Top 5 Turning Points Moments In Impact Wrestling History
Impact Wrestling’s Turning Point event is set to happen on November 14th at 8pm eastern time, exclusively on the Impact Plus App; So with that said, now would seem like to perfect time to go over what I believe are the top five moments to take place at Turning Point.
Some are good and some are bad but one thing is for certain: These moments have become iconic in annals of Impact Wrestling
5. The End Of Aces & Eights (Turning Point 2013)
The first Turning Point event to air for free on live TV, this special episode of Impact Wrestling had a few memorable mentions like Gail Kim wrestling future NXT superstar Candice LeRae and a backstage segment where Shark Boy could be seen eating a large amount of donuts before his match with EC3.
However it’s main event that took place at Turning Point 2013 that makes this list.
Aces & Eights is one of the most iconic or infamous (depending on who you ask) factions in TNA/Impact Wrestling who terrorized the roster with sneak attacks, cryptic messages and shocking twists, mostly notably Bully Ray revealing that he was the president of the biker gang after turning heel and winning the world title in the main event of that year’s Lockdown PPV.
But just like the New World Order, Aces and Eights started to get way too many members in the stable and their momentum really began fizzle out’ By late 2013, the beginning of the end came when Mr. Anderson (who was the Vice President of the group) turned on Bully Ray during Ray’s no DQ match with Sting and in the process Anderson became a babyface who was looking to destroy the group once and for all.
While Anderson was unsuccessful at defeating Bully at the No Surrender event, he did get another chance in the main event at Turning Point with the stipulations being that if Anderson won then Aces and Eights are force to disband but if Bully won then Mr. Anderson must leave the company.
Long story short, Anderson was able to hit his signature Mic Drop maneuver on Bully for the three count and as a result Aces and Eights were gone with heel commentator and member of the group, Tazz being forced to take off his cut at the request of Mike Tenay and a few wrestlers on the roster with the show ending with Anderson holding both Tazz and Bully Ray’s cuts in his hands as the show fades to black.
Mr. Anderson Ends Aces & Eights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2-SmErOXWU
The Funeral Of Aces & Eights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKeFy04hNcM
4. Randy Savage’s Final Wrestling Appearance (Turning Point 2004)
We go to the very first Turning Point event for this next entry as it sees one of the most influential names in professional wrestling from the 1980’s and 1990’s taking part in what would be his final appearance in major wrestling company.
In the semi-main event of Turning Point 2004, Jeff Jarrett along with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash dressed in Elvis Presley inspired jumpsuits and referring to themselves as “The Kings of Wrestling” took on the team of Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles and “The Macho Man” Randy Savage…Yes that Randy Savage.
For much of the match, Styles and Hardy had the disadvantage as it was unclear if Savage would take part in this match; Suddenly the Macho Man emerged from the back and came down to the ring dressed in all black clothing and processed to deliver a serious of punches before covering Double J to get the three count for his team.
Sadly the Macho Man’s time in the company ended soon afterwards with rumors persisting that Savage disagreed with the booking to a proposed pay per view match involving himself and Jarrett for the NWA World Championship; Another story has it that Hulk Hogan was allegedly rumored to join Impact and as a result Savage bailed on the promotion.
Regardless if either story is true or not, the fact remains that Randy Savage did appear/wrestle for Impact Wrestling and following his tragic death from a heart attack while driving on the road back in 2011, Savage’s time in TNA/Impact are seen as his last appearances for a major wrestling promotion…at least the company can say they had the Macho Man on their brand before died, so there’s that.
Randy Savage At Turning Point 2004:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSJHECDtwx4
3. Samoa Joe’s Shoot Promo (Turning Point 2007)
Samoa Joe is known for many things but being careful and timid with his words is most certainly not one of them as his scathing promo at Turning Point 2007 shows.
In the scheduled main event match of that year’s Turning Point pay per view we was suppose to see Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Samoa Joe take on the tag team champions of AJ Styles and Tomko as well as the world heavyweight champion, Kurt Angle in a six person tag team match.
However, Scott Hall did not make it to the event allegedly due to food poisoning and the company instructed Samoa Joe to cut a promo and introduce a new partner to take Hall’s place in the match.
