IMPACT Turning Point Review - November 3, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Rhino and Grado def. Ryan Richards and Mike D

Grado was also in action on Thursday's IMPACT! Wrestling. He's super over in front of the United Kingdom crowds and they were into him here as well. Rhino was a random partner for him, but it got Rhino on the show in some capacity. They had a fairly basic tag team match that went about as long as it needed to. Richards and Mike may as well have been introduced as "local athletes" because viewers were given zero incentive to care about them.

Pre-Show: North Wrestling Champion Leon Slater def. Mark Haskins

I don't think I've seen Haskins since before COVID. He was with Ring of Honor prior to the pandemic and never resurfaced once travel restrictions eased. I had completely forgot about him, to be honest. As for Slater, I read recently he's been signed by IMPACT and now I can see why. He had a standout showing here. That's not to take anything away from Haskins, who is talented in his own right. This was a blast.

Josh Alexander and Eric Young def. SUBCULTURE (Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster)

Alexander and Young had great chemistry and an awesome match with The Motor City Machine Guns on Thursday's IMPACT! Wrestling, so I'm happy they had a chance to team up again here. This was wonderful stuff from these two teams and a very enjoyable opener. You'd think the actual team would have won, but I've seen conflicting things on whether SUBCULTURE are signed to full-time deals with IMPACT, so it makes more sense for Alexander and Young to win if that's the case.

Gisele Shaw def. Alex Windsor

This was another instance where a video package or a backstage interview would been beneficial in getting fans familiar with Windsor. I'm sure some people (if not more) in the crowd knew of her, but the average viewer probably did not (myself included). That said, this was perfectly passable. Shaw has improved and impressed in the past year, but this was nothing out of the ordinary. Needless to say, Shaw winning was the right call as she doesn't win as much as she should.

Rich Swann def. Trey Miguel

Have we seen these two feud one-on-one yet? If not, hopefully at some point we will because they work really well together. Like most matches on this show, this had no storyline significance (Zach Wentz must have been absent from this tour), but they had a very fun match. My only nitpick was the botched finish. Miguel clearly kicked out at two, but the referee counted three, anyway. That didn't seem to be intentional, either, so that was unfortunate.

Jordynne Grace def. Dani Luna

With Grace set to challenge for the Impact Knockouts World Championship at Hard to Kill in two months, there was no way she was losing here, but I'm glad they had such a competitive contest with Luna being made to look credible in defeat. She's great with SUBCULTURE, but she deserves some shine as well because she's very good and that was evident in this outing. Grace's post-match endorsement of Luna was a nice touch.

Joe Hendry def. Simon Miller

These two have been feuding for weeks, but the entire build to this bout took place on social media. They did an effective job of making it look legitimate and filling in fans who may not have been aware of it all via the video package. There wasn't anything special about this match, but I thought Miller held his own. He played the heel role well and the crowd being so behind Hendry helped. This was what it needed to be. I assume this was a one-off for Miller, but maybe IMPACT will use him again at some point.

Moose and Brian Myers def. Frankie Kazarian and Impact X-Division Champion Chris Sabin

If I'm not mistaken, Moose and Myers were supposed to face The Motor City Machine Guns before Alex Shelley's injury (which must have happened during or after the tag team match that aired on Thursday's IMPACT! Wrestling). Kazarian was certainly a suitable replacement and it was logical for him to be the one to get pinned. This was an entertaining outing and the win gives Moose and Myers a momentum boost before they eventually challenge for the Impact World Tag Team Championship.

Impact Knockouts World Champion Trinity def. Deonna Purrazzo in a Last Chance Match (Gail Kim Served as the Special Guest Referee)

Trinity beat Purrazzo for the belt earlier this year and again in a rematch soon after, so although this was nothing new, they produced yet another above-average match. Trinity has gotten a chance to step up her game during this IMPACT run and Purrazzo works well with just about everyone. With the loss, Purrazzo can no longer compete for the title while Trinity is champ. Does this indicate Purrazzo is indeed on her way out of IMPACT at the end of the year? On the bright side, she and Kim got into it afterward, so we might just get that long-awaited match before Purrazzo leaves, potentially at Final Resolution. Hard to Kill is also possible, but Purrazzo would have to agree to a contract extension to work that show if she doesn't intend to re-sign.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay def. Eddie Edwards (Non-Title)

Even without anything at stake, this was very much worth the main event spot. Ospreay is an attraction alone and adding Edwards to the mix guaranteed a top-notch match. Unsurprisingly, that's exactly what this was. They went all out, had the crowd invested in the action, and even with a predictable outcome, had a strong main event. Ospreay is going be such a hot commodity at the beginning of 2024 and I'm excited to see where he winds up. I don't think he signs a full-time deal with IMPACT/TNA, but he would undoubtedly be a hell of a signing to kick off their new era.

Overall Show

This was the first Impact Plus exclusive event to my knowledge that was not live. It was actually taped a week ago in England. It felt like a televised house show, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The three hours were a treat, especially since IMPACT hasn't done a televised show overseas in almost eight years, and there was a surplus of solid wrestling. It wasn't a newsworthy event, but I wouldn't call it a waste of time, either. For a show with no build, Turning Point delivered on the whole.

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