Impact Plus monthly special events have shown us they can become some interesting game-changers in the IMPACT routine. From the classic weekly shows and 4 PPVs a year system, we now have a monthly addition when a title can change hands, feuds can find an end or a beginning.
Are we really at a Turning Point? Four weeks after Bound For Glory, here we go again. The players are more or less the same in a chessboard we all know so well. Some matches were made so at the last minute it’s hard to get into them, and appreciate their true potential.
“A time at which a decisive change in a situation occurs, especially one with beneficial results,” here is what a Turning Point is about.
To use my weekly words, right here, right now, is tonight a night for changes? Follow the tired soul of a Nygma, let’s dig into it. 

  • Countdown to Turning Point – FinJuice vs Rohit Raju & Raj Singh

No Decay, as announced, as they are already in Wrestle House… The Desi Hit Men were there to replace them. Finlay and Raju started things off. Finlay connected with the Salt of the Earth, but Raju turned it into a headscissors. Finlay got out and back to the headlock. Legsweep by Raju, Finlay replied a jumping European uppercut. He tagged in Robinson who got slammed onto Raju by Finlay. Juice went to the ears, then hit the delayed vertical. Finlay back in, Finlay and Juice hit a double-team.

Finlay got knocked outside and dropped on the apron. Raju tagged in Singh and they worked Finlay over while Juice got loud and upset. Finlay tried to fight back, finally got out when Juice got the tag to land some shoulder blocks. He hit a Senton to Singh and some punches to Raju. He continued with clotheslines in opposite corners, then cannonballs to each. He then hit a full nelson drop on Singh and tagged in Finlay, they hit the Demolition’s Decapitation. Juice tagged back, Raju broke up the double team, jacked Juice’s jaw, and they hit the combination DDT on Juice. Double faceplant to Singh, Finlay connected with a dive onto Raju. They hit the Doomsday Device for the win. Nice match.

  • Countdown to Turning Point – IMPACT Digital Media Championship Match: Jordynne Grace (c) w/ Rachael Ellering vs Chelsea Green

They started things off quickly. Chelsea unloaded a series of near-falls, a drop toehold leads to a dropkick on Jordynne. Grace utilized her strength with a couple of slams, but Chelsea got her in the corner. Jordynne pressed her off the top rope, walked around the ring with Chelsea and slammed her down. After a hard whip into the turnbuckles, Jordynne picked her up, hit the knees on her a couple of times and rammed her shoulder-first into the ring post, followed by the double knees to the back and a smash in the corner. Jordynne missed the Vader Bomb though, and Chelsea’s back up with a boot and a forearm in the corner, but Jordynne fired back in the other corner.

Jordynne got curb-stomped in the corner, Chelsea pulled her out to the centre and hit another curb stomp. Jordynne blocked the suplex, then blocked the Unprettier, lift Chelsea up, ran her in the corner and hit the Rikishi Driver.  Jordynne put Chelsea up top, but Chelsea headbutted her off. Jordynne regained the advantage, Chelsea got out of the Muscle Buster and hits the Gory Bomb. After some reversals and an elbow by Chelsea, Jordynne reversed out of the Unprettier and hit the Grace Driver for the win. A demonstration of strength.

  • Chris Sabin vs Ace Austin w/ Madman Fulton

Ace Austin was still wearing his “I Beat Chris Sabin” t-shirt. A hammerlock exchange ended by an elbow by Austin. A wristlock exchange ended with a slam by Sabin. After a clothesline over the top, Sabin teased the dive before Madman pushed Austin out of the way. He didn’t save Austin from the PK though. Sabin chopped Austin down on the floor. Back in the ring, Sabin unloaded a crossbody, a chinlock and a boot choke in the corner. Austin walks into an elbow but answered Sabin’s springboard attempt with a Russian leg sweep off the middle rope and a leg drop. Sabin fired back for a second, but Austin connected with a knee strike to the head. Austin worked Sabin over in the corner. Austin hit the Miz clothesline in the corner, then an enzuigiri kick to Sabin’s head on the top rope. Sabin reversed Austin’s attempts with a tornado DDT. Sabin connected with an enzuigiri, then went up top and hit a flying dropkick to Austin’s back. The Cradleshock didn’t work but the German suplex did, as the modified DDT that knocked Austin out of his elbow pad.