This is where things get controversial as Samoa Joe did indeed cut a promo like he was asked but the Samoan Machine Submission Machine said in that promo was not what the higher ups in Impact were expecting; For starters, Joe mentions how “The Bad Guy” punked him and the fans by no showing this event and even revealed that the company just gave him a live microphone on pay per view before cutting a shoot promo that would make CM Punk’s 2011 pipebomb look weak by comparison.
Joe goes on to mention how names like the Motor City Machine Guns, Jay Lethal and himself among others were responsible for making the company into the success it is and brings up how passionate the fans are while also saying that “Superstars” only come to the company to profiteer from the promotion
The former X Division champion goes even further and mentions how the “Superstars” think that the can do whatever they want while at the same screwing over the young wrestlers trying to make the company into something and even screwing over the fans who paid to see them despite their no longer being in their prime which leads to the camera men looking at both Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash during the “Superstar” part of the promo
Joe concludes by telling Scott Hall to kiss ass, looks at someone in the crowd and says “You mad, go ahead fire me I don’t care” with many believing that someone Joe was talking to or referring to was Dixie Carter and reveals that the third man on his team was Eric Young.
The good guys won in case you care but what happened backstage was insane: Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash get into a heat argument which led to Big Sexy slapping Joe in the face, Dixie Carter getting pissed off and Joe being force to apologize for his comments.
Of course this being TNA when Vince Russo was the writer, the company decided to turn Samoa Joe’s displeasure into a storyline which would be brought up again during Nash’s time in the Main Event Mafia
If you haven’t heard this promo, I’ll leave a link down below:
Samoa Joe’s Turning Point Promo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCWh4Fi-wFc
2. Kurt Angle’s Stage Dive (Turning Point 2008)
Turning Point 2008 is often seen as one of the greatest pay per views in company history and it’s easy to see why as the show include things like Beer Money Inc. vs. the Motor City Machine Guns for the tag team titles, Christian Cage wrestling in his final match in TNA and the dominance of the Main Event Mafia throughout the event.
An example of the Mafia’s dominance on this night came when the Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle took the Monster, Abyss in a falls count anywhere match.
To say that this match was intense, amazing and all over the place (in all the right places) would be a complete understatement as this match is seen the best and at times underrated classic in careers of Angle and Abyss.
Undoubtedly the most iconic moment in this match would have to be the moment where Kurt Angle runs off the entrance ramp and jumps off doing a 450 senton onto the Monster.
According to a video that I’ve linked to below, Abyss talks about his history with Kurt Angle and how tremendous it was working with in a number of matches including this one here; Abyss mentions in the video that the scene involving Kurt Angle’s stage dive was a completely unplanned spot, and we can only thank god that Angle didn’t injured himself or Abyss upon that unexpected move.
Abyss Talks About Kurt Angle’s Stage Dive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eROZj7NR7cI
1. Elix Skipper’s Cage Walk (Turning Point 2004)
Y’all probably saw this one coming from a mile away…
December 5th 2004, the day that former professional wrestler, Elix Skipper cemented his legacy in front of thousands of cheering fans in attendance.
In the main event of the Inaugural Turning Point pay per view, “Wildcat” Chris Harris and “Cowboy” James Storm of America’s Most Wanted took on their archrivals, “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels and “Prime Time” Elix Skipper of Triple X inside the six sides of steel where the losing team would be forced to disband.
The match itself is an instant classic in every sense of the word but perhaps the most iconic moment of course would have to be moment where Chris Harris who was bleeding heavily and sitting on one side of the steel cage was meet by Elix Skipper on the top of the cage where Skipper did a tiptoe walk on top of the cage before hitting a thunderous hurrricarana off the cage onto Harris and sending the Wildcat crashing down in the middle of the ring to which every made man, women, child and smart mark lost their shit at the sight of this moment.
While AMW would go on to win this match and force Triple X to disband, the image of seeing Prime Time Elix Skipper walk the cage and deliver that hurricarana is simply iconic, breathtaking and truly to most defining moment in not just Elix Skipper’s career but the truly one of the best Turning Point Moments in Impact Wrestling History.
Elix Skipper’s Cage Walk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hcx56zLs7I
Triple X vs. AMW (Turning Point 2004)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsyWFJ2wHKQ
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