What is up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Destination X. So, how would the tribute/filler PPV do and what kind of future events would come out of this PPV? Well, let's find out and start the review.
Match #1: Kaz vs Samoa Joe
The show opened up with a bunch of jets flying in the air. Did they rip off Evan Bourne's video package? Not only that, but they had Abyss talking about war in a jungle-like setting while there was guns and soldiers going on. This isn't a wrestling PPV.....its a trailer to a Rambo movie. Yeah....a little strange the PPV went with that to open up the show, but let's move on. There was no Tazz on commentary tonight, so Jeremy Borash was with Mike Tenay to call the action. Anyway, we have X Division and the six sided ring, or as I like to call it; IWC porn. Joking aside, let's talk about the match. This was a matchup that had a lot of poor buildup going into this one, so I was kinda glad they were doing away with this one early. This was a pretty decent match and it was a good matchup to get you into the flow of things. The finish comes when Joe thinks he has won the match with the Rear Naked Chokehold, but the ref breaks it up since Kaz got to the ropes. Joe argues with the ref, which allows Kaz to regain himself and sneaks a rollup for the victory. Damn, if Joe is losing to X Division guys, then he might be a lower card talent at this point. He has fallen so far in the last two years and I think it started when they tried to change him. I remember him wearing warpaint, which was just plain stupid. Joe isn't doing the creative staff any favors by continuing to look pudgy. Joe is gonna kill you? More like Joe is gonna eat you. With Joe losing, this is a chance to try and repackage him into something else to maybe get his career back on track, but maybe not. I think at this point, I am just not that interested in Joe anymore and he does nothing to make me think he is getting pushed down. I still think he is a decent enough talent to be at the midcard level and maybe even back in the main event scene, but he needs to go out there and prove he is worth it. There are some moments during his matches where I see the old Joe, but they are pretty rare and instead I see this less interesting Joe. Where's that more interesting Joe?
Winner via pinfall: Kaz
Because it wouldn't be TNA without some sort of silly segment, here is Eric Young looking for a tag team partner. Since Young doesn't seem to remember his last tag team partner in Orlando Jordan, he is looking at some of the masked based talents in TNA, whom are signing autographs. Suicide, Curry Man, and Sangriento were signing autographs when Young makes them an offer. Curry Man says he can't because he has a big match tomorrow night (or he is recovering against his match with AJ Styles?), Suicide can't go because he is injured (funny since almost the entire X Division has played this character), and Sangriento is having visa issues. Ok, let me interrupt this segment for a moment because we already have something that makes no sense. If Sangriento has "visa issues", then why is he able to come to the United States and sign autographs? If he really had visa issues, he wouldn't even be in this scene. So, does he have some special type of visa that allows him to be in the States, but not wrestle in the States?......
Now, I am aware they wrote this into the show to established Young is looking for a partner, but they could have written a better excuse like he has the stomach flu or something. I would be interested in finding out who was playing all of these talents since Christopher Daniels usually plays Curry Man, but if we spend all day questioning the logics of this, the review will never end. ANYWAY....Shark Boy comes into the scene and says he will be Young's tag partner tonight. Oh great....Shark Boy is in the house.....I.....am.....excited....
Match #2: Douglas Williams vs Mark Haskins
Before this match started, Williams cut a promo sending Magnus and Rob Terry to the back since he has this one. He basically cut a heelish style promo against the kid in saying how he is experienced and this kid can't impress others from out of his country. Your probably asking at this moment who the hell is Mark Haskins? Well....guess what? Your not the only one who asked that question. I don't know a lot about this guy, but what I do know is he is a British wrestler who made an impression on TNA during their international tour, so they decided to give him a shot here and see what he can do. I am not sure about this kid. First of all, he looks nothing more than an Edge ripoff. He has the same facial structure as Edge, some facial hair, and long hair. All that was missing was him wearing the wrestling pants Edge wears, but instead was wearing wrestling tights that look like they belong to Zack Ryder. To add to this insanity, he came out in a fur coat, which is something John Morrison does. This guy is just a WWE wannabe. Damn, TNA is just rentlentlessBourne's video and now we have Stone Cold Steve Austin and Edge ripoffs running around? Anyway, this was a very technical based wrestling match. Williams is very technical while Haskins was just trying to keep up. I was not impressed with Haskins and the audience didn't seem to like him either. He instantly got heat when he botched a spot here and there. It was really bad when he fell down from the top rope and re-tried a Shooting Star Press. He was definitely nervous tonight with these screwups. The finish comes when he missed the SSP and Williams follows up with a rollup victory. If you are a fan of technical based wrestling, or fans of Chris Benoit or Bryan Danielson, then you will love this type of match. I like technical based wrestling in small segments and not shoved in your face all the time. Then again, technical/submission style wrestling is becoming more of an lost art in pro wrestling, but I do enjoy seeing technical wrestling from time to time. This matchup did nothing to established Haskins, but you can also argue when he slipped off the top rope, he pretty much lost his chance to get people talking about him.
