Search - TNA Wrestling: Turning Point 2006 on DVD

Great Sports, Lacking Entertainment

D.P. | California | 10/02/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It was around this time in TNA that the new booking team that was set into place in late September really changed the product into more of the "sports entertainment" enviroment instead of the pure "professional wrestling" product they had since their move to Flordia. It was heavily showcased on this PPV as you had more talk stuff that should have been saved for Impact than PPV.

Preshow: Lance Hoyt & Ron Killings vs. Serotonin - Nothing special here as it was the typical "warm up the crowd" match between all five...which is a shame since you know The Truth & Lance Hoyt are capable of so much more.

Senshi vs. Austin Star vs. Alex Shelley vs. Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt - The main point of this match was to put over the fued between Shelley & Star over being Nash's "teacher's pet" which came off well at the end here along with their "blind" tags during the match and each having a hand in each other's eliminations. The match itself was your typical X division multiman match which delivers every time. Nash's commentary is also funny at times.

Bikini Contest: Eric Young vs. Ms. Brooks - First of all, normally I don't comment on these things but watch their highlight package before the match & look out for the Don West line about Eric Young "looking like a baby about to be breast fed" when Ms. Brooks flashed him & Tenay's reaction to it. In fact, Tenay & West's commentary here resemble J.R. & King's commentary during a WWE divas match except you normally don't hear this from Tenay & West all the time so it is very comedic. The "match" itself was the only skit on here that was worth the time it was given as Ms. Brooks didn't have on a skimpy outfit but still looked hot while Eric Young was just comedic gold with his "bikini." This was just one of those segments that I just found absolutely funny.

X Division Champion Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin with Jerry Lynn as the special referee - This match was exactly how I said their previous "Genesis" PPV was in that it was solid inring work from start to finish with Sabin constantly putting over his new attitude whenever he was in control. One of the best matches of the night once again by these two.

Here is skit #2 as they had the MVP of the World Series David Eckstein come out to promote some book he was coming out with while AJ Pierzynski & Dale Torborg from the previous World Series champions Chicago White Sox & the basebrawl last year came out as well but acted like heels in destroying his book & double teaming him until Lance Hoyt made the save. After the action in the previous match, we're given a heavily dry skit that went on too long & didn't involve anyone on the TNA roster to the point where fans were chanting "WE WANT WRESTLING!!!" Crap segment overall.

Rhino vs. AJ Styles - Boy, this was the most aggressive I've seen AJ Styles since I started watching TNA because he jumped Rhino during the prematch interview. They had a high impact wrestling match that resembled a fight/brawl at times with them going though the crowd & backstage. The ending was great to put over Styles as a heel but the match wasn't over yet & they continued to fight afterwards as well. This was a completely different AJ Styles match than you would expect...and that's a good thing in this case.

Flag Match: NWA Tag Team Champions LAX vs. AWM - If they would have cut out the last to segments/skits of this PPV, this match would have had more time to be something more special than it was. The match was alright as it had some good moments such as Gail Kim getting involved in the action & the ending that would lead to the eventual breakup of AMW. Again, the only downfall is that this match was short.

Thoughout the night, there were backstage segments that teased the idea that DX (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) were in the building along with their supporting players like Big D. Johnson (the fat oily stripper) but it turned out to just be the Voodoo Kin Mafia doing a DX paraody complete with imposters of the Spirit Squad & the Big Fat Oily Guy. Honestly, I found the skit more corny than funny but the punchline was to issue a $1 million challenge for DX to fight them...like WWE would really accept or even acknowledge it. Another waste of time.

NWA Champion Abyss vs. Sting vs. Christian Cage - This came off like they were more worried about putting over their current storylines with all three (five if you include Tomko & James Mitchell at ringside) than having a match. It's watchable & has some standout moments like Abyss being stomped face first into the thumbtacks. But besides that, it seems like a big cluster & the wrestlers seem lost at times.

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe - This was the best out of their 3 match series as it lived up to the expectations that people had for their first encounter. This was a wrestling clinic complete them getting reciepts for what happened the previous month like Joe going face first into steel steps and a series of reversals between the Nikita Clutch & Ankle Lock. Again, my favorite match out of their three match series.

So overall, this PPV illistrates that TNA strong point is their "sports" with the in-ring wrestling action while they're "entertainment" isn't their strongest point with only 1 out of 3 segments worth watching over & over again which knocks down the rating for this PPV. I recommend, just skip the last two talk segments."