Sabin continued with La Magistral but Austin responded with a kick to the shoulder blades. They exchanged kicks and put each other down. Sabin missed in the corner, Austin missed one kick but hit the other and nailed a modified face driver. Austin back-suplexed Sabin into the corner, went up top, hit the Zig-Zag. Austin went up top eventually but Sabin followed him up top and hit a Superplex. Sabin headed up top. Madman Fulton distracted the referee, Austin crotched Sabin up top. Austin followed him up, went for a superplex but got knocked into a Tree of Woe. Sabin connected with the hesitation dropkick, then dove onto Fulton on the outside. Fulton threw the infamous t-shirt into the ring. Fulton hit a cheap shot, but Austin couldn’t follow up after putting the t-shirt on. He jumped into Sabin’s arms and Sabin hit the Cradleshock for the win. A modern classic.

  • Heath & Rhino vs Violent By Design (Eric Young & Joe Doering w/ Deaner)

Rhino wanted EY to start but got Joe Doering instead. Rhino gained a quick advantage and tagged Heath in, but we quickly headed to the other corner so EY could tag in. EY wanted nothing to do with Rhino though and quickly tagged out. Heath connected with some forearms in the corner, but Deaner provided the distraction and was tossed from ringside. Heath walked into a Doering clothesline. Two kicks to the head from the VBD members and EY stomped away on Heath.

Doering, back in, connected with a big forearm and an elbow drop. Side slam by Doering, EY with the top rope elbow. EY then missed in the corner, but Heath still couldn’t get to Rhino. Doering, back in, beat Heath up some more. Doering slammed Heath but stumbled down. EY still cut Heath off from the tag for a second, but Rhino was tagged in. EY and Rhino faced off. Rhino thought for a second and then took EY’s head off. EY replied with some elbows, but he ran into a belly-to-belly suplex. Doering and Heath got in the ring, Rhino set Doering up for a piledriver, but EY hit Rhino with his kneebrace for the win. Nice bout for a story that is far from over.

Meanwhile, backstage…

Eddie Edwards told Gia Miller about his long history with Moose. Tonight is Moose’s first world title defence, and Eddie’s been in that spot before. Tonight, there’s no DQs or count-outs, anything goes. Moose has done terrible things to get that world title, tonight is the turning point and Moose will pay for those sins at the hands of the new World Champion.

  • Rich Swann vs ??

If surprise there was supposed to have been, that would not be here. Myers’ students, VSK and Zicky Dice made their way to the ring. Swann went to work early on Brian Myers’ young boy. He missed a flip dive onto the floor though, and VSK took the offensive. He worked Swann’s back over with a whip into the corner. VSK hit a back suplex followed by another hard whip. Swann replied with a Sunset flip, but VSK connected with a backbreaker.

Swann fought back, hits a big kick, then a roll into a frog splash. Dice yanked Swann off the apron, then got run over by Mack. VSK connected with a kick to Swann and a modified X-Factor. VSK missed a kick, Swann hit one, then got backstabbed. Swann connected with some flips into a cutter. He then headed up, hit a frog splash followed by the Phoenix splash for the win. Not bad.

  • Matt Cardona vs W. Morrissey

Matt Striker couldn’t help making GCW references while Cardona came out in a jacket Effy would love to wear. Morrissey had the strength advantage, which he utilized early on. Cardona connected with a dropkick, drove Morrissey into the corner, hit an enzuigiri, a basement dropkick to the floor, followed by a neckbreaker. Morrissey swang Cardona into the ring steps a couple of times and went on the offensive from there.

