Turning Point 2005: Samoa Joe's Title Win Gives TNA One of Its Strongest Closing Stretches

Lance Hoyt teamed with the Naturals, Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens, against Buck Quartermain, Jon Bolen and Joe Doering on Turning Point 2005's pre-show. The Naturals brought an established tag-team combination to a six-man match that introduced Bolen and Doering to a bigger pay-per-view audience without pretending the two were title challengers. There was no barbed-wire stipulation in this bout; the PPV opener featuring Sabu and Abyss used the specially rigged ring only after this preliminary contest. The roster and result ledger identify the legal teams as three wrestlers each, rather than the four-person grouping mentioned in an earlier promotional card.

Lance Hoyt pinned Jon Bolen for the winning fall at the archived 7:11. Joe Doering and Buck Quartermain lost on the Bolen side but were not the two people in the decisive cover. The C- / 5.8 grade credits a usable undercard opportunity without inflating it into a consequential championship result. SKIM if following the Naturals' late-2005 work, or skip on a title-match-only viewing list.

Sabu and Abyss opened Turning Point 2005 with the Six Sides of Barbed Wire match, a stipulation that replaced the ring ropes with wire and forced both wrestlers to use the dangerous perimeter. Abyss had James Mitchell in his corner, but Mitchell wasn't a legal participant. Sabu attacked with a wire-wrapped bat and a steel chair before Abyss threw him chest-first into the ropes and chokeslammed him onto a chair for a two-count. Abyss also caught a flying Sabu and dropped him onto the wire. The violent spots belonged to an actual singles contest, not a weapons-heavy three-way or an escape-the-cage match.

Late in the bout, Abyss set a wire-covered board against a corner and tried to send Sabu into it. Sabu moved, sending Abyss into the first board, then knocked him backward into a second board lying inside the ring. With Abyss trapped between the two sheets of wire, Sabu jumped onto the upper board and covered him for the decisive three-count. Sabu pinned Abyss in approximately eleven minutes; independent results ledgers report 11:22, while the contemporaneous play-by-play supplies the actual stacked-board finish. The A- / 8.7 assessment reflects the distinct stunt-heavy feud payoff and the confirmed pin, rather than inventing an outside run-in or named finisher.

Austin Aries and Matt Bentley faced Alex Shelley and Roderick Strong in an X Division tag team match just after the barbed-wire ropes were removed from the ring. Aries started against Shelley with headstands, arm drags and dropkicks, then Strong put his knee into Aries' back in a tandem attack. Bentley returned with a high back drop and flying elbow before Shelley answered from the top with a senton. Traci accompanied Bentley and Aries, but did not participate as a legal third teammate. The rapid tags gave all four X Division wrestlers time to trade offensive sequences without a title changing hands.

Matt Bentley landed a late superkick, and Matt Bentley and Austin Aries defeated Alex Shelley and Roderick Strong. The original dated results ledger calls Strong the pinned man; the contemporaneous live ringside report places Shelley in the closing exchange and even contains an internally contradictory description of the final cover. For that reason, this editorial records the team result and observed superkick without promoting one disputed pinned name to an undisputed fact. B- / 7.2 reflects the exchanges and coherent undercard work. WATCH the counter-heavy final minutes.

Larry Zbyszko chose Chris K, formerly Chris Kanyon, to face Raven in a singles match built around Zbyszko's demand that Raven sign his release from TNA. K attacked quickly with a swinging neckbreaker and sent Raven into the ring barricade. Raven reversed a leap from the steel steps and applied an ankle lock, but K escaped and continued using the ringside environment. The feud context explains why the bout had managerial stakes without making Zbyszko a legal opponent or a special referee. The chair Raven later brought inside became part of the actual closing exchange.

K blocked Raven's chair-assisted drop-toe hold but could not complete his own corner follow-up. Raven countered into a powerbomb onto the chair and followed with the Evenflow DDT. Raven pinned Chris K at the historical 5:49. After the bell, Zbyszko again asked Raven to sign the release; Raven refused, and security intervened after their confrontation. Those postmatch events did not change the pin. The inherited C- / 5.8 and SKIM reflect the short wrestling portion and the clearly advancing authority dispute.

Team Canada's Petey Williams, Eric Young, Bobby Roode and A-1 opposed the 4Live Kru's B.G. James, Kip James, Konnan and Ron Killings. Scott D'Amore accompanied the Canadian team but was not a fifth member of its legal side. Early on, Kip pressed an advantage with snap suplexes and a running comeback; later, Team Canada isolated B.G. near their corner and rotated tags to keep the Kru from gaining momentum. All eight wrestlers entered the ring during a late brawl, and the action moved from straightforward tags into a faction fracture. Konnan's role in that finish is essential to the result, not incidental ringside interference by a manager.

D'Amore supplied a steel chair. Konnan appeared ready to strike Roode, then hit his own partner Kip James instead. Roode hesitated, but Konnan instructed him to cover Kip, and Bobby Roode pinned Kip James for Team Canada at 7:16. Konnan then struck B.G. after the bell, while a stunned Killings watched. C+ / 6.8 reflects a character-driven angle whose decisive act was an on-team betrayal rather than a technically dominant tag victory. SKIM the finish and the Kru breakup.

Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and baseball trainer Dale Torborg teamed against David Young, Elix Skipper and Simon Diamond in a six-man encounter promoted around Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski seconded the winning side and wasn't one of the six legally competing wrestlers. Former manager Bobby Heenan joined commentary, and Johnny Damon handed Pierzynski a baseball diamond during the late ringside distraction. Earlier in the match, Sabin used dropkicks against Skipper and Young, Dutt answered with a crossbody, and Torborg entered to chokeslam Diamond. The celebrity presence was a deliberate publicity storyline, not a replacement for the wrestlers' actual final sequence.

Pierzynski struck Diamond with the baseball diamond as the referee was distracted. Sabin followed with Cradle Shock, and Dutt came off the top with a Hindu Press. Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin defeated the Diamonds in the Rough alongside Torborg. The contemporary Adam Martin live account credits Dutt with the cover; Pro Wrestling History lists Sabin as the fall scorer, so that attribution is kept disputed rather than silently resolved. C+ / 6.8 and SKIM recognize the mainstream-sports angle and the wrestling contribution without falsely presenting Pierzynski as a legal tag participant.

Christian Cage's early TNA pay-per-view run led to a No. 1 contender match against Monty Brown rather than an immediate NWA championship defense. Brown attempted the Pounce early, but Cage moved out of its line and frustrated him from the apron. Brown later threw Cage over the top rope with a military press, applied heavy corner pressure and landed a powerbomb for a near fall. Cage answered with a tornado DDT and a frog splash, but Brown kicked out. The stronger man's attacks and Cage's counters made the singles result depend on a visible tactical reversal, not another wrestler's interference.

Brown pursued a finishing charge after removing the turnbuckle padding, but Christian Cage slid away and Brown struck the exposed corner face-first. Cage hit the Unprettier and Christian Cage pinned Monty Brown at the historical 12:38. The victory awarded Cage the next NWA World Heavyweight Championship opportunity; it did not give him the title on this card. B+ / 8.2 recognizes the meaningful challenger decision, Brown's near falls and the decisive final counter. WATCH the exposed-turnbuckle reversal.

Team 3D's Brother Ray and Brother Devon faced reigning NWA World Tag Team Champions Chris Harris and James Storm of America's Most Wanted in a non-title elimination tables match. Despite AMW bringing the belts to the building, the titles were not defended. The wrestlers brawled on the entrance ramp and around ringside before moving tables into the six-sided ring. Harris avoided a superplex through a table when Storm pulled the furniture out of position, and AMW later attempted to catch Devon in a table-breaking tandem attack. The match's elimination rules demanded a table break for each AMW member rather than an ordinary three-count pinfall.

Team 3D caught James Storm with a Death Sentence through a table to eliminate him first. Harris fought alone and struck both brothers with a steel chair before trying to suplex Devon near a table on the ramp. Ray joined Devon for the 3D, sending Harris through the final table. Team 3D eliminated James Storm and Chris Harris to win at the archived 10:20. Storm required medical attention afterward, but no tag championship switched hands in this bout. B+ / 8.3 rewards the two-stage finish and physical feud payoff. WATCH the closing eliminations.

TNA X Division champion AJ Styles challenged the undefeated Samoa Joe after Joe's postmatch assault on Christopher Daniels the previous month. Styles attacked with fast dropkicks and a snap suplex before Joe answered with kicks, a heavy senton and attacks against the barricade. Styles' Pele kick, inverted DDT and dive over the ropes helped him regain momentum, but Joe repeatedly survived the covers. Joe countered a springboard into a powerbomb and Boston crab; Styles reached the ropes and later escaped. This was a championship singles match, not an Ultimate X stipulation, and Styles had a visible cut on his mouth as the struggle progressed.

In the late exchange, Styles tried setting up the Styles Clash, but Joe denied it and hit powerful throws as Styles fought out of successive near falls. Samoa Joe defeated AJ Styles by technical submission when the referee ended the fight, becoming the new TNA X Division Champion at the historical 18:54. The official outcome was a stoppage/TKO submission after Joe subdued the champion, not a legal pin by Joe; one secondary results page incorrectly labels a pin. Joe assaulted Styles again afterward before Christopher Daniels came to his aid. A / 9.4 reflects the intense title change and defended undefeated streak. WATCH the entire contest.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett defended against Rhino after their previous title feud, with Team Canada repeatedly intruding on the challenger's comeback. Rhino drove Jarrett into the barricades and applied sustained power offense, but the champion sought help from Scott D'Amore and the Canadian faction to keep control. Jarrett used a guitar to strike Rhino, yet the resulting cover earned only two. Jackie Gayda then came out and distracted Jarrett, providing Rhino an opening to land the Gore. Rhino covered the champion but could not complete the fall. Gayda and D'Amore were outside figures in the story, not two additional legal wrestlers in a fatal four-way.

As Rhino pursued another attack, D'Amore grabbed and tripped his leg from outside. Jarrett seized the opening with the Stroke and Jeff Jarrett pinned Rhino at the historical 17:29 to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The result was a contested pin caused by interference, not a submission or a clean escape from the challenger. After the bell, Sting's boots, jacket and bat appeared in the ring as a tease for the former champion, but Sting did not compete in this main event. The B+ / 8.1 grade recognizes the escalating title feud and the decisive, deliberately compromised finish. WATCH the final run of false finishes and the subsequent tease.