A2Z Analysiz: TNA Turning Point 2010 (Jeff Hardy, Matt Morgan)

Wrestling DVDs

For a complete, easy-to-navigate archive of all of my TNA DVD reviews, please visit Total Nonstop Ziegler!

Universal Studios – Orlando, Florida – November 7, 2010

Introduction

The opening video package is all about Jeff Hardy and how he is the Antichrist of Professional Wrestling. I actually really loved this character and thought Hardy did a tremendous job with it.

Mike Tenay and Taz are on commentary.

MATCH #1: TNA X-Division Championship Match – Jay Lethal vs. Robbie E w/ Cookie

Lethal has been the champion since 9.25.10, and this is his second defense. The champ takes early control and E has to powder. Back in the ring Lethal stays in control, frustrating the challenger. Once again they spill to the floor and Lethal stays in control. E just can’t get untracked here. Lethal hits a springboard missile dropkick for two. He goes for the Lethal Combination but E hangs on to the top rope, and then delivers a Stun Gun to take control. Eventually Lethal makes the comeback with a flurry of offense and the crowd is digging it. Cookie distracts the referee and Lethal takes offense to it. All I’m saying is Cookie doesn’t like the circus. Who doesn’t like the circus? Lethal knocks E to the floor and takes him out with a suicide dive. Back in the ring Cookie distracts Lethal again, but it doesn’t stop him from hitting the Lethal Combination. Lethal goes up top for the Elbow but Cookie interferes again and Lethal gets crotched on the top rope. E follows up with a standing neckbreaker (really?) to get the win and become the new X Division Champion at 10:40. That was adequate, but I can’t help but dream of the days when Joe, AJ, and Daniels were competing for this title.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #2: Mickie James vs. Tara

James charges the ring and they start brawling right away. This has been a very hateful feud, allegedly dating back to their WWE days. They lock up intensely and roll around in and out of the ring but can barely be separated. Tara takes the first control, viciously attacking James and screaming at her while she does it. James comes back by sending Tara to the floor with a headscissors and then hitting a Thesz Press off the apron. Back in the ring James hits a missile dropkick and goes for the Mick Kick but Tara blocks it and goes back on offense. They fight up on the top rope and both end up tumbling to the floor. Referee Jackson James can’t get control of the women and when they shove him out of the way he calls for the bell and it’s a no-contest at 8:15. The intensity in this one seemed pretty real, and the finish is as good a way as any to keep this particular feud going. Even after the bell rings the two women can’t he held apart, and the fight even makes it all the way back to the ring before agents and security can break them up. Hey look, it’s D-Lo Brown and Simon Diamond!
Rating: **½

MATCH #3: TNA World Tag Team Championship Match – The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Team 3D

Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley have been the champions since 7.11.10, and this is their fifth defense. Team 3D decided that they had nothing left to accomplish as a team, so they wanted to fight the TNA World Tag Team Champions one last time and then retire. That’s actually a great setup for the match. Devon and Shelley start the match with a handshake and then they lock up. The Guns take the first control but when Sabin comes in the veterans take over so Sabin wisely takes a powder. Taz ignores kayfabe entirely to talk about the creation of the Dudley Boyz. Meanwhile the teams go back and forth, with the champions using their speed and agility and the challengers using the veteran wiles. Out on the floor Ray tries charging into Sabin, who moves, and Ray hits nothing but post and he’s busted open. Back in the ring Sabin goes for a super rana but Ray counters it to a super powerbomb for a two-count. Ray neglects to make the tag though so Shelley unloads on him with kicks. Shelley tries a move off the middle rope but Ray catches him with a Bubba Cutter and both men are down. Tags are made and Devon is all over Sabin. Devon hits Sabin with a powerslam for two. He handles both Guns and gets a couple more near-falls on Sabin, some of which Shelley breaks up. Ray recovers enough for some vintage Team 3D double-team moves. Team 3D brings a table into the match but Ray ends up crashing through it. The referee loses control of the match. Some miscommunication from the Guns leads to Sabin getting hit with the 3D and he kicks out! That may be the first person to ever kick out of that. That stymies Team 3D and the Guns hit the Skull and Bones on Ray to get the pin at 17:06. Team 3D went out of their way to make the champions look good, and it resulted in one of their best matches in TNA (the other one was also against the Guns, at Genesis 2007. This was a fitting swan song for Brothers Ray and Devon.
Rating: ***¾

MATCH #4: No Disqualification Match – Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer

Tenay immediately uses “infer” when he means “imply,” and I’m deducting points from the match because of it. It’s my review, I can do what I want. They go back and forth and appear to be evenly matched in the early going. Because of their long history, both men are familiar with each other and their strategies. RVD takes the first powder and Dreamer lets him rest for a while before joining him out there. This match sure isn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. RVD tries to introduce a chair but it backfires and Dreamer takes control. Dreamer slowly goes to work on him, eventually introducing a ladder. He goes up and hits a Frog Splash, but lands awkwardly and appears to have broken his wrist. That’s disgusting, please just go home now. Unfortunately, they just keep going, and slowly. RVD misses a Five-Star Frog Splash and Dreamer hits a piledriver for two. They set up the ladder on the middle rope in one of the corners and Dreamer goes for a superplex but instead gets crotched on the ladder. That’s one of those spots where if he had hit the superplex it would be no more impactful from the ladder than it normally would, so it’s a stupid spot. RVD misses another Five-Star Frog Splash, but blocks a Dreamer DDT and Dreamer falls back hard on a chair. The third time is a charm for RVD and the Five-Star, as he finally gets the win to end this travesty at 15:56. That was dull, plodding, and gross after the injury. In fact, the whole thing was downright embarrassing.
Rating: *

