A2Z Analysiz: TNA Turning Point 2011 (Bobby Roode, AJ Styles)

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turning point 11

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Universal Studios – Orlando, Florida – November 13, 2011

Mike Tenay and Taz are on commentary.

MATCH #1: TNA Television Championship – Eric Young v. Robbie E. w/ Robbie T.

Young has been the Champion since 5.26.11, and this is his third defense. I don’t care for Eric Young or his shenannigans. Despite my dislike, Young controls the early part of the match and the crowd is behind him. Robbie takes a powder and Robbie T interferes to give Robbie E the advantage. The challenger controls the Champion for a while with his boring offense. Young fires up and pulls his shorts off, just wrestling in trunks now. He is al fired up, unleashing a flurry of offense. Young hits Hail to the King for a near-fall when T pulls E to the floor. An irritated Young pulls off his trunks and has a pair of smaller trunks underneath. Okay then. Young wipes the Robbies out with a cross body block off the top rope to the floor. Robbie T takes a cheap shot, sweeping Young’s legs and causing him to crash down on the apron. That is actually enough for Robbie E to get the pinfall and win the title at 7:49. Nothing about this was particularly interesting, and the finish was hella lame.
Rating: *½

MATCH #2: TNA World Tag Team Championship – Mexican America (Anarquia, Hernandez & Sarita) w/ Rosita v. Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal, Shanon Moore & Toxxin)

Hernandez and Anarquia have been the Champions since 8.18.11, and this is their third defense. Moore and Anarquia start the match. The challengers take the early control and look motivated here. Hernandez tags in and immediately uses his power advantage. Momentum shifts back and forth in the opening minutes, but the challengers are probably ahead on points. Finally the Champions gain the advantage and focus on Neal, keeping him isolated from his more experienced partner. After a few minutes Neal avoids a charge in the corner and hits Hernandez with a Spear. The women get tagged in and the crowd loves it. Toxxin is a house afire and the match quickly breaks down. Neal and Anarquia are left in the ring, and Neal joins forces with Toxxin for some double-teaming. Rosita distracts Toxxin, allowing Sarita to hit her with one of the belts to get the pin at 8:34. That was better than I thought it would be, even though the women did very little until the finish. This worked well enough for what it was, but these being the two top teams at the time is a little unfortunate.
Rating: **½

MATCH #3: X Division Championship – Austin Aries v. Kid Kash v. Jesse Sorensen

Aries has been the Champion since 9.11.11, and this is his third defense. Kash and Aries have promised that this is going to be a handicap match, and that certianly holds true in the early going. Sorensen does his best to fight off both opponents and ends up throwing them both to the floor. He wipes them out with a dive and then throws Aries back in the ring. Sorensen goes go the top rope for an attack on Aries but Kash shoves him down. That’s the numbers game for ya. Finally some dissension in the ranks of Aries and Kash allows Sorensen to mount an attack. Unfortunately for Sorensen it is short lived and the double-team resumes. Kash pulls Sorensen to the floor and whips him into the guardrail. He holds Sorensen in place and Aries comes flying in with the Heat Seeking Missile, absolutely clobbering Sorensen. Back in the ring Aries covers for two. Aries covers again and this time Kash breaks it up. They keep it together though and both go to the top rope. Aries tries a Frog Splash and Sorensen gets his knees up. Kash misses a moonsault and all three men are down. Sorensen gets up and finally has some sustained offense, but can’t put anyone away. He goes up to the second rope, and for some reason Kash somersaults right into a clothesline. I hate how Kid Kash thinks spots like that are cool. Sorensen goes up top and Kash brings him down with a superplex. Kash hits the Money Maker and Aries sneakily puts Sorensen’s foot on the bottom rope. While Kash argues with the referee, Aries comes in and rolls him up for the pin at 12:53. That match was better in theory than in practice, as it may have worked better with someone who doesn’t suck as much as Kid Kash. Aries played his role to perfection, and Sorensen was still green but did a good job too. It just seemed to go on a little long and had some awkward spots.
Rating: **½

