Turning Point: Hardy retains title to cap awful show

TNA’s Turning Point was one of the worst pay-per-view events of all-time. The eight-match show featured only two solid matches, saw a performer likely break his wrist, featured head-scratching finish after head-scratching finish, not to mention a completely dead crowd. When Jeff Hardy pinned Matt Morgan to end the show, the check marks in the negative column far outweighed those in the positive column.

In the main event, Jeff Hardy successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time by beating Matt Morgan.

After a brief feeling out period, Hardy takes a long walk outside the ring after being sent there by Morgan. Morgan leans over the ropes and Hardy spits in his face. This brings Morgan to the outside. Hardy tries to go back into the ring. He does but Morgan trips him and goes to work. Hardy, though, takes over and goes to work on Morgan’s left leg. Hardy locks in a kneebar and transitions it into a single-leg crab. Morgan tries and finally gets to the bottom rope.

Hardy back to work on the knee but Morgan gets going. He rips Hardy’s shirt off and hits a discus clothesline for two. Hardy with a kick to the gut and a DDT for two. Hardy to the second rope now. He comes down and gets caught by the throat. Morgan with the choke slam but Hardy kicks out at two. Hardy sneaks in a low blow that the referee can’t see and hits the Twist of Fate but Morgan kicks out at two. Hardy with some strikes and he goes off the rope but runs right into the Carbon Footprint. Morgan with the cover and the referee says Hardy kicked out at two when he did nothing of the sort. This was extremely weird. Morgan argues and grabs Hardy but gets hit with the Twist of Fate for another two. Morgan down in the corner. He stands. Hardy charges him and Morgan moves.

Morgan sets Hardy onto the top but Hardy elbows him and hits the Whisper in the Wind and then the Twist of Fate. The third time’s the charm for Hardy and that’ll do it.

Winner via pinfall and STILL TNA World Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Hardy

Match Rating: 5/10

The next TNA pay-per-view is Final Resolution on Dec. 5.

Following a video package, Mike Tenay and Taz welcome us to tonight’s show, an eight-match affair from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Fla.

Match #1 – TNA X Division Championship – (c) Jay Lethal (Elizabeth, NJ) vs. Robbie E. (Jersey Shore)

Collar-and-elbow tie-up to start things out. Robbie takes a second to leave the ring to talk to Cookie. He comes back in and is greeted with a series of armdrags and an armbar. Lethal sends Robbie over the top rope. Lethal takes a look and hits the ropes and misses a baseball slide but just lights Robbie up with a chop.

Lethal on fire here in the early going, really taking it to Robbie. He goes for the Lethal Combination but Robbie blocks the tail end and dumps Lethal throat-first onto the top rope and takes control. Lethal tries to get going with punches but Robbie whips him chest-first into the buckle. Abdominal stretch in for Robbie now. Robbie back to shoulders in the corner but Lethal fires up out of the corner with punches and chops. Flying forearm connects for Lethal. Then two clotheslines. And Robbie goes down with the handspring back elbow. Lethal hits a sunset flip but a distraction by Cookie means senior referee Earl Hebner doesn’t see the pin attempt.

Lethal sends Robbie to the outside and hits a suicide dive. They fight outside the ring. Lethal throws Robbie back in the ring and Cookie hops up on the apron and tries to spray Lethal but he stops her. Robbie tries a sneak attack but Lethal hits him with the Lethal Combination. He goes to the top for the elbow, but Cookie grabs his leg as Hebner is dispatching of the tanning spray that Cookie threw in the ring. This allows Robbie to crotch Lethal and pull him off, bring him to the centre and hit the neckbreaker to get the duke.

Winner via pinfall and NEW TNA X Division Champion: Robbie E.

Match Rating: 6/10

Match #2 – Tara (State of California) vs. Mickie James (Richmond, Va.)

James is wrestling in chaps tonight. That’s certainly a new look.

Tara strikes the first big blow of the match when she hits James with a neckbreaker across the top rope. James reverses the Widow’s Peak into a half crab but Tara quickly regains control. Tara dominating but she takes time to gloat and it backfires. James sends Tara over the top with a head scissors and then hits a Thesz Press off the apron. James throws her back in the ring and goes to the top and hits a missile dropkick. James goes for the spin kick but Tara stops her. Tara then counters the tornado DDT and puts James on the top turnbuckle. She goes up there with her for some reason and they both crash to the floor.

They brawl on the outside and instead of counting them both out of the ring, the referee stands there and then follows as they brawl up near the stage. They go into the crowd. They’ve been out of the ring for about a minute now. Still not a countout. The referee tries to grab them and they both push him. Only now does he call for the bell. What?

This match is a double countout double disqualification?

I’m assuming double DQ. No announcement was made. They continue to brawl as the timekeeper impotently rings the bell time and time again. They finally are broken up by security.

Maybe not. James goes back to the ring and Tara frees herself from security. They go at it again, even kicking away security. Now they’re ripping each other’s clothes off. Now here come the agents. They can’t break it up. Finally they get them isolated. Oh wait, here we go again. And now we cut to a video package, so I assume it’s over.

