Two title changes not enough to make Turning Point special feel special

Bob Kapur

Two title changes not enough to make Turning Point special feel special

The challenge in holding a special event like Turning Point so soon after a big pay-per-view event (it’s only been three weeks since Bound For Glory) is in building up stories in the short time that make the matches feel big or special enough to warrant paying for the show. Or in this case, paying for the Impact+ streaming service.

Saturday night’s Turning Point was chock-full of matches, and most of them were quite good. But even with two title changes, there wasn’t really anything – save for the very-well-executed return of Joe Doering – that felt like it couldn’t have happened on the company’s regular weekly TV show.

It’s noted that Impact is planning to hold these specials on a monthly basis. Hopefully, they will find a way to make them more distinct than their TV show, and really be worthy of the “plus”.

Match 1: Eddie Edwards vs. Daivari

There was no storyline building up to this match, other than Daivari looking to climb the ladder in Impact after returning to the company at Bound For Glory. This was a back and forth contest, with control changing hands several times. Eddie had Daivari in trouble after a Backpack Stunner and got a near-fall. He then went up top to try something, but Daivari crotched him, and then took him down with a Superplex. But then he got cocky, and ran into a huge running elbow and a Tiger Driver that had him dazed. A Boston Knee Party finally put Daivari down for good.

This was fine TV match – good, but nothing to write home about, and doesn’t really change either of their positions on the card.

Winner: Eddie Edwards

Match 2: Tenille Dashwood (w/ Kaleb) and Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie

This match was used to determine if Grace and Dashwood could work together, as they are both hoping to find a partner for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament. Early on, the answer was ‘no’ as Dashwood refused to tag herself into the match, leaving Jordynne in jeopardy. Taya and Rosemary took advantage, taking turns beating up Grace when not hitting her with double-team moves. Dashwood did tag herself in after Grace was able to take the advantage, but lost it, and then promptly tagged back out at the first sign of trouble. She checked out of the match, and Grace was easy pickings for Taya and Rosemary, and eventually the numbers caught up to her and she was pinned after a Facebuster by Rosemary. After the match, Dashwood and Kaleb left, disgusted with Grace for losing.

This was another TV-quality match, which was fine, but didn’t really progress the storyline at all – even now, there still is no fourth team in the tournament.

Winners: Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie

Backstage, Cody Deaner was frustrated with Cousin Jake for costing him a match against Johnny Swinger the other week. Jake apologized and said that things would be okay if they found Swinger and got revenge. Cody agreed, and they ran off to find Swinger.

Match 3: Brian Myers vs. ‘Swoggle

Swoggle was reluctant to fight his friend, but refused Myers’ demand that he just lay down for him. Instead, Swoggle attacked and the fight spilled to the floor. Myers was aggressive, and bashed Swoggle’s head on the apron, and then stomped a mudhole in him. He then toyed with Swoggle, hitting him with a few moves and bullying his smaller opponent. Swoggle finally had enough and out of frustration, went on the offense, hitting Myers with a low German Suplex. He hit a Tadpole Splash, but Myers got his shoulder up at the last second. After that, Myers hit a big sliding clothesline that put down Swoggle for good. After the match, Myers continued to beat up Swoggle, until Crazzy Steve ran in for the save.

This was as good as it sounded on paper, which was not particularly good.

Winner: Brian Myers

Backstage, Gia Miller asked XXXL what their chances were against Chris Sabin and “Cowboy” James Storm. XXXL said that they are a single great team of the present, which is better than two individual halves of two great teams of the past.

Match 4: XXXL vs. Chris Sabin and “Cowboy” James Storm

Storm’s return to the company is most welcome, and even moreso because it means we get to hear some great entrance music – seriously, do yourself a favour and download that song. Storm and Sabin gelled pretty well together for their first time teaming up. They were running away with it early on, but some shenanigans by XXXL cooled their jets, and soon Sabin was being smothered. Sabin was eventually able to escape and make the tag to Storm who was on fire. Storm and Sabin hit stereo dives on the behemoths and then exchanged targets and hit two more. After an awkward “Beer! Guns!” chant, they sandwiched Larry D with kicks, but couldn’t keep him down.

