TNA’s November pay-per-view, Turning Point, comes to us live this Sunday from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. The event is headlined by a couple of young star/veteran matches and there will be three titles on the line, including the new Legends Championship that Booker T has made for himself and will be defended for the first time.
- Sting vs. AJ Styles (TNA World Heavyweight Championship)
- Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash
- Booker T vs. Christian Cage (Legends Championship)
- Beer Money, Inc. vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns (TNA Tag Team Championship)
- Abyss vs. Kurt Angle (Falls Count Anywhere)
- Rhino vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
- Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Taylor Wilde & Roxxi
- 10-man X Division seeding match to determine the top contenders
Sting vs. AJ Styles (TNA World Heavyweight Championship)
For the third year in a row, Sting was victorious at Bound for Glory and captured the TNA World Championship by defeating Samoa Joe. Since then, Sting has aligned himself with a group of veterans and formed the Main Event Mafia to teach some respect to the young stars in TNA. On the flip side, Mick Foley has made AJ Styles the president-elect of the next generation of stars and booked the two in this title match.
Sting and Styles have gone back and forth a bit about Sting’s lavish contracts and light work schedule and Styles’ upbringing and needed everything to be handed to him on a silver spoon. Other than that, the build up for this match has been pretty light, but I think it is great to see Styles challenge for the World Championship once again. Even in his age, Sting has shown that he is still able to put on a great match and Styles usually always delivers the goods, so this match is one that I am looking forward to.
In the past, Sting’s World title reigns have always lasted less than a month so the historical odds favor AJ Styles in this one. With that said, I don’t think Styles has a chance in hell of walking away from this match as the champion. All of the momentum is favoring Sting and the Main Event Mafia as of late, so Sting will leave with the title in his possession.
Starman’s Prediction: Sting to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Nash
Last year at Turning Point, Samoa Joe cut a hate filled promo about how the older stars are only in TNA for the paycheck while the young stars bust their asses night in and night out to earn a living. Kevin Nash was offended by the comments but seemed to have smoothed things over with Joe and became a mentor of sorts while Joe went on to win the World Championship. Months later, Nash would eventually cost Joe the title at Bound for Glory when he hit Joe from behind with Sting’s trademark baseball bat.
It was clear since day one that the alliance between these two would eventually come to this. Much like the match between Sting and AJ Styles, this is more about the overall feud between the Main Event Mafia and the TNA Originals and lacked a huge build up. Nash has gone on the record and said that he always thought that Joe was a piece of garbage while Joe took it personal and is now out to end Nash’s career. I don’t think that Joe will deliver on that promise, but I do see him victorious in this match.
Starman’s Prediction: Samoa Joe to win the match.
Booker T vs. Christian Cage (Legends Championship)
In Las Vegas, Booker T revealed the contents of his mysterious briefcase and it was the Legends Championship. Booker T crowned himself as the champion and he was quickly challenged by Christian Cage, who wanted no part of the Main Event Mafia. Booker then added a stipulation that if he wins, Christian Cage will have to become part of the Mafia.
Cage has made a point to stay neutral in the feud between the Mafia and the Originals, however, he has gone to bat on the side of the young stars. With the way the feud has been laid out so far, I have a feeling that Cage will in some way lose this match and become a reluctant member of the Main Event Mafia. I don’t see Booker parting with his new championship this soon.
Starman’s Prediction: Booker T to retain the Legends Championship and make Christian Cage join the Main Event Mafia.
Beer Money, Inc. vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns (TNA Tag Team Championship)
I can honestly say that I am not sure when or why this match was added to the card, which is horrible considering that the Motorcity Machine Guns have never gotten a one-on-one shot at the tag team titles before. As a matter of fact, more has gone into setting up the next challengers, Matt Morgan & Abyss, than what this match received. I guess this feud started when the MMG’s rescued Eric Young from a post-match beat down at the hands of Beer Money.
