TNA Turning Point – Who Wins?At first glance, this column may seem like the typical PPV prediction column – but it isn’t. I have brief thoughts on who will win each match, but the majority of the column centres around who will REALLY win, as a result of every match. This doesn’t necessarily mean the wrestler who takes the pin fall or submission in the match, but rather the man, or women, who will truly benefit most from the match, and where said match will lead their career, whether they win or lose.
The column is split up into three parts which are oh-so (not-) cleverly named as a part of the development of a project – which in this case is TNA Turning Point 2007.
Analysis & Design
If you want my honest opinion of Tunring Point itself, and also how it has been built up and sold to potential buyers; I think it is poor. Some of the matches look like tripe and have had very little build up, the card is littered with tag team matches and there is one title on the line.
The main event, whether you like the people involved or not, has been up pretty well and there are several stories and older feuds involved in it. It should at least be interesting.
Below the main event – which has zero of two titles on the line, we get this tag team tables matches. I think this one has been built well and I look forward to it.
The 10,000 tacks match? Not really interested and this match has just been thrown together as another continuation of this feud that seems to revolve hardcore brawlers constantly.
The women’s title match has had a really great, slow build-up to it; until this month. Kim and Kong was going to be the big feud for the women’s title and I was really looking forward to it as Kim faced everyone else on the roster and Kong stalked her at every turn, but then suddenly we got an announcement that this match would take place (whilst Kong was, for some reason, eating fake fruit with Kurt Angle) from Don West and that’s it. Kong could have at least one a match and told Kim that she was finally going to take the belt. Oh and there’s a women’s division tag team match on the card as well; apparently.
I have ranted about Feast or Fired but it does intrigue me and I look forward to the results, but it got very little build up. Much of the same can be said about the remaining two matches. I have really enjoyed Storm and Young but this match seems like it could have been held off.
The final match is yet another multi-man match with Booker/Kaz against Christian/Roode. This match makes sense if you look at the people involved but since the last PPV and the following Impact, these four have barely interacted at all and suddenly they are in a match again.
So yeah – I am not all that impressed with how this event has been handled and it better be bloody good on the night to undo some of the damage that I think TNA has done to itself here.
Implementation
This section covers the event itself and quickly runs through how I think it will turn out. I won’t go into too much detail as the meat and bones of the column is the next section, which follows on from the event itself, rather than focusing on these results.
Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, & Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, Tomko, & AJ Styles
So Joe was thrown back into the main event as Sting is finished with TNA, for now at least. Good for Joe and at least we have a very credible in-ring talent in this babyface team. This match could be great until the Outsiders get involved, and even then it should be fun as look as they aren’t booked to be unstoppable. They should be allowed to come across as though they are tired but wanting one last shot. That’s a much better storyline then us lot having to pretend that they are as good as they were back in ’94. Anyway, Angle has been getting away with a lot recently and I think that the lack of titles on the line could point to his team losing. I could see Christian getting involved here to kick off that storyline properly, and I could also see TNA falling back on the popularity of Joe vs. Angle again which would mean that Joe would pick up the final pin fall. Either way, the faces win.
Winner – Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Samoa Joe
Six Man Tag Team Tables Match
Team 3D & Johnny Devine vs. The Motor City Machineguns & Black Machismo
This match has been built really well and as surprised as I was at the sudden evolution of Devine, I am really happy about it and look forward to seeing him in the ring against the three X-division opponents. He needs to put on a good display here if he is to continue a good push after tonight. The plan is almost certainly to continue this feud another month though - and have him challenge Jay Lethal for the title. For that reason (without even considering the two proper tag teams involved in the match) I am going to give the win to Team 3D and the traitor.
Winner – Team 3D & Johnny Devine
Match Of 10,000 Tacks
Abyss & Rhino vs. Black Reign & Rellik
I’m getting a bit annoyed with these matches now. I would say that this kind of match is a feud-ender, but I am pretty sure that this match is just a filler for the return of Judas Messias. What I am praying for, is that this return will mean that Abyss will concentrate on him and Mitchell (hopefully producing some decent matches) and the rest of these guys will leave him alone. Obviously they will have to do something though, and I would be surprised to see these guys continue feuding for a while; possibly with Raven as well. I thought Judas would be back last time, but this time I think he has to come back. Because of the match being a tag, rather than a four-way, I look for him to return and drag off Abyss, leaving Rhyno to succumb to the combined power of the heel team.