A big boot sent Cardona back outside. Cardona beat the ten-count so he could get beat back down. Morrissey tried to remove Cardona’s head from his body. Cardona came back with a dropkick off the middle rope but didn’t have much after that. Cardona fought back with a codebreaker. Morrisey faceplanted him but missed in the corner. Cardona connected with the Re-Boot in the corner, another one sent Morrissey to the floor. Morrissey hit a chokeslam to Cardona on the apron. Cardona continued with some knees in the corner, but he got run into the referee. The Radio Silence connected but the referee was KO. Here came Moose with a Spear, giving the win to Morrissey. Sign this man, please…

  • IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Championship Match: The IInspiration (c) vs Decay

If Taurus and Steve were in Wrestle House, so should have been Rosemary and Havok… But they can teleport themselves… Decay attacked at the bell and everybody paired off on the outside. Jessica and Cassie got tossed onto the ramp, they missed punches and Decay knocked them down the ramp. Rosemary gained the advantage on Cassie in the ring. She tagged in Havok, they hit the double ripcord. IInspiration took advantage behind the referee’s back, and Cassie attacked Havok with strikes. She tagged Jessie who targeted the left wrist of Havok. Cassie connected with a double stomp to the arm after Jessie worked the arm too. More knee drops to the arm, followed by an armbar. Havok made Cassie break the hold, but couldn’t get to the corner until Jessie had the referee distracted.

Eventually, it happened for her though, and Rosemary took control. Sling Blade on Cassie, who got whipped into Jessie. Rosemary splashed both, then suplexed Cassie out of the ring. Rosemary connected with the modified Muta lock.  A tug of war over Jessie resulted in no winners, and Cassie tagged in to get German-Suplexed into the other corner. Tag to Havok while Jessie got knocked off the other apron. The double-team got two. Jessie tagged in but begged off on the outside, giving her the chance to yank Havok into the ring post. Unfortunately, Rosemary ran mad and then got powerbombed on the floor, with a little help from Jessie’s boot. Havok was still up, she lift Jessie up and hit the Samoan drop. Jessie fought back and went to the wrist. She sent Havok shoulder-first into the post, a shot from Cassie and Jessie’s feet on the ropes lead to a three-count for the win. Next match, please.

Meanwhile, backstage…

Chris Sabin told Gia Miller he changed Ace Austin’s t-shirt to say “I Am Chris Sabin”.

  • X-Division Championship Triple-Threat Match: Trey Miguel (c) vs Laredo Kid vs Steve Maclin

More or less a rematch of Bound For Glory, except Maclin instead of El Phantasmo. Maclin was the first one to hit a dive in this match, Laredo hits a 450 on the floor to Maclin, then rolled Miguel back in. They tried to do a two-man Doomsday rana deal, that didn’t work. Maclin connected with a couple of big dives. Trey continued with a dive over the ring post. Back in the ring, Maclin hit a powerbomb off the knee. Laredo, back in, connected with a big dropkick. He hit a neckbreaker on Maclin out of the ring, then hit a springboard into a rana attempt, which Maclin met with a powerbomb on the apron.

Trey came back, tried a split-legged moonsault but got caught in the Tree of Woe. Maclin caught Laredo off the top and hit running power slams of Laredo into Trey. He set Trey up, Trey blocked, he and Laredo went off on Maclin. Trey and Laredo fired away at each other with big moves. Laredo connected with the palm strike and a kick, he followed Trey up for the Laredo Fly. He then hit a Poisonrana on Maclin instead,  and a Laredo Fly. Maclin barely made the save. Laredo hit the double chop on Maclin and a slam, the 450 Splash met Maclin’s knees. Maclin hit the Mayhem For All. Trey broke up the cover with the Meteora. Trey covered both, Maclin got the shoulder up but Laredo didn’t. That resulted in a three-count that Trey Miguel doesn’t seem to understand. Could have been better…

  • IMPACT Knockouts Championship Match: Mickie James (c) vs Mercedes Martinez 

Some mat-based exchanges to start. Mickie got the early advantage, but Mercedes wasn’t worried about it. She worked Mickie’s arm for a second, Mickie cartwheeled out of it and worked Mercedes’ arm. Big forearm from Mercedes, and here came the brawling with chops. Mickie connected with the snapmare and a kick. Mercedes replied with a chop of her own. Mickie went for a rana out of the corner but got buckle-bombed. Mercedes’ Fisherman’s buster was too close to the ropes and got a two-count.