MATCH #4: No Disqualification Match – Rob Van Dam v. Christopher Daniels

Daniels gets on the mic before the match and tries to make this a straight wrestling match rather than a No Disqualification bout. RVD agrees, so let’s see how this goes. They chain wrestle and RVD gets the advantage so Daniels powders. Back in the ring RVD continues to dominate. RVD goes up top and tries a sunset flip but Daniels blocks it and takes control. After a few minutes RVD fights back with his usual offense. The match spills to the floor, where RVD is able to hiptoss Daniels on the entrance ramp. RVD drapes Daniels over the guardrail and this a legdrop off the ramp. That was cool. Back in the ring Daniels shoves the referee into RVD, allowing him to hit an STO. Daniels then grabs a steel chair and jams it into RVD’s gut. He hits the uranage slam on to the chair for a two-count. Daniels is frustrated and goes outside the ring to find a screwdriver. RVD blocks him from using it and then hits the Van Daminator. He goes up top and hits the Five-Star Frog Splash to get the pin at 11:15. There was nothing really wrong with that match per se, but it just never kicked into a higher gear. Daniels did some stuff, then RVD did some stuff, and then it was over.
Rating: **¾

MATCH #5: Crimson v. “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan

They start off slowly, feeling each other out to start. Morgan strikes first with a huge clothesline. He ries an early Carbon Footprint but Crimson avoids it and hits a clothesline. Crimson can’t follow up though and Morgan reclaims control, sending Crimson to the floor. Outside the ring Morgan is able to kick the steel steps into Crimson’s knee, and that gives him a pronounced advantage. Morgan hits the series of elbows in the corner and that just fires Crimson up. Crimson unloads with a flurry of offense now, throwing Morgan around, which is no small feat. Morgan fights back and hits a Chokeslam for two. He tries the Carbon Footprint again but misses, and Crimson hits a Spear for two. On the third try Morgan connects on the Carbon Footprint and Crimson wisely rolls to the floor. Morgan rolls Crimson back in but by then Crimson is able to kick out at two. Crimson hits Red Sky and Morgan rolls toward the ropes. By the time Crimson pulls him back to the center of the ring Morgan kicks out. Both men get to their feet and trade strikes, trying to out-man each other. The referee tries to get in between them and gets shoved out of the way for the double-DQ at 12:05. I understand why they went with the double-DQ and I’m not even opposed to the feud continuing in this manner, it’s just the way they went about the actual finish that was kind of lame. There also didn’t seem to be any fire when they were trading punches, just like they were doing it for the sake of doing it. It looked weak and awkward.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #6: Mr. Anderson & Abyss v. Immortal (Bully Ray & Scott Steiner)

Anderson and Bully start the match. Aces & Eights explode! Oh wait, wrong year. The early parts of the match go to Anderson on points. Bully fights back with a back suplex. Steiner tags in and the Immortal duo use some shady tactics to take control and wear Anderson down. Anderson is able to hit a spinning neckbreaker and both he and Bully are down. Abyss gets the hot tag but Steiner had the referee distracted so it’s not going to count. Steiner hits the Super Samoan Drop and Anderson is in big trouble. Bully comes back in and Anderson catches him with a quick DDT. This time Abyss gets the hot tag and it totally counts. Abyss is a house afire, decimating his former Immortal brothers. Bully and Steiner try to double-team the Monster but to no avail. Anderson tags himself back in, unbeknownst to Immortal but knownst to us. He comes flying off the top rope with a high cross body on Steiner for two. Meanwhile Abyss and Bully clothesline each other on the floor. Steiner comes back and hits the Steiner Flatliner for a near-fall. He follows with a Frankensteiner from the top rope but this time the referee won’t count because Abyss tagged Anderson from the floor and not anywhere near the right corner. Abyss surprises Steiner with the Black Hole Slam to get the pin at 11:47. That was a bogus tag that Abyss made, and that makes me hate the finish. Aside from that the match was fine, standard IMPACT Wrestling stuff.
Rating: **

After the match Bully Ray and Scott Steiner put Abyss through a table, but The Monster pops right back up! Steiner bails immediately and Bully soon follows, looking stunned.