XXXL tried for the Karachi Krunch on Sabin, but he moved and they collided like a pair of wrecking balls. Sabin and Storm hit successive superkicks on Acey (say that five times fast) and got the win.

This was good. It’s unfortunate that XXXL had to take a clean loss, since the upper echelon of the tag team division could use some fresh blood.

Winners: Chris Sabin and “Cowboy” James Storm

The Deaners found Swinger’s open suitcase and opened up the fanny pack that Swinger used on Cody to get the pin. Inside, they found a gun, and they assumed that meant that Swinger was the one who shot John E. Bravo. Dun dun DUN!

Match 5: Rohit Raju (c) vs. Cousin Jake (w/ Cody Deaner) – for the X-Division Championship

Fresh from their detectiving, the Deaners came out so Jake could answer the “Defeat Rohit” open challenge. He didn’t fare too well, early on, with Rohit using his smarts to chop down the bigger challenger, including hitting a Spinning Neckbreaker that stunned Jake. But Deaner’s redneck strength allowed him to break a submission attempt and heave Raju across the ring like a sack of garbage. Deaner hit a few more power moves, even catching Raju in a running missile attack and seamlessly transitioning that into a big Powerbomb – that looked good. A cheapshot to the throat by Raju dropped Jake and after a pair of running knees to the face, it was all over. After the match, Eric Young and Joe Doering came to the ring and beat the tar out of the Deaners.

This was good, as Raju’s position as the weaselly cowardly champ is a fun character. Joe Doering looked great, and pairing him up with Young makes for some interesting possibilities.

Winner, and still X-Division champion: Rohit Raju

Gia interviewed the Good Brothers who said they would add the Impact Tag Team Championship to their list of title reigns.

Match 6: Moose vs. Willie Mack

They started off with a stalemate with neither one holding a strength advantage. But a big leg sweep by Moose sent Mack sprawling hard on the apron and then hitting the floor. Moose battered Mack around ringside, and then methodically punished him even more in the ring. After several minutes, Mack was able to Hulk up, but his comeback was stopped with two big Rock Bottoms. Willie fought back up again, and thwarted a Spear attempt with a big Roundhouse Kick. Mack went up top, but Moose stalked him and yanked him down with a huge Superplex. Moose continued the onslaught, climbing on top of a prone Mack and ground-and-pounding him until Mack could not defend himself and the ref called for the bell, awarding the match to Moose by TKO. Moose wouldn’t let up on the beating, so the referee reversed the decision, awarding the win to Mack by disqualification. Mack couldn’t celebrate, though, because he was unconscious.

They really have done a good job of rehabilitating Moose’s character, turning him into a badass, after all the terrible EC3 nonsense. Hopefully they stick with it, because this is the best Moose has ever been. And the vicious beatdown style helps cover up his other in-ring limitations. Good stuff.

Winner, by disqualification: Willie Mack

Eddie Edwards went into Rich Swann’s dressing room to give him words of encouragement for his upcoming title match. He told Swann that he would have his back should Ken Shamrock try to get involved on behalf of Sami Callihan.

Match 7: The North (c) vs. the Good Brothers – for the Tag Team Championship

The match started off with a very deliberate pace, with the (slightly) larger Good Brothers isolating Ethan Page in their corner, allowing them to work him over. But Anderson fell for a distraction by Alexander, and paid for it when Page clotheslined him from behind, weakening him. The North double-teamed him for several minutes, but Anderson was finally able to tag in Gallows. Things picked up after that, with all four men duking it out. In the end, the Brothers dispatched of Alexander, sending him to the floor. Anderson nailed a Gun Stun on page, and they finished him off with the Magic Killer for the decisive win to kill The North’s second reign.

This was a bit anti-climactic, and makes you wonder why they wouldn’t just have the Good Brothers win the titles at Bound For Glory instead of having The North lose so convincingly. It also makes XXXL’s loss a bit more confusing, since they don’t really have a lot of other strong heel teams for the Good Brothers to face. That said, it was a solid match, and if there were a crowd, this would have gone over quite well.

Winners, and new Tag Team Champions: the Good Brothers

Jordynne Grace confronted Tenille and Kaleb backstage, and they argued over who cost them the match. After Grace stormed off, Alisha Edwards came up to Tenille and they commiserated about losing matches when teaming up with Grace. They decided to team up, so presumably, they will be the final team in the tournament.

