OO: Online Onslaught Special Features (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Steve Austin, RVD, Undertaker, Triple H)

OO SPEC IAL FEATURE
TNA Turning Point PPV Preview
November 14, 2009

by Chris "Lucky" Lopez
OO's Total Nonstop Analyst

Editor's Note: Once again, Chris "Lucky" Lopez decided to throw together a pretty detailed preview of the latest TNA pay-per-view for folks in the OO Forums. And once again, I'm poaching it for use here on the main page because... well, because I can. Lucky strikes the perfect balance between loyalty and honesty when it comes to the TNA product, and the result is a document that's inform even dedicated fans while still serving as an adequate intro/guide to casual viewers who may yet be enticed by Sunday night's lineup. Enjoy...

TNA OVERVIEW, NOVEMBER 2009:
Preparing for Turning Point on PPV

All in all TNA's had a dramatic few weeks since Bound For Glory. Kurt Angle disbanded the Main Event Mafia and turned face. A clear emphasis on the "young blood" in TNA came about. Dixie Carter held an on screen meeting with the roster announcing her intentions to take TNA to the "next level" and that each member could support her fully or be shown the door, a comment walking the line between work and shoot that got fans and haters talking. Eric Young renamed the Legends Championship the Global Championship and vowed not to defend it on American soil or against American competitors. And of course Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff have joined TNA in some unknown capacity that has had fans both intrigued and terrified. But in all of that TNA booked themselves a damn strong card for PPV this month.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Samoa Joe vs. Daniels vs. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles (c)

AJ Styles took the World Title from Kurt Angle two months ago at Final Resolution and became the first champion in 4 years to walk into Bound For Glory against Sting and walk out still champ. Almost immediately it was announced that AJ would defend his title against Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels (despite both coming off losses at BFG). While this has been billed as a rematch of the Unbreakable 2005 main event (in which AJ won the X title), often cited as the greatest match in TNA history, the three men feuded for 6 months and this will be the 4th time they faced off in this manner.

While no official reason was given why the match was made it has been heavily hinted at on TV that Joe and Daniels were awarded shots as part of a company wide effort to give the young guns of TNA opportunities to shine after a year of the Main Event Mafia dominating the title scene. AJ and Daniels spent much of that year as allies and tag partners against the Mafia and are said to be best friends, but Samoa Joe has driven a wedge between them with mind games.

After AJ was the victim of a an attack from a man who looked vaguely like Daniels Joe started to get into his head, insisting that Daniels had grown resentful and jealous of AJ over the last 2 years that he spent away from TNA (Daniels was "fired" after Turning Point 2007 and returned in April 2009, although the wrestler technically never left as he spent that time portraying the characters of Curry Man and Suicide). For his part Daniels grew angry that AJ would even consider Joe's theory and Joe in turn gave him the idea that AJ may not respect him enough to be threatened by him.

The whole thing worked as Joe got the friends at odds with each other an AJ beat Daniels 1-on-1. Joe then defeated AJ 1-on-1 thanks to the interference of Daniels. All sides are equal and hostile and considering how many times they've reminded us of "the greatest match in TNA history" you'd think they were in the mindset to try and match or top it.

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe

Coming out of Bound For Glory Kurt Angle surprised everyone in TNA by expressing a change of heart and the death of the Main Event Mafia. He claimed that the young men of TNA such as AJ Styles and Matt Morgan had won his respect and proven themselves as worthy of holding top positions, making the Mafia obsolete.

As if in response to this Angle will immediately be confronted by TNA newcomer Desmond Wolfe (who is actually ROH's Nigel McGuinness who was widely believed to be signed with WWE at the time only to end up in TNA with a surprisingly quick push). Wolfe told Angle that he had great respect for him and that Angle was his inspiration and merely wished to shake his hand and thank him, but when Angle turned his back Wolfe attacked. Angle would call Wolfe out to the ring but would again be attacked from behind and Wolfe left him laying in the ring threatening to injure Angle's infamous surgically repaired neck. Angle would then challenge Wolfe and promise to drive him out of TNA but Wolfe would deliver a vicious lariat clothesline that injured Angle's neck and forced him to be stretchered out.

Since then the match was set and the two men have traded barbs and vows to drive the other out of TNA. They'll probably both fail in that right, but this is a dream match for most who knew Nigel McGuinness a month ago and a definite match of interest for how strong Wolfe has been pushed.