MATCH #7: Knockouts Championship – Velvet Sky v. Gail Kim (w/ Madison Rayne & Karen Jarrett)

Velvet has been the Champion since 10.16.11, and this is her first defense. Gail and Madison are the current Knockouts Tag Team Champions. Velvet attacks right away and she has a lot of fury. The experienced challenger weathers that storm and takes control, wearing Velvet down. Velvet tries to mount a comeback but Gail has an answer for everything she tries. Eventually Velvet does make the comeback and unleashes her terrible looking offense. Velvet hits In Yo’ Face but Karen Jarrett has the referee distracted. Madison sneaks in the ring and hits an awful looking Rayne Drop. Gail crawls over to make the cover but only gets two. She goes up top and tries a back senton but Velvet moves out of the way. Velvet covers for two and Gail counters that to a cradle for her own two-count. Madison distracts Velvet again and this time Gail hits Eat Defeat to get the pin at 5:52. Gail is now a two-time Knockouts Champion. The match unfortunately was not so very good, and it’s not Gail’s fault. I feel bad knocking Velvet because it looks like she’s really trying, but she’s just not so good.
Rating: *¾

MATCH #8: Jeff Hardy v. Jeff Jarrett (w/ Karen Jarrett)

Jarrett is the current AAA World World Heavyweight Champion. Hardy charges the ring and hits an immediate Twist of Fate and gets the pin in six seconds! Jarrett is pissed, and he wants to go again. Hardy agrees and here we go. Jarrett goes right to work and keeps Hardy grounded. Hardy fights back and hits a gourdbuster for two. He goes for Whisper in the Wind but Jarrett shoves him down. Hardy tries to fight up again but Jarrett catches him in a Sleeper. The tenacious Hardy is able to fight his way out and hit a back suplex. Both men rise and trade fisticuffs. Hardy gets the better of it. A series of reversals ends with Jarrett trying the Figure-Four Leglock and Hardy turns it into an inside cradle to get his second pin at 5:44. As Hardy walks up the ramp, Jarrett grabs a steel chair and blindsides Hardy with it. Jarrett drags Hardy back to the ring and delivers The Stroke. He and Karen demand one more match and they get it for some reason. Jarrett covers and gets two, as Hardy rolls him over into a crucifix to get his third pin at about 20 seconds. These two have never had good chemistry as opponents, and this match was no different. It was a short, awkward exercise that made Jarrett look like a doofus and Hardy like a guy who beat a doofus.
Rating: *½

MATCH #9: TNA World Heavyweight Championship – Bobby Roode v. “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles

Roode has been the Champion since 11.3.11, and this is his second defense. AJ is aggressive in the early going so Roode tries to avoid him. The tenacious challenger is able to get a hold of Roode and he sets out to systematically wear him down. Roode fights back and cuts AJ off with a hard clothesline. After a brief time AJ avoids a charge and Roode crashes to the floor. AJ follows him out with a flying forearm off the apron. Back in the ring Roode uses the referee to help him take a cheap shot, and they go back to the floor. Roode dominates and keeps up the pressure back inside the ring. AJ comes back with a superplex and both men are down. Back on their feet AJ is in total control, working the Champion over. Things get a little awkward briefly but they recover well enough. Roode hits a big spinebuster for two. AJ comes back with a hammerlock back supelx. He tries a springboard 450 but Roode avoids it. Roode then counters the Styles Clash into a Crossface. AJ is able to escape with a tiny little powerbomb. He follows up with the springboard flying forearm for a two-count. The referee gets in the wrong spot and Roode delivers a low blow to AJ, which also makes contact with the ref. Roode covers but only gets two. AJ gets a quick inside cradle for two, and then drills Roode with an enziguiri. They trade punches and AJ wins that battle. Roode tries to beg off but AJ will have none of it. AJ knocks Roode to the floor and tries to follow with a dive but he misses and lands hard on the floor. Back in the ring Roode hits the Payoff but only gets two! Roode goes for another one but AJ avoids it and hits the Pele! AJ goes for the Styles Clash but Roode sweeps the legs and rolls AJ up with a handful of tights to get the pin at 19:32. These are two very talented wrestlers and they had a mostly good match. The crowd wasn’t so into it for the most part, and a few very awkward spots knocked this one down a few pegs. Overall it was an effective victory for Roode and the finish lends itself to a rematch, so all’s well that ends well.
Rating: ***¼

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