PPV REVIEW: TNA Turning Point 2009

TNA Turning Point 2009 - Event Poster

Sunday, November 15th, 2009, 

Orlando, Florida 

With news of Hulk Hogan's impending arrival in Total Non-stop Action Wrestling, talk of change has been rather prominent in professional wrestling's number-two promotion. So it seemed fitting that the group returned to the Impact Zone for the aptly named Turning Point pay per view; a loaded card full of the group's biggest stars. 

(NOTE: This review was originally written when TNA Turning Point 2009 aired in November '09. I discovered a bunch of my old TNA reviews recently and have been uploading them to RPW, hence the different format from usual reviews here on the site.)

After turning up the heat in Orlando, the only question the group must be asking themselves now is whether the inevitable change that looms just on the horizon will be for better or worse.

With two Match of the Year candidates featured on an all-round enjoyable show, changing for the better may prove a difficult task for Dixie Carter & Co.


Here's what went down.

The card opened with the usual X-Division bout, as Amazing Red successfully defended his X-Division Championship against Homicide.

Far from the familiar multi-man spotfest that kicks off most PPVs, this was instead a straight-up wrestling match with some exciting spots interspersed with mat-based offense.

TNA Turning Point 2009 - Homicide vs. Amazing Red - X Division Title


Whilst the two grapplers seemed to struggle in places to link the two styles together in a fluid fashion, this was nonetheless a good opening contest which came to a halt when the champion hit the Code Red to retain.

The Knockouts came next as Knockouts Tag Team Champions Sarita & Taylor Wilde and Knockouts Champion ODB successfully defended their titles in a six-woman tag match against The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne & Lacey Von Erich).

TNA Turning Point 2009 - Knockouts Six woman Match

The stipulation here saw all the champions on the same team, if one of the tag champs were pinned, The Beautiful People would be crowned champions. Similar, should one of The Beautiful People pin ODB, they'd pick up the Knockouts Champion.

None of that happened, following a short, passable contest as ODB pinned Madison Rayne to end the contest, which makes you wonder why they bothered with such a cluttered stipulation.

Heading backstage, Desmond Wolfe cut a promo on Kurt Angle. The Brit was confident of a victory, given that he knew Angle much better than Angle.

Back in the ring, The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams) defeated Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode & James Storm) and the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) to retain the TNA Tag Team titles.

Lots of quick tags and innovative action made this a very enjoyable contest right up until the horrible finish which saw Eric Young interfere on behalf of World Elite team-mates, Magnus & Williams.
Kevin Nash then arrived on the scene, stole the Global title, and drilled James Storm with it. This distracted Storm's partner, Robert Roode, and caused him to fall victim to the British Invasion.

Looking for answers, Jeremy Borash interviewed Kevin Nash backstage. Nash insisted that his actions had something to do with 'Hulk'.

Back to the women, Tara bested Awesome Kong in a Six Sides of Steel match.

The two ladies worked hard to deliver a hard-fought, dramatic contest which came to an end when Tara killed Kong with an impressive Thesz Press from atop the cage. 

Afterward, the former WWE Diva looked on the verge of tears, and could barely hold it together when interviewed by Lauren.

TNA Turning Point 2009 - Six Man Match

Slowing things down a little, Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) and Rhino beat Matt Morgan, Hernandez and D'Angelo Dinero in a street fight. The match was largely forgettable and seemed to be nothing more than filler. Rhino hit the gore on Hernandez to end things.

Backstage, Scott Steiner cut a promo on Bobby Lashley. The two then battled their way through an average Falls Count Anywhere contest which differed little from the previous bout. Steiner hit Lashley with a lead pipe to win the match.

After cutting a promo on his opponent, Kurt Angle defeated Desmond Wolfe in a Match of the Year candidate. To loud chants of 'This is wrestling!' from the Orlando faithful, newcomer Wolfe held his own against TNA veteran Kurt Angle in a very good match indeed.

TNA Turning Point 2009 - AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Daniels - TNA World title

Finally, the main event arrived as TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles successfully retained his title in a three-way against Samoa Joe and Daniels.
Just when fans thought nothing could quite top the Angle/Wolfe encounter, the three TNA Originals delivered a terrific main event, that was solid, well-paced, flowed well, and did what all wrestling matches are supposed to do; entertain the audience. The champion hit a springboard 450 splash on Joe to retain the gold.


It's shows like this that really make your reporter think about tuning into Impact again on Saturday nights. Longtime readers may recall that I gave up watching TNA's flagship show after it all got a bit too confusing and frustrating, but still keep up with the ppvs since, whilst they might do a horrible job on television, the company usually shines on a PPV platform. But after witnessing some incredible action, especially in the last two bouts, and hearing some good things about Impact from the always-critical IWC, it might be time to give the company another shot. 


I'm probably not the only person who feels this way, and Dixie Carter and her company would do well to ensure that, even when Hogan arrives on the scene, they concentrate on taking two steps forward, not three steps back. 

TNA Wrestling's Turning Point 2009 was a solid show, and if the group is adamant about changing, let's hope it's a chance to making stuff like this a regular occurrence. 


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