Winner – Black Reign & Rellik
TNA Women’s Title
Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
As above, if I don’t think about the last month, then this feud has been bubbling along nicely and I am really looking forward to it. I am not sure how the two of them will mix in the ring but I am sure they have been working on it for a while and it will be interesting at the very least. I honestly don’t know which way this match is going. It looks like ODB is being groomed as the next challenger, but I think she would easily fit into a program with either of these two, so that doesn’t really help. Kong could go over monstrously here and we could cheer for Kim to take the belt back, or, Kim could get the upset win. Hmm. Out on a limb, I am going to say that Kim picks up the win but that Kong may get a rematch next month. This one will probably finish up with a roll-up, or even a DQ ending though.
Winner – Gail Kim
Feast or Fired Battle Royal
It is extremely difficult to judge this match as there are so many people involved, we don’t know how seriously the title shot winners will be taken (one match, or a whole feud?) and we don’t know what the storyline will be for the fired superstar. The loser could be someone like Scott Steiner who could then turn heel and destroy the roster until he is re-hired, or it could be shark boy who could disappear for a week and come back and no one would notice.
The title shot winners could be anyone as they could just get the one time only deal like Kaz did. It’s very hard to predict this but I am going to go with Scott Steiner for the big one as he could carry a singles match with Angle or a prolonged feud, and seeing as Rick isn’t involved here, it looks like he is out of the tag division.
The other titles shots are a little easier for me but who knows if TNA will go the unpredictable route. VKM could end up with the tag title shot just to show us that they aren’t just useless, but I think Triple X will take the spoils overall. Skipper and Senshi should end up with the tag title match and I would have nothing against Daniels mixing it up with Lethal again. For the hell of it, I would mind if one of the other members of Triple X got the X-title shot and Daniels went for the tag titles, but it’s less likely to happen with Daniels clearly being pushed as the leader.
The only other possibility that interests me at the minute is Daniels being fired. I would love to see him turn pure evil as a result of that and have his followers mount an assault against TNA until their leader was reinstated.
Winner – Scott Steiner, Skipper/Shenshi, Daniels.
Loser - Sharkboy
Eric Young vs. Cowboy James Storm
These two have had a lot of fun recently and the feud is probably going to last a while. That could mean that Storm crushes Young here and either gets disqualified or totally dominates him. Or, Young picks up the unlikely victory and Storm takes out his frustration on him afterwards, leading to another match-up later. My money is on the latter.
Winner – Eric Young
Booker T and Kaz vs. Robert Roode and Christian Cage
This match seems to have been put together to keep these guys on show. Booker needs to be on the card as he has just arrived, but they obviously didn’t want him involved in the main event storyline just yet. Kaz was so impressive recently that he has earned his position near the top – but there is no instant feud waiting for him as he has just been through both Christian and Roode recently. Christian is involved with Angle and Tomko/Styles, but there is no room for him in the main event either. And Robert Roode is just waiting to go to the top, but there is no place for him there yet. For the sake of momentum for Booker, I would say he is likely to pick up the win, and to continue the main event storyline, I could see Cage’s team costing him the match here, which would likely result in Cage doing the same later on.
Winner – Booker T & Kaz
Angelina Love & Velvet Sky vs. ODB & Roxi Laveaux
What? Is this a PPV or an episode of Impact? I enjoy watching these women as they are all rather talented, but this match seems a bit pointless. Anyway, ODB looks like she is getting the big push so she will probably pick up the win. But I really do wonder why it is happening tonight in the first place. I will be quite annoyed if we get the same match on Thursday as well.
Winner – ODB & Roxi Laveaux
Evaluation
This section takes a look at what the real results of the event will be. Not the actual winners and losers of the match, as discussed above, but who will benefit the most, and go on to bigger and better things.
Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, & Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, Tomko, & AJ Styles
Joe would seem to be the obvious choice here as he is basically replacing Sting in this feud and may end up with a feud against Angle as well. That may end up being the case, but I also think Angle is going to move onto Christian and Joe could be left in obscurity. Again. Hall and Nash are doing quite well out of this feud too, but I am going to go for AJ Styles as the true winner her. He has been stuck as an idiot for ages now, and this could be the big push that he needed to kick his career off again. I think the likely scenario here is that something will go down with Christian and the two of them will end up feuding. That would be the best thing to happen to Styles for a long time, and it is much more likely than Joe being pushed to the title again.
Real Winner – AJ Styles
Six Man Tag Team Tables Match
Team 3D & Johnny Devine vs. The Motor City Machineguns & Black Machismo
Johnny Devine is clearly the big winner here. Everyone is coming off well really though. Lethal is looking good and MCM are getting a decent push and have even beaten Team 3D cleanly. The heel team have seemed rejuvenated recently and have been great to listen to, even if their matches are not amazing any more (unless they are in with MCM!). But, Devine was stock in a leader-less Serotonin and was looking likely to be let go in the next batch of releases, but, instead, he has been given a decent heel turn, some decent screen time, and is likely to be getting an X-division title match very soon.
Real Winner – Johnny Devine
Match Of 10,000 Tacks
Abyss & Rhino vs. Black Reign & Rellik
Can I go with the fans as the winners? Id like to say the fans as Abyss may finally be put into a singles feud after tonight and these sorts of match can finally end. But, they are probably going to continue without him anyway. The real winner has to be a tie between Abyss and Judas Messias though as they are almost certain to embark on their singles rivalry at long last.
Real Winner – Abyss/Judas Messias
TNA Women’s Title
Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
This is a tough one really. Kim would look very strong with a win here, but that might make Kong look a little weak. On the reverse, a Kong win wouldn’t really do much for Kim in the short run (though an eventual title rematch and regain would be great fro her) and Kong couldn’t really look stronger than she does now; title or no title. The most obvious winner here is the title itself. No matter what the result, the title just looks better all round. Either the champion attains a huge victory, or a truly strong champion is crowned.
Real Winner – Women’s title
Feast or Fired Battle Royal
I don’t want to seem like I am wussing out of this one but it is really too difficult to go into detail here. The real winners will be those that open the boxes. Three will get title matches and either decent exposure or a prolonged feud. And even the one who is fired will probably get more TV time in the near future than they would have done anyway.
Real Winner – “Box Openers”
Eric Young vs. Cowboy James Storm
This feud stinks of creative having nowhere else for the pair to go at the minute. Its likely that this feud will continue beyond tonight as well, so the winner of the match may well not come out of the feud looking much stronger than the other, but, for the sake of making a prediction, I will say that Storm is going to come out looking better, as I think he is the more likely to be given a solid push in the future and he certainly has a solid gimmick and solid enough wrestling skills to endorse such a push.
Real Winner – Cowboy James Storm
Booker T and Kaz vs. Robert Roode and Christian Cage
All four of these men have been put into this match to hold them in place. They are all awaiting a bigger, proper feud next month. Christian will probably move up to the main event, or at least go through AJ Styles on the way. Roode and Booker will more than likely be put together next month in a feud of there own. Unfortunately, unless Kaz ends up against Samoa Joe, I cant see him being put into a high profile feud after this. I could see him being put with Chris Harris who could get involved here in protest at being left off the card, but its not too likely.
So, Christian gets to the main event and Roode and Booker face each other. Well, Christian would be hitting the main event anyway and this match is really holding him back more than anything. The same could really be said about Booker too, so the real winner has to be Robert Roode again. He has a match tonight with three great wrestlers and, even though he may lose the feud, he is likely to be pushed against Booker T as well.
Real Winner – Robert Roode
Angelina Love & Velvet Sky vs. ODB & Roxi Laveaux
Again, I don’t really want to go into this one too much as it shouldn’t be on the card for me at all. ODB is going to look the best here as she is going to, more than likely, be picking up the win here and take the next title shot at Kim or Kong.
Real Winner – ODB
Thanks for taking the time to read again, I hope my version of a predictions column is working. Hopefully I’ll be writing again soon.
Any comments or queries, feel free to contact me at batista666@hotmail.com (I use this e-mail just for my writing and check it regularly).