Match Rating: 0/10

Match #3 – TNA World Tag Team Championship – (c) Motor City Machine Guns (Detroit, Mich.) vs. Team 3D (New York City)

Well, Team 3D certainly has the size advantage here.

No one gains a big edge as Alex Shelley and Brother Devon start things out. Team 3D gets going as Devon thwarts a double-team attempt. Brother Ray in and they set up for the 3D but Shelley bails out.

The Guns get going with some double-team moves until Shelley misses a double stomp from the top on Devon. Brother Ray in for Team 3D now and he works the left leg that Shelley landed on. He goes for a big splash but Shelley moves and brings in Sabin. They go to work. Shelley hits a suicide dive on Devon but Ray escapes a slingshot attempt by Sabin. Ray charges at Sabin but he moves and Ray goes into the ring post. Brother Ray is busted open.

The Guns go to work on Ray now. The Guns isolate Ray from Devon and use frequent tags. Ray goes to the top turnbuckle but is cut off briefly, but recovers and hits Sabin with a Bubba Bomb from the top. An arm-draping cover gets two. Sabin gets the tag and Shelley knocks Devon off the apron before Ray can tag him. Shelley with kicks to the chest and Shelley is taunting Ray and daring Ray to hit him, so Ray chops him a few times. Shelley goes to the middle rope and Ray catches him coming off with a cutter.

Ray crawls and gets the tag to Devon as Sabin gets the tag. Devon goes to work and hits a flying shoulder block and a side slam for two. Sabin charges out of the corner right into a scoop slam for two. Neckbreaker for two as Shelley breaks up the pin. Shelley with an eye poke. They try a double team maneuver but Devon catches Sabin and slams him and follows up with a headbutt from the top rope for two as Shelley makes the save. Ray blind tags his way into the match and they hit a double team move.

Shelley gets slammed and takes the What’s Up Headbutt. Then Ray calls for the table. Devon grabs one from under the ring and slides it in. Ray sets it up in the corner. They whip Sabin in but he flips off the table. Ray charges him and goes through it. Double superkick connects on Devon. He gets out at two. They set him up for Skull & Bones and hit it but again, Devon kicks out at two.

They go double team again but Sabin kicks Shelley. Sabin turns around and walks right into the 3D but he kicks out. The announcers are stunned that someone kicked out of 3D. Team 3D doesn’t know what to do. The Guns regain their composure and take advantage, hitting Devon with a DDT. Shelley cracks Ray with a superkick and they load him up for Skull & Bones. This time it’s enough.

Winners via pinfall and STILL TNA World Tag Team Champions: Motor City Machine Guns

Match Rating: 7/10

The Guns help Team 3D to their feet following the match and raise their hands.

Match #4 – Tommy Dreamer (Yonkers, NY) vs. Rob Van Dam (Battle Creek, Mich.)

They brawl for a little bit. RVD sets Dreamer up on the barricade and hits a spinning leg drop. RVD goes for a slingshot legdrop onto the apron but Dreamer slides out and RVD hits the chair he had set up on Dreamer’s head. Dreamer takes over and puts RVD in the tree of woe but RVD pulls himself up briefly. Dreamer resets him. Rinse and repeat one more time. Instead of trying again, Dreamer just hits a neckbreaker. Dreamer goes to the outside and starts collecting items. A ladder and another chair. RVD recovers and tries a baseball slide but Dreamer moves and then drills RVD with the ladder. Dreamer brings RVD back into the ring and hits a bulldog onto the ladder. Cover but RVD kicks out at two.

RVD on the ladder and Dreamer goes for an elbow drop but misses. RVD puts Dreamer on the ladder and goes for Rolling Thunder but Dreamer moves. Spinebuster for Dreamer. He goes to the top and hits a Frog Splash for two. Dreamer plays with his MMA glove. Looks like Dreamer is going for the DDT but RVD counters with a Northern Lights Suplex. Dreamer is rolling in pain. He pulls the glove off and it appears his wrist is legitimately broken. There is something sticking out. The match comes to halt as they try to figure out what to do.

They continue. RVD misses a split-legged moonsault. Dreamer working with one hand here. Dreamer moves out of the way of the Five Star Frog Splash and hits a piledriver. Dreamer sets RVD up on the top turnbuckle and bridges a ladder on the second rope. He stands on the ladder and tries for a superplex but gets crotched on the ladder. Then Dreamer falls over in a sort of tree of woe in the ladder. Ouch. The announcers just begging for this match to end. RVD hits him with a chair dropkick and goes for the Five Star but Dreamer moves again. They trade reversals and RVD sends Dreamer into a chair on the mat and this time he does hit the Five Star and mercifully that’s it.

Winner via pinfall: Rob Van Dam

Match Rating: 4/10

Dreamer is really favoring his wrist. He finally stands and they have a talk after the match and hug.