MATCH #5: Raven, Sabu, Rhino, Stevie Richards & Brian Kendrick vs. AJ Styles, Kazarian, Beer Money & Douglas Williams

Styles is the current TNA Television Championship. It starts off as a big brawl right away as referee Earl Hebner tries to gain some semblance of control. Kendrick and Kazarian end up the last two in the ring, but that quickly changes as people come and go. Williams apparently injures Kendrick’s knee, leaving the EV2.0 team at a one-man disadvantage. Fortune isolates Richards, working him over in their half of the ring. Finally Richards comes back by blocking a Stevie Kick and hitting the Back to the Future. Rhino gets the hot tag and throws Fortune around briefly before he gets cut off. Fortune now works on Rhino until he can hit a TKO on Storm, and then tags are made to Sabu and Styles. Raven gives Sabu a chair so he can dive off it to take out Williams and Beer Money on the floor. Back in the ring Sabu hits a tornado DDT on Styles for two. The parade of finishers begins now, with everyone hitting their big moves on someone. Rhino absolutely destroys Roode with a Gore and Storm blasts Rhino with the Last Call. Sabu takes Storm out with a chair and then goes for a super rana on Styles, but Styles blocks it and hits the Styles Clash to get the win and relieve Sabu of his job at 12:04. That was solid formula stuff with the right team going over. The EV2.0 guys pay tribute to Sabu, and Dreamer says you can tell your kids and your grandkids that you saw Sabu. And then you’ll have to tell them who Sabu was.
Rating: ***

MATCH #6: Lumberjack Match – D’Angelo Dinero vs. Abyss

The lumberjacks are members of the Pop’s congregation, so that seems like a pretty unfair advantage to have doesn’t it? Dinero was paired up with Sting and Kevin Nash, but they both bailed on him. He takes the first advantage and dropkicks Abyss to the floor. Abyss wisely gets right back in the ring rather than face the congregation lumberjacks. Back in the ring Abyss fights back and dumps Dinero to the floor, but the lumberjacks catch him and put him back in the ring. Dinero stays ahead of Abyss, hitting a flying clothesline off the top rope for two. The lumberjacks continue to support the Pope, as does the crowd, but Abyss is able to cut him off with a big boot to the face. Abyss works Dinero over, including a running squash in the corner. Dinero eventually comes back with a DDT and both men are down. Back on their feet Dinero maintains fire and keeps Abyss off-guard. Abyss fights back with the Shock Treatment for a two-count. The fight again spills to the floor and Dinero wipes Abyss out with a dive. The lumberjacks throw Abyss back in the ring and Dinero goes up top to hit a diving headbutt for two. Dinero stays in control and then Eric Bischoff shows up, making the recognized symbol for money. Then the lumberjacks turn on Dinero, including his own brother Kevin. They throw him back in the ring and Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam to get the pin at 12:50. These two do not mesh well at all.
Rating: **

MATCH #7: Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett tries to bail on the match but Joe forces him back to the ring. Joe is fired up from the get-go and Jarrett does his best to avoid him. That only lasts for so long, as Joe uses hard strikes to wear Jarrett down. Every time Jarrett tries to fight back Joe cuts him off. Joe hits a few dozen Kobashi chops in the corner, and Jarrett responds with the Ankle Lock. That goes nowhere and Joe is right back on offense. Jarrett comes back with the Stroke but it only gets two. Joe hits an exploder and puts Jarrett on the top rope. Jarrett snaps Joe’s neck off the top rope, and then hits the Stroke off the middle rope and Joe kicks out at two! Now Jarrett goes for a steel chair, despite referee Brian Hebner’s objections. While they argue Joe regroups and hits the elbow suicida, taking out both Jarrett and Hebner. Back in the ring Joe sets up for the Muscle Buster, but Murphy and Gunner come out to break it up. Joe hits Gunner with the Muscle Buster and turns his attention to Murphy. Before he can do anything to him, Jarrett grabs security’s nightstick and chokes Joe out with it. The referee recovers and Murphy helps him back to the ring, just in time to see Jarrett choking an unconscious Joe, and the hand drops three times, giving Jarrett the cheap victory at 10:31. I actually don’t mind that finish, as heels cheating generally leads to a rematch where the babyface goes over. I don’t remember if that’s what happened, but that seems to be the idea anyway. The match was not amazing.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #8: TNA World Championship Match – Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Morgan

Hardy has been the champion since 10.10.10 and this is his first defense. Morgan uses his power to dominate the World Champion early on. Hardy pretty much tries to avoid Morgan, and agitates the big man by spitting in his face. They spill to the floor and Morgan controls out there too, but back in the ring he misses a legdrop and that gives Hardy the opportunity to go after the big man’s legs, which is good strategy. After a few minutes Morgan makes a big comeback with a series of strikes. Morgan rips Hardy’s shirt off and then hits a discuss clothesline for two. Hardy comes back with a hard DDT for two. Now Morgan comes back and Hardy cuts him off with a low blow and then hits the Twist of Hate for a near-fall that the crowd didn’t care about. Morgan fights back again and hits the Carbon Footprint, and for some reason the referee just stops counting and then Hardy kicks him in the head, sort of. What the hell was that? Morgan’s confusion gives Hardy the chance to hit another Twist of Hate but Morgan kicks out again. Hardy is able to connect with the Whisper in the Wind and follows up with a third Twist of Hate for the win at 13:05. That started off okay as a big man versus little man match, but it never kicked into a higher gear and the goofiness with the referee hurt it.
Rating: **

I grew up and now I write for Inside Pulse. Oh, and one time I saw a blimp!