Mickie went for the cross arm breaker, but Mercedes worked out of it. Mickie hit a couple of kicks. A dropkick sent Mercedes into the corner. After the Air Raid Crash by Mercedes, she set Mickie up, Mickie slipped out but got forearmed. Mercedes hit a Half and a half suplex. They headed up top. Mercedes connected with a German suplex but got herself out of the Tree of Woe. Mercedes connected with a kind of surfboard into the Dragon sleeper. Mickie blocked that and hit a short DDT. She went for the big DDT, it was blocked a couple of times before it’s finally hit for the win. Rematch, please…

After the match

Here came Deonna Purrazzo who locked in the Venus de Milo armbar, then hit the Cosa Nostra on Mickie. She said she wants her championship back, and she’ll get it at Hard To Kill.

Meanwhile, backstage…

Scott D’Amore told Gia Miller it’s official, he wished Deonna had waited a bit to announce it, but Deonna is Deonna. He talked about how Impact has done a lot of firsts, and another one will be at Hard To Kill to determine the next #1 contender for the Knockouts Championship… A Knockouts Ultimate X Match!

  • IMPACT World Tag Team Championship: The Good Brothers (c) vs Bullet Club

Anderson and Bey started off. Anderson established his strength advantage, but Bey had the agility and the ingenuity. He tagged in Hikuleo, who worked over Anderson for a second before tagging Bey back in. Bey was driven into the corner and Doc Gallows tagged in. The big kick led to both the heavys getting in there. A big twisting slam by Gallows sent Bey outside. Gallows and Anderson took turns working Bey over, but Hikuleo took advantage of Karl once he winded up on the outside, and the Machine Gun was on the defensive now.

Hikuleo connected with the running powerslam. Anderson fought back with a spinebuster on Bey. The big men tagged in and delivered shots while arguing over who the real Bullet Club is. Bey and Anderson were back in, Bey connected with the top rope dropkick and some big moves while the big boys fought outside. Bey set up a Lionsault kind of move, Gallows tripped him and Anderson covered for the win. Because of the lack of Nutcrackers, next match, please…

WHAT??!!

IPWF’s Throwback Throwdown II on December 18, live from Louisville! Awesome… The first edition two years ago was a blast to watch and to write on, read here.

  • Josh Alexander has something to say…

In the ring, Josh Alexander talked about how he beat Minoru Suzuki two days ago, and how he should be happy. He’s not. He’s been told he has to get his emotions under control. He’s angry about what Moose did, he’s angry he’s in street clothes tonight, he’s angry but focused on Moose. He’s going to sit in the front row tonight, and one way or another he will get that championship back. Jonah, fka Bronson Reed, pounded Alexander down in the ring with slams and some jumping sentons. He was up to four, and he headed up top for the big splash. Here came the referees and the security. Alexander was coughing up some blood and could do nothing as Jonah headed off. Never mind, he came back and had another top rope splash for Alexander. He rubbed the blood on the chest of his t-shirt.

  • IMPACT World Championship Full Metal Mayhem Match: Moose (c) vs Eddie Edwards

They clobbered away on each other to start, with some forearm exchange. Moose ended up being the one to take a step back. Moose connected with a chop. Eddie replied. Chop exchange again. Moose gained the advantage on that one. Eddie responded with more chops and a back elbow. Moose hit a knee, Eddie replied with a German suplex. He ran towards Edwards, who backdropped Moose over the top rope and through a table.

Edwards got a trash can and hit the lower back of Moose who rolled through the ring, apparently setting up Eddie for the dive. Moose met Eddie with the cookie sheet the first time, but Eddie shrugged it off eventually and hit the dive. Eddie sent 2 cookie sheets to the head of Moose. Another one. Eddie went for the rana, but Moose caught him, ran around and hit a border toss onto the ramp.