Match #5 – AJ Styles (Gainesville, Ga.), Kazarian (Anaheim, Calif.), Douglas Williams (The United Kingdom), Robert Roode (Wall Street) & James Storm (Leiper’s Fork, Tenn.) vs. Stevie Richards (Philadelphia, Pa.), Raven (The Bowery), Sabu (Bombay, Mich.), Rhino (Detroit, Mich.) & Brian Kendrick (Veince, Calif.)

If you had money on “everybody brawls” to start the match, well, you’re a winner. Williams takes Kendrick down and Kendrick appears to hurt his knee. He is helped out by three trainers and Storm pats him on the back on the way out. That was weird. The announcers talk about the injury in a way that makes me think it’s a work.

Fortune completely dominating the early-going. They isolate Richards for a long time. Kazarian in for Fortune but Richards sends him to the mat. Both men tag. Rhino and Storm in now. Rhino going at it. Belly-to-belly for the War Machine. All the other members of Fortune run in and they eat various moves. Another belly-to-belly for Storm. Rhino lines him up for the Gore but Roode grabs his leg. Styles comes in with the springboard elbow and Storm covers for two.

Same formula here with Rhino now. He’s isolated by Storm. Rhino ends up grabbing Storm and hits him with a modified cutter. Rhino brings in Sabu and Storm welcomes Styles in. Sabu uses a chair as a springboard to take out three members of Fortune. Styles misses a 450 Splash and Sabu tries to follow up but Williams makes the save. He hits a flying European Uppercut. It all breaks down here. Everyone is hitting their moves and getting their spots in and we end up with Sabu and Styles in the ring. Sabu crotches Styles and goes for a rana but Styles stops him, puts him in position for the Styles Clash, hops down and hits it.

Winners via pinfall: Fortune

Match Rating: 2/10

As a result of taking the fall, Sabu is fired by Ric Flair, who sings him a homemade song on his way out. That was the only redeeming part of this whole match.

Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer come out and wish Sabu goodbye.

Match #6 – Lumberjack Match – Abyss (Parts Unknown) vs. The Pope (Harlem, NY)

Pope off to a good start. He’s thrown out of the ring but caught by his lumberjacks. Abyss is sent back in when he goes out. Abyss catches Pope with a big boot and goes on the offensive. Abyss works a bear hug. He goes for the Black Hole Slam but Pope spins out into a DDT. Both men are down.

Pope starts to fire up now with some strikes. He hits the drop-down elbow in the corner and gets two. Pope goes for a floatover but Abyss doesn’t follow. Abyss grabs him and hits the Shock Treatment. He’s slow to the cover and only gets two. Abyss goes for a choke slam but Pope slides out. He punches Abyss to the floor. Abyss scares away the lumberjacks so they clear out and Pope comes off the top with a crossbody. Diving headbutt connects for Pope.

Pope with strikes and he finally drops Abyss. He starts celebrating with the congregation when Eric Bischoff comes out and starts making the money sign with his fingers to Pope. Pope’s brother attacks him from behind and the rest of the congregation follows. They throw Pope back in the ring and Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam and that’s it.

Winner via pinfall: Abyss

Match Rating: 1/10

Match #7 – Jeff Jarrett (Hendersonville, Tenn.) vs. Samoa Joe (Isle of Samoa)

Crowd showing signs of life for the first time in awhile for this one as Joe takes it to Jarrett early on.

They trade punches and chops and Joe gets the better of it in a big, big way. Joe brings Jarrett up in the power bomb position but Jarrett slides out and locks in the ankle lock. That’s a new one. Joe gets to the ropes. Jarrett grabs a chair to the outside but the referee wrestles it away from him. Jarrett with a dropkick that Joe no sells and hits him with a big clothesline. Big boot for Joe followed by a back splash. Joe with an exploder suplex. Joe puts Jarrett on the top turnbuckle but Jarrett squirms out and snaps Joe’s neck on the top rope. Now Jarrett stands Joe up on the second rope and hits the Stroke from there and this Super Stroke only gets two.

Jarrett goes for the chair again but the referee grabs it again. Joe comes in with a suicide dive and takes both out. Back in the ring, Joe sets Jarrett up for the Musclebuster when Gunner and Murphy run out. One of them eats a Musclebuster. Jarrett grabs the nightstick they brought out and goes to town on Joe with it. He chokes Joe out with it. Now, with Joe out, Jarrett locks in the Coquina Clutch. The referee is brought back into the ring and drops Joe’s arm three times.

Winner via submission: Jeff Jarrett

Match Rating: 4/10

Match #8 – TNA World Heavyweight Championship – (c) Jeff Hardy (Cameron, NC) vs. Matt Morgan (Fairfield, Conn.)

Winner via pinfall and STILL TNA World Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Hardy

Match Rating: 5/10

Event Rating: 1/10

If you value your sanity, do not watch this show. Do not order the replay.

Matt Bishop can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu. Please include your name and hometown. Click here to follow Matt on Twitter. Should be a good one!.