"The Boss" Bobby Lashley vs. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner

You'll forgive me if I'm vague. When Angle announced the end of the Main Event Mafia that left Steiner to his delusions and he flipped right back into a natural role... sexually harassing women. Bobby Lashley's wife Kristal Marshall (of WWE fame) had been in attendence a few times to support her husband and caught Big Poppa Pump's eye. You pretty much know how it went from there. Steiner said crude stuff and physically intimidated Kristal, Lashley got angry about it. Rinse, repeat.

An uninspired feud to build what will probably be an uninspired match between one old guy left without a real role in the company by recent events and one part-time guy who has clearly lost standing in the company due to his limitations. The one honestly dark spot on the card I really can't bring myself to talk up.

TNA World Tag Team Championship
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money vs British Invasion (c)

The British Invasion of Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus won the TNA Tag Titles at Bound For Glory in Full Metal Mayhem, with the aid of "Big" Rob Terry. They would very quickly put the titles on the line against Beer Money, Inc (James Storm & Robert Roode), one of the teams they had been feuding with for the last 6 months, with the stipulation that it would be Beer Money's last shot. This proved to be a trick by the Brits as they attacked the referee getting themselves disqualified and suspended but also eliminating Beer Money from the title chase.

On the same show (presumably as part of TNA's youth movement) the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) faced off against Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed) in Ultimate X 18. The Guns won and as a result earned a shot at the champs. For the last few weeks the suspended British Invasion have pretty much done everything they could to violate the idea of a suspension and Beer Money have consistently been there to get their revenge. Finally TNA put the two teams back in the ring on Impact in a non-title match with Beer Money having the chance to get into the title match if they won. Beer Money won and they're in the match. That might be unfortunate for the Machine Guns who despite having been the challengers for weeks have very much been an after thought, but which does create what should be an entertaining 3 way tag match.

Six Sides Of Steel Cage Match
Tara vs. Awesome Kong

It would be really hard to remember where this feud began because its actually been teased for a looooooong time and been sitting on the backburner. Tara (WWE's Victoria) came to TNA for the stated purpose of competing with the best. There's no argument that Kong is a fine representative of that idea and eventually their paths crossed. While they may have been allied together at first in tag action (I really can't be sure of that) their mutually aggressive personalities quickly made them rivals.

For a long time that was just shoving contests or nasty looks when their paths crossed but eventually it took a more direct form a couple of months ago when the conflicts led to Kong costing Tara a Tag Title match. The two would then screw each other out of the Knockouts title before being booked in a 3way at Bound For Glory of the belt with ODB. ODB would retain thanks to interference of MMA personality Kim Couture taking Tara out of the match and Kong's manager Raisha Saeed screwing up. For her troubles Kong killed Saeed dead and Couture... was never mentioned again. So with those distractions gone the two women have temporarily forgotten about the title in order to destroy each other. And given their tendency to brawl into the stands and the back TNA made the call to put it in a cage. Or at least, that's the reasoning I'm gonna go with in the absence of TNA giving me an explanation for a probably unnecessary but cool gimmick.

X Division Championship
Homicide vs. The Amazing Red (c)

The Amazing Red returned to TNA a few months back after years away but suddenly gained momentum 6 weeks ago when he won a ladder match for a title shot and then picked up the upset over Samoa Joe to win the X Title (thanks to the interference of Bobby Lashley). This was a surprising push not just because of his standing on the roster but also because it gave Red his 2nd title reign more 6 and half years after his first ended.

Red then revealed Don West as his new manager/promotor (an amusing move for those of us who remember West's enthusiasm for Red 7 years ago) whose first questionable act was to put Red into the Ultimate X match at Bound For Glory making it an X title defense. Red managed to win and hold onto his belt but lost a non-title match to Homicide on the next Impact. The growingly uncontrollable Homicide then confronted Don West and physically intimidated him into agreeing to give Cide a title shot at Turning Point. Then he took West's wallet.

Since joining the World Elite Homicide has returned to his wild and violent LAX ways assaulting announcers and cursing (in Spanish) on air. This act has been so good that some of the internet's less intelligent members have convinced themselves that Homicide is simply going off script in an effort to get fired. Despite being squashed by Lashley last week conventional wisdom would say Homicide's on his way to a title run, but you might have pegged Red to lose the belt last month as well.

