleys.” Well, if Turning Point 2010 represents life, there’s one peak and many valleys.
Opening Match: TNA X Division Title: Jay Lethal © vs. Robbie E.
Lethal snaps off a few armdrags and back drops Robbie to the outside. Back in, Lethal connects with a springboard dropkick. Robbie blocks the Lethal Combination and takes control. He whips Lethal hard into the corner and applies an abdominal stretch. Lethal escapes the hold but walks into an elbow. He finally makes a comeback with various strikes and catches Robbie with a handspring elbow. Cookie distracts the referee from counting a nearfall. Lethal sends Robbie to the floor and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Lethal hits the Lethal Combination. Cookie prevents him from connecting with a flying elbow drop. Robbie hits a neckbreaker to become the new TNA X Division Champion at 10:41. It was clear that Lethal was working for two men out there. Robbie looked like a machine at points and needs a lot of work on his in-ring skills. Giving him the title is a highly questionable decision. The action was below average by X Division standards and the interference from Cookie didn’t help. Not exactly the ideal opener. *½
Match #2: Mickie James vs. Tara
Jeremy Borash almost announces this contest as a TNA Knockouts Title match. Mickie enters the ring and immediately slaps Tara. Mickie back drops out of a piledriver attempt and connects with a dropkick. Tara retreats to the floor and Mickie invites her back into the ring. Tara hits a neckbreaker in the ropes. Mickie avoids the Widow’s Peak and applies a half crab. Tara escapes the hold and throws Mickie by her hair. She hits a suplex but Mickie hurricanranas her to the floor. Mickie lands a seated senton from the apron. In the ring, Mickie connects with a missile dropkick. Tara blocks a tornado DDT. They battle on the top rope and fall to the outside. They brawl along the entrance ramp and into the crowd. The referee tries to separate them to no avail and rules the match a double countout at 8:16. This feud will continue and I have no problems with that. These two delivered some of the best action from the Knockouts that I’ve seen in quite some time. The division has been taken more seriously as of late and has become much more entertaining as a result. Hopefully these two receive more pay per view time next month. **¼
They continue brawling after the match. Mickie rams Tara into the commentary stage. Tara breaks a broom over Mickie’s back. Mickie responds with a garbage can shot. Security intervenes with some success. Mickie goes back into the ring and Tara follows her. They start brawling again until security finally separates them. This was an excellent segment, mainly because it was believable.
Match #3: TNA World Tag Team Titles: Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley © vs. Brother Ray and Brother Devon
This is Team 3D’s final match. Of all the aged talent in TNA, Team 3D have been among the most tolerable and helpful. Shelley and Devon continually find themselves at a standstill. The MCMG go for their splash-neckbreaker combination but Devon avoids it and connects with a double clothesline. Sabin lands a springboard crossbody on Ray but walks into a boot. Team 3D hit a leg drop-side slam combination on Sabin. The MCMG respond with some double teaming of their own. Shelley misses a flying double stomp and Ray starts working over his left leg. Ray misses a splash and the MCMG send Team 3D to the outside. Shelley catches Devon with a dive but Sabin misses a plancha on Ray. Sabin avoids a charge and Ray collides with the ringpost, busting him open. In the ring, the MCMG isolate Ray until he powerbombs Sabin off the middle rope. Shelley prevents him from making the tag by knocking Devon off the apron. Ray sustains multiple kicks from Shelley and catches him with an ace crusher. Devon tags in and hits a powerslam on Sabin followed by a neckbreaker. He throws Sabin into Shelley and levels Sabin with a clothesline. Devon connects with a flying headbutt on Sabin. Team 3D hit a neckbreaker on Sabin along with one final wazzup headbutt on Shelley. DEVON…GET THE TABLES!!! The crowd is on fire right now. Ray props a table in the corner. Sabin RUNS UP THE TABLE to avoid going through it. Ray misses a charge and goes through the table. The MCMG connect with stereo superkicks on Devon for a nearfall. The MCMG hit their splash-neckbreaker combination on Devon for another nearfall. Devon fights off a sliced bread and Sabin accidentally yakuza kicks Shelley. Team 3D hit the 3D on Sabin for a two count. Sabin tornado DDTs Devon while Shelley superkicks Ray. The MCMG hit their splash-neckbreaker combination on Ray to retain their titles at 17:05. I knew that Team 3D were going to bring their best effort, but this was amazing. This match surprised the heck out of me and I’m glad that TNA is finally showcasing the MCMG at the level that they should. The action consisted of so many nice, small touches and that is what I love to see in tag team wrestling. Everything down the stretch made sense and the finish was fantastic. Team 3D didn’t know what to do when Sabin kicked out of the 3D and their hesitation cost them. This match is a testament to the MCMG’s ability and Team 3D can undoubtedly say that they ended their career on a high note. ****