With the MMG’s being a part of the TNA Originals, they have certainly gotten more attention as of late and are hopefully out of the doghouse that they have been in for the better part of the year. I think that the Guns should get a run with the tag team titles at some point, but seeing that the young/veteran feud already has two championships in the mix, putting the tag team titles in there as well may put too much focus on the feud. The titles should stay with Beer Money who goes on to defend against Morgan & Abyss in the near future.
Starman’s Prediction: Beer Money, Inc. to retain the Tag Team Championship.
Abyss vs. Kurt Angle (Falls Count Anywhere)
After losing to Jeff Jarrett at Bound for Glory, Kurt Angle tried goading Jarrett into one more match but Jarrett told him that there was a locker room full of wrestlers who would love to take him on one-on-one. Abyss happened to be the first one in line. A week later the two faced each other in the main event of Impact and I will say that I was surprised on how well it turned out.
Abyss won the match via disqualification and the upcoming match at Turning Point has been made a Falls Count Anywhere match, which is the only gimmick match on the card. Seeing where they both sit in their current angles – Abyss has things going on for him in the tag team division and Angle is with the Main Event Mafia – it’s a no-brainer that Angle will walk out victorious in this match.
Starman’s Prediction: Kurt Angle to defeat Abyss.
Rhino vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
As of late, Rhino has taken offense to what Sheik Abdul Bashir has been saying about America. Each of them has taken an opportunity to beat the other one down and this match was made, however, it is not for the X Division Title, even though the title isn’t about weight limits, but no limits.
Seeing as this is a non-title match, the odds are with the challenger to win the match. I don’t think this match will be any different. In all honesty, I actually wouldn’t mind seeing the title on the line in this match. Letting Rhino run with the X Division Title will be something different for both the division itself and for Rhino’s character. It’s too bad that there is no chance of that happening, ever.
Starman’s Prediction: Rhino to beat Sheik Abdul Bashir.
Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Taylor Wilde & Roxxi
Awesome Kong was able to defeat Taylor Wilde for the TNA Knockouts Championship in Las Vegas and end her Cinderella-like run with the title. A week later, Taylor and Roxxi brutally attacked Kong and Raisha Saeed with weapons in the locker room. Not to be outdone, Kong and Saeed extracted revenge on Roxxi the following week and defeated Taylor in the ring when her tag team partner, Rhaka Khan, turned on her during a tag team match.
It looks like Kong is once again becoming the dominate force in the Knockouts division and her numbers are growing with Rhaka Khan on her side. Even with that going for her, seeing that she is wrestling in a tag team match, Taylor and Roxxi have a good chance in picking up the win. Their post-match celebration will be short-lived, though, as they will be beaten down by Kong and Khan in the end.
Starman’s Prediction: Taylor Wilde & Roxxi to win the match.
10-man X Division seeding match to determine the top contenders
What TNA pay-per-view without putting the rest of the X Division stars in a match against each other? This match was announced this past Thursday on Impact and nothing else has been said about it aside from the wrestlers participating in the match,. The type of match and how the seeding is going to go is anybodies guess.
Here are the wrestlers competing in the match: Sonjay Dutt, Eric Young, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Petey Williams, Jimmy Rave, Homicide, Doug Williams, Tanahashi and Volador. Since I have no other information about this match, I reserve the right to not make a prediction.
As a whole, the Turning Point pay-per-view severely lacks a build up of any kind. TNA spent a lot of time building up the live edition of Impact in Las Vegas, putting Mick Foley in charge as a majority share holder, and the start of the Main Event Mafia/TNA Originals feud that it took away from getting the individual matches set up.
Even with its lack of build up, there should be some good matches on the card. The Machine Guns and Beer Money should be outstanding and Booker T and Christian Cage should put on a good match. Plus, there is a possibility of Kurt Angle and Abyss building off of what they did a few weeks ago and Sting and AJ Styles may put on a decent match.
Of course, on the other hand, I’m not expecting too much from the Samoa Joe/Kevin Nash battle and chances are Rhino and Sheik Abdul Bashir won’t amount to much. In the end, though, this event for the most part is geared to get the major feud between the Mafia and the Originals rolling and it should do just that.
Plus, it is a refreshing change to see a lack of gimmick matches on a TNA pay-per-view for once.
