Pay-Per-Review: 2011 TNA Turning Point PPV
By: Chris Cash @RealityofChris
TO GET TO THE POINT: I went into last night's TNA pay per view with an open mind, hoping that the streak of over-booked, gimmicky matches and finishes would not plague yet another wrestling event. No luck.
TNA's Turning Point pay per view last night can be "rolled up" into one word: Standard.
The main event between Roode and Styles was VERY good, but lacked that decisive finish needed for the new Champion. Two titles changed hands, but they didn't mean much to begin with, so I doubt anyone really cared. Jeff Hardy returned to pay per view action and they tried a little too hard to make up for the tragedy of a match he had with Sting earlier this year.
This pay per view was simply more of the same from TNA and is a good example of what I feel the company is struggling with most these days: distinguishing and separating their paid events from their free ones. There's hardly separation at all. You get an extra hour, but that's not worth shelling out $40 a month. Especially when you can simply tune in the following Thursday and not feel like you missed much at all.
Most of the wrestling on Victory Road was good. Most of the finishes were again lazy. However, let's take a look at some of the highlights and main points coming out of last night's pay per view and my thoughts on each.
Robbie E Defeats Eric Young
Great! The TV title goes from one comedy act to another. I'm a big fan of Eric Young's gimmick…most of the time. I do feel like TNA often overuses his comedy routine when they shouldn't. Last night, it should have been scaled back to add more credibility to the title match. I understand that it's just the TV title, but what's the point of having it involved at all if it isn't supposed to mean "something". The dropping of the pants (which wasn't the only time it happened last night) is unnecessary. While it might be funny in every other scenario, it's not what I want in my pay per view title matches. Whether or not Robbie holding the title will help elevate him at all is unknown, but I somehow doubt it. I expect more of the same, unfortunately.
Gail Kim Wins Knockout Title
I'm not a huge fan of Velvet Sky in the ring, but I definitely understand TNA putting over as the number one Knockout. Physical attributes aside, she's good enough technically and the fans support her. Her match with Gail Kim last night, by Knockout standards, was decent. I was surprised by the title change as Velvet just won the thing. TNA sometimes jumps the gun with putting gold around the waists of WWE crossovers and it's not needed 99% of the time. The difference with Gail though is that she had a good run in TNA prior to going to WWE, so it's not near as unsettling. I just don't understand why they couldn't have kept the title on Velvet another month or two before putting it back on Gail.
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