All Titles On The Line (Knockouts & Women's Tag)
The Beautiful People vs. ODB (c), Taylor Wilde and Sarita (c)

Well, ODB won the title in a tag match so I guess its a pattern now. The story here is a basic one of mutual enemies. The Beautiful People are the terrors of the Knockouts roster and have been forever. ODB won the Knockouts Title from Angelina Love and has been the butt of many a Beautiful People joke for as long as they've been together. Sarita & Taylor Wilde won the Tag titles by defeating Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne in a tournament final. With Angelina Love gone the Beautiful People have been back to their terrorizing ways over the "ugly" Knockouts and regaining power with their new member Lacey Von Erich, the daughter of the legendary Kerry Von Erich. Attacks on all 3 champions have led to a natural alliance and an atypical match where all titles are on the line. The Beautiful People have a chance to get all the women's gold with one pinfall and we may well have to come to accept the idea of Lacey Von Erich, Knockout Champion. Assuming she doesn't kill anyone in the ring first, including herself.

Team 3D & Rhino vs. Matt Morgan, Hernandez and D'Angelo Dinero

Lets call this "Main Event Mafia v2.0." Team 3D and Rhino have been at odds for months due in large part to Rhino's treatment of his former student (and now Dudleyz student) Jesse Neal. With the big change in atmosphere in TNA Rhino took up the Mafia's cause and tried to convince veterans like Kurt Angle and the Dudleyz that TNA was trying to drive them out of the company. The Dudleyz weren't buying it but things kept happening like a referee mistake that cost them a match against the Motor City Machine Guns or Dixie Carter's "state of the promotion" address that had them considering Rhino's words. As two of the "golden boys" of this youth movement Matt Morgan and Hernandez became the focus of Rhino's anger and when they faced off against the Dudleyz it all came to a head. Rhino pushed Bubba to use a chair and his instincts finally kicked in and he took out the young lions. The next week the Dudleyz confirmed that they had finally come to Rhino's way of thinking and that they were sick of TNA supporting the kids. The three veterans laid out a challenge for a 6 man street fight which Morgan and Hernandez were happy to accept alone but were as shocked as anyone when "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero (WWE's Elijah Burke" made his return to TNA to volunteer himself for the last spot. So the Midcard Mafia vs 3 of TNA's young guns is set.

LUCKY's OO FORUMS PROFILE
BROWSE THE OO FEATURES ARCHIVE

RAW SATIRE: Nunzio, the Female Body Inspector

RAW RECAP: R-Truth is One Angry Black Man

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Terrorists Win

RAW SATIRE: Wrestling's Most Wanted

RAW RECAP: T-Minus 48 Weeks, and Counting

PPV RECAP: WWE Extreme Rules 2011

OOTRR: WWE Unforgiven 2004 Re-Revued

RAW SATIRE: WHAMMY'D~!

NEWSFLASH: 2011 WWE Draft Results

RAW RECAP: Now You See Him, Now You Still See Him

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Edge's Busy Retirement

RAW SATIRE: England is Flavor Country

RAW RECAP: Changing Plans

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Bittersweet Victory

RAW SATIRE: Who is Sin Cara?

RAW RECAP: Other Stuff Happened, Too

NEWSFLASH: Edge Retires

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Third Time's the Charm

RAW SATIRE: Think of the Children!

RAW RECAP: Cena and Rock Ask You to Save the Date

PPV RECAP: WWE WrestleMania 27

ONLINE ONSLAUGHT: A Throwback WrestleMania?

PYRO'S PPV CORNER: WrestleMania 27

RAW SATIRE: Big Red Tromboner

RAW RECAP: Finally...

RAW SATIRE: Thrown Under the Bus

NXT RECAP: Like a Cow Chewing its Own Cud...

RAW RECAP: Sweet Sweet Vengeance

RAW SATIRE: Jersey Wisdom?

NXT RECAP: The Case for William Regal

RAW RECAP: Miz = Winning

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Who Won NXT, Again?

RAW SATIRE: G-Rilla is Here!

NXT RECAP: Is This Really Necessary?

RAW RECAP: The Soul Crushing Finale

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Christian to the Rescue (Again)

RAW SATIRE: Miz's Addition by Subtraction Theatre

NXT RECAP: Johnny Curtis?!? Really?!?

RAW RECAP: Phoning it In

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Hasta la Vista, Vickie

RAW SATIRE: Scandal in the Tag Ranks

NXT RECAP: What the What?!?

RAW RECAP: Silence is Golden

OO: What I'll Remember About Chris Benoit

NEWS CENTRAL: All Updates About Benoit Tragedy