Match #4: Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer
They trade rollups to start. RVD is SOO MAD at Dreamer that he wants to win by rollup in less than a minute. They stare each other down and exchange strikes. The action goes to the floor where Dreamer connects with a clothesline from the apron. RVD crotches him on the guardrail and lands a leg drop from the apron. RVD puts a chair over Dreamer’s head. He goes for a slingshot leg drop but Dreamer avoids it. Dreamer hits a neckbreaker out of the corner. RVD misses a baseball slide and Dreamer hits him with a ladder. In the ring, Dreamer hits a bulldog onto a ladder. He tries to follow with a flying elbow drop but RVD moves. RVD misses Rolling Thunder and collides with the ladder. Dreamer lands a top rope splash. RVD hits a northern lights suplex and Dreamer seems to have injured his left hand. RVD slams Dreamer onto a chair but misses a split-legged moonsault. Dreamer whips him into a ladder but RVD returns the favor. RVD misses a Five Star Frog Splash. Dreamer hits a piledriver. A ladder is set across the middle rope. They battle up top and Dreamer gets crotched on the ladder. RVD connects with a spin kick and dropkicks a chair into Dreamer’s face. RVD misses another Five Star Frog Splash but recovers by avoiding a DDT. RVD finds success on the third try and lands a Five Star Frog Splash for the win at 15:55. While the match didn’t start off great, it totally fell apart after Dreamer injured his hand. The whole contest was choppy and had no flow. Even trying to do play-by-play was frustrating. The sooner this EV 2.0 storyline is over, the better. *
RVD admits that he was wrong and calls Dreamer “his brother”. They hug, signally that there won’t be a rematch down the line. Shucks.
Match #5: AJ Styles, Kazarian, Douglas Williams, James Storm, and Robert Roode vs. Raven, Sabu, Rhino, Stevie Richards, and Brian Kendrick
If Fortune win, they can fire one member of EV 2.0. Everyone brawls to start. Williams stops a dive from Kendrick. Roode plants Richards with a spinebuster. Kendrick apparantly injured himself and trainers escort him to the back. Taz thinks that he’s a traitor. Fortune take turns working over Richards until he hits a flatliner on Kazarian and makes the tag. Rhino hits a belly to belly suplex on Storm and cleans house. Roode trips up Rhino to prevent Storm from getting Gored. Styles catches Rhino with a springboard clothesline and Fortune isolate him. He hits a fallaway slam on Storm and tags out. Sabu lands a chair-assisted dive to the floor. Back in, Sabu spikes Styles with a springboard tornado DDT. Williams catches Sabu with an uppercut but gets rocked by a superkick from Richards. Kazarian hits a reverse piledriver on Richards. Raven DDTs Kazarian but gets suplexed by Beer Money. Rhino Gores Roode but gets superkicked by Storm. Sabu throws a chair at Storm. Sabu tries a hurricanrana on Styles to no avail. Styles hits the Styles Clash on Sabu for the victory at 12:07. Considering that these two factions met in Lethal Lockdown last month, this match felt extremely rushed. As a result, the action was more concise but it just didn’t feel like there was a heated feud between the teams. However, I found the finishing stretch to be entertaining and this was an overall harmless twelve minutes of professional wrestling. I feel that this feud is on its last legs and might be overstaying its welcome. **¼
Fortune wave goodbye to Sabu. Ric Flair comes out and officially fires Sabu, saying that he didn’t like The Sheik either. Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam join their EV 2.0 teammates in saying goodbye to Sabu.
Christy Hemme is with D’Angelo Dinero and his congregation. Dinero is going to remove the stain (Abyss) from TNA tonight. Suddenly, Tara and Mickie James are shown brawling in the backstage area. The congregation tries to separate them but eventually leaves. Madison Rayne appears and hits Mickie with her title belt. Tara and Rayne walk away.