Moose left the cookie sheet for the steel chair. He choked Eddie with it, then dragged him back into the ring. Moose was knocking chairs off of a table, setting up something that probably won’t end well. He went for something, Eddie blocked. Moose responded with a big kick. Eddie somehow lift Moose up and hit a DVD him on the ring apron. Eddie connected with the ladder to Moose’s frame, then tossed the ladder in the ring. Moose replied with a pump kick to Eddie, picked him up and powerbombed him on the apron. Another powerbomb, this one through a table… and Impact Plus had a problem… but Eddie hit a sunset-flip bomb Moose off a ladder through a table.

W. Morrissey ran in, Eddie Edwards cut the ring apron up and revealed the wood underneath. He set Moose up over on the wood and went for the Tiger Driver. Moose blocked, they went back and forth, Moose hit a NutCracker and the uranage on the wood. Moose hit his deadly Spear on the wooden part of the ring for the win. Fantastic…

To be eNYGMAtic…

I kept my thoughts till the end and I was right to do so. The fast-and-furious build-up, for me, could be a disadvantage. It opened some doors for some storylines but it wasn’t a firework. The 2 pre-show matches were very good. Jordynne Grace was absolutely impressive. Austin vs Sabin was a classic, a great classic, but a too-short classic. For VBD, we know it’s not over because EY is not out of Rhino’s head yet. VSK did a good job replacing Brian Myers at the last minute. Morrissey vs Cardona was great, and the big man didn’t need the other big man to win…
The IInspiration cheated to win, what could we expect else? The Good Brothers did the same. Trey seemed not completely convinced of his win in a match that failed to convince me. Finally, Eddie Edwards and Moose, 31 minutes in hell. It was fabulous. There’s no match they haven’t tried, I think, except the bloodiest ones. One day, they might come to that, but not right now. And Jonah attacking Josh Alexander demands some explanations, like for Suzuki…
It was neither good, neither bad, in fact. Some matches were very good weekly-episode matches, with great action. Some storylines are really of a PPV level and we felt it because they are far from over. My biggest disappointment was the X-Division title match. Sabin vs Austin delivered way more and way better. The IMPACT roster has such an appetite for delivering, putting a smile on the fans’ faces. You couldn’t blame them for that, never. Oh, for the title, just Google it and think the 1990s…
What’s next now? Wrestle House special episode on Thursday, Throwback Throwdown II special event, usually two end-of-year episodes. This means we are four episodes away from Hard To Kill. That will be a race against time but that’s the way Impact Wrestling want it. Christmas time will be as a rush on Impact Wrestling as it can be in real life… Like Sinatra sang, let it snow… See you on Thursday night, well, for sure…

Turning Point Complete Results:

  • FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) defeated Raj Singh & Rohit Raju
  • Jordynne Grace (c) (with Rachael Ellering) defeated Chelsea Green to retain the Impact Digital Media Championship
  • Chris Sabin defeated Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton)
  • Violent By Design (Eric Young & Joe Doering) (with Deaner) defeated Heath & Rhino
  • Rich Swann (with Willie Mack) defeated VSK (with Zicky Dice)
  • W. Morrissey defeated Matt Cardona
  • The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay) (c) defeated Decay (Havok & Rosemary) to retain the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Championship
  • Trey Miguel (c) defeated Laredo Kid and Steve Maclin to retain the IMPACT X-Division Championship
  • Mickie James (c) defeated Mercedes Martinez to retain the IMPACT Knockouts Championship
  • The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) defeated Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) to retain the IMPACT World Tag Team Championship
  • Moose (c) defeated Eddie Edwards to retain the IMPACT World Championship

All pics, videos, and screenshots courtesy of Impact Wrestling, Fite TV, Dan The JOBR and AXS TV. Photocollage custom made by @frenchnygma exclusively for @steelchairmag. 

By Steph Franchomme

News, Reviews, Social Media Editor, Impact Wrestling Reviewer, Interviewer Well, call me The Boss... And French...

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