Match 8: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Su Yung (c) – No-DQ match for the Knockouts championship

Purrazzo got the early edge, using her technical expertise to slow down Su’s Berzerker-style offense. Yung menaced her with the bloody glove at one point, forcing Purrazzo to turn up the aggression. She tied Su in the bottom rope with the Paradise Lock and hit a big sliding dropkick that sent Yung crashing to the floor. While Su was down, Deonna went under the ring and pulled out a bunch of plunder, like chairs and a garbage can lid. But she didn’t use any of them right away, instead choosing to work over Su’s arm in an effort to weaken Su’s Mandible Claw arm. Purrazzo was relentless until Su crawled under the ring and grabbed a bunch of rope, which unnerved Purrazzo. She was still off her game, and because of that, she tried for a desperate running attack, but Su moved, and Purrazzo crashed hard into the corner. Purrazzo tried to run, but Su caught her and dropped her hard on the entrance ramp. She forced Purrazzo back in the ring for the cover but Purrazzo kicked out. Su went for the Red Mist to the face, but Purrazzo blocked it with a canvas frame, and then smashed the canvas over Su’s head, stunning the champ.

Purrazzo then locked on Venus DiMilo and it looked like Su was out. The ref checked, but her arm didn’t drop for a third time, and Su popped back up. She locked on the Mandible Claw, and Purrazzo was paralyzed. Yung broke the hold and then hung up Purrazzo by the neck with the rope, but Purrazzo escaped with a big Stunner-like escape. Purrazzo then hit a Cradle Piledriver, which she calls the Cosa Nostra, and got the pin to regain the title.

This was pretty fun. Again, the title change here seemed to come too quickly after Bound For Glory. It makes you wonder if they only put it on Su at that event to make up for Kylie Rae’s no-showing. More than that, though, It now begs the question as to whether they even have any viable contenders for Purrazzo, since all the other women are focused on the tag belts. Except for Grace, who Purrazzo just got out of a feud with. Unless Kimber Lee turns on Purrazzo?

Match 9: Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann (c) – for the World Championship

On commentary, Josh Matthews retold the lengthy history between the two, explaining how Rich Swann had basically been adopted by Sami’s family after his own parents passed away. Their familiarity was evident early on, as they were able to predict each other’s planned attacks. The action spilled to the floor where Sami sent Swann (say that five times fast) into the steps. Sami looked for an apron attack, but Swann escaped and hit a somersault dive on Sami instead. Back in the ring, Swann was in control, raining punches down on Sami’s head in the corner. But he did a fancy flip and tweaked his knee on the landing. Sami immediately targeted the knee with a chopblock, and then punished it more with a tight Kneelock that had Swann screaming in pain. He then targeted other areas of Swann’s body, including his arm, neck, and face, with a myriad of attacks. Swann finally had enough and thundered back with some huge punches, which led to a slugfest in the middle of the ring, and then a kickfest that dropped both of them. They got up, and the mutual clobbering continued, with Rich faring better, nearly getting the cover a couple of times. There was a bit of a botched spot where Sami didn’t quite get his knees up when Swan went for a handspring splash. But they vindicated themselves with a beautiful spot where Sami caught Swann in a Sliced Bread attempt and hit a gross-looking Package Tombstone Piledriver. Sami hit another Piledriver, this one on the apron. But Swann countered a floor attack with a really sweet Handspring Backflip Stunner on the floor.

Back in the ring, Sami hit a huge lariat but couldn’t follow up thanks to a big superkick by Swann. Swann headed up top to end things, and Ken Shamrock came down the ramp to shake things up. Eddie Edwards, good as his word, stopped Shamrock from interfering, leaving it up to Swann and Sami to fight it out. Swann dropped Sami with a trio of superkicks, and that was enough to keep Sami down for good.

This was a good hard-hitting match. People who only know Swann from his WWE stint may not appreciate how good Swann can be when given a chance and the right opponent. It will be interesting to see who he gets paired with next.

Winner, and still World Champion: Rich Swann

The next Impact+ special event will be Final Resolution on December 12.

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