Match #6: Lumberjack Match: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Abyss
The lumberjacks are members of Dinero’s congregation. Dinero takes the fight to Abyss and dropkicks him to the floor. Abyss enters the ring before the lumberjacks can attack. Dinero lands two corner splashes. Abyss throws him to the outside but the lumberjacks catch him. Dinero comes off the top with a clothesline. Abyss gets sent to the floor and the lumberjacks throw him back into the ring. Abyss connects with a boot and takes control. Dinero counters the Black Hole Slam into a DDT. He hits a flying shoulder tackle and a corner senton. Abyss responds with Shock Treatment. Dinero avoids a chokeslam and sends Abyss to the floor. The lumberjacks distract Abyss, allowing Dinero to land a dive from the top rope. The lumberjacks throw Abyss into the ring, where Dinero connects with a diving headbutt. Eric Bischoff appears on the entrance ramp. Dinero goes out to confront him…AND THE LUMBERJACKS START ATTACKING DINERO! SWERVE!! Dinero’s own brother has turned on him. Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam for the win at 12:52. I’m actually happy about the finish, as it makes sense storyline-wise. Dinero should never have been able to create his own stipulations…unless Bischoff had a plan to turn it around on him. The match itself probably should have happened on Impact. They don’t have much chemistry together and the finish took away a clean finish on pay per view. Also keep in mind that I hate lumberjack matches. However, from a storytelling perspective, this was decent. *¾
Christy Hemme tries to interview Sabu. Stevie Richards comes out of the locker room and says that Sabu has nothing to say right now. Richards challenges AJ Styles to a match this Thursday on Impact. Using pay per view to sell TV?
Match #7: Jeff Jarrett vs. Samoa Joe
Jarrett threatens to leave during a pre-match promo but Joe stops him. Jarrett avoids him as best as possible until getting caught with a leg lariat. Joe connects with a gamenguiri and adds more strikes. He wins a chop exchange and punishes Jarrett in the corner. Jarrett applies an ankle lock, an obvious dig at Kurt Angle. Joe shrugs off a dropkick and connects with a clothesline. He hits a senton but Jarrett responds with the Stroke. Joe hits an exploder but Jarrett is able to answer once again with a Stroke from the middle rope. The referee tries to stop Jarrett from bringing a chair into the ring. This allows Joe to land a dive to the floor, wiping out both Jarrett and the referee. The idiotic crowd chants “TNA” for a referee bump. Murphy and Gunner run into the ring but Joe fights them off. Jarrett starts hitting Joe with a nightstick and chokes him out. Joe is unconscious and Jarrett applies a rear naked choke for the victory at 10:30. Much like the last match, this belonged on Impact. The screwy finish is to be expected when a heel faction controls the company. Although multiple screwy finishes don’t belong on pay per view, it’s the only thing that makes sense in TNA’s current state. That’s why I have a hard time getting excited for TNA’s new direction. Mundane action until the predictable ending. *½
Match #8: TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy © vs. Matt Morgan
Morgan immediately shows off his power advantage. Hardy resorts to a thumb to the eye but gets powered over the top rope. He spits in Morgan’s face from the floor. Morgan chases down Hardy and rams him into the apron. In the ring, Morgan misses a leg drop and Hardy connects with a dropkick. Hardy starts working over the left leg. Morgan fights back with some strikes, topped off by a discus lariat. Hardy slows him down with a DDT. Morgan answers with a chokeslam but Hardy sneaks in a low blow. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate for a two count. Morgan wakes up with the Carbon Footprint but the referee controversially doesn’t count to three, even though Hardy didn’t get his shoulder up. They made it look like the referee saw Hardy raise his leg but not his shoulder. Hardy hits another Twist of Fate for a nearfall. He catches Morgan with Whisper in the Wind. One final Twist of Fate allows Hardy to retain his title at 13:05. I doubt that anyone actually believed Morgan could win the title here. However, that doesn’t mean these two couldn’t put on a good match, especially because the crowd seemed to be behind Morgan. Unfortunately, the only nearfall that Morgan received ended up being controversial and the match itself had no urgency to it. On the bright side, they played to their strengths and showcased Morgan’s power advantage and Hardy’s resourcefulness. For only thirteen minutes, this match was too plodding and Morgan simply came off as a token challenger to Hardy’s title. **½
Overall: Turning Point 2010 is a show that gives me serious concern for the future direction of TNA. The X Division Title was put on Robbie, who delivered a lackluster performance in the opener. The central focus of TNA is Immortal, but every match involving them on this show was below average or merely passable. The lone bright spot on the whole card was Team 3D’s retirement match. The MCMG and Team 3D absolutely stole the show and Team 3D should be proud of their last outing. Aside from one tremendous match, this has to be considered one of TNA’s weakest pay per view offerings of the year. Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look bright. Stay far away from this show and check out the MCMG/Team 3D match on the “Best of 2010” DVD.