Winner via pinfall: Douglas Williams
Match #3: Generation Me vs Eric Young and Shark Boy
This pretty much came the closet to a bathroom break match you would get for the evening. There was an Austin Aries interview. I kinda like this guy since he can actually cut a promo and shows more personality than 90% of the X Division. Still, I think the reason I have a hard time taking this guy seriously is because he looks like Jamie Noble. As much as I rag on Young for being unfunny, he can still bring it in a wrestling ring. He was really agile and quick tonight, and that is something considering his competition was the Young Bucks. Not a great match, but watching Young perform in the ring was pretty amusing at times and you might want to see it for just something mindless. The finish comes when Young hits a Wheelbarrow Neckbreaker on one of the Bucks for the clean win. The match served no importance to the show or future events, but at least it was ok in terms of filler matches.
Winner via pinfall: Eric Young and Shark Boy
Match #4: Alex Shelley vs Robbie E vs Shannon Moore vs Amazing Red in a Ultimate X Match; winner is the #1 Contender to the X Division Title
A Zema Xion interview in which he said generic stuff. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of Ultimate X. It just seems like there are too many times where a screwup happens and having the guys compete for a stupid "X" is kinda silly. They should call this the Ultimate Pirate Showdown since they are both chasing the x. Plus, it seems like this kind of match only works for highflyers and I am not the biggest fan of highflyers these days. I still like some highflyers, but most of these guys are just spot monkeys and don't really give me a reason to pay attention to them. Red is the biggest example of this because he is so boring outside of his in ring ability. Even his ring attire, haircut, and entrance music are just lame. Anyway, I have seen better Ultimate X matches, but this one was ok. I will admit that Red stood out in this matchup, proving if you need a spot monkey in TNA, he's your guy. The finish comes when Shannon Moore climbs to the highest point of the steel pillers (wrestling logic: no reason for him to do this and it would have made winning the match easier on himself, but he is an attention whore so he goes the extra mile for a high spot), Red is climbing the ropes like Peter Griffin's Spiderman, and Shelley finally shakes off Cookie's leg humping to make his way to the X. Robbie E was a none factor at this point and he pretty much didn't belong here. His in ring style is totally not appropriate with the X Division because he is no highflyer nor a technical wrestler. Anyway, Shelley fights off the other two guys and wins the matchup. I said in my Dest X picks that he was the only one worthy enough to actually win this match since Robbie is a failed experiment, Red is a jobber, and Moore is just an idiot. They made the right choice tonight.
Winner and NEW #1 Contender to the X Title: Alex Shelley
Match #5: Jerry Lynn vs RVD
A Low Ki interview which reminded me of something he said when he was playing Kaval in WWE. Anyway, even though both guys have clearly lost a step due to age, both guys can still put forth a pretty good match. The reason I liked this matchup is because it kinda told a story. The crowd was split between Lynn and RVD. There was also moments where Lynn was getting frustrated with RVD because he couldn't keep him down. Lynn actually brought a chair into the matchup. RVD got busted open when he landed on the chair with a Lynn legdrop. This was a real blood spot because the blood showed up as soon as RVD's skull got out of the chair. Lynn continues to do everything possible to keep RVD down, but it doesn't work. He tries for one more chair shot, but he misses and RVD hits the Van Terminator. He would hit the Frogsplash and score the win. I liked this matchup because the story being told was Lynn trying to get the win over RVD, but fell a little short tonight. Both guys are up there in age and trying to do everything to take down the other one, so there was a story in all of this. The blood spot wasn't really planned, but I thought it was a nice touch for this match. Sometimes, a screwup can work out in your favor. Not a bad matchup and if you are a fan of the original ECW, you might get a trip with this match.
Winner via pinfall: RVD
Match #6: Austin Aries vs Low Ki vs Zema Xion vs Jack Evans; winner gets a contract with TNA
Evans cut a promo before the match and quoted Eninem. I immediately have no hope for this guy since he is quoting a sh**** and overrated music artist. In fact, calling him a music artist is an insult to actual musical artist. Anyway, this match was.....completely insane. There was a ton of high spots in this match. So much that it was hard to keep track what was going on half the time. Still, I would say this was the best match of the night. If you are big on highflying/fast paced action, this was the matchup for you. The finish comes when Low Ki got the knees up on Evan's 630 Splash. Aries gets in there and hits the Brainbuster on Ki for the win. I think the audience was right about this matchup, since they chanted "sign them all". When I made my picks, I said Low Ki was the best choice, but I completely forgot about Aries and everything he brings to the table (I know, shame on me and I apologize). Austin does have a lot of tools to make himself a bigger star and he could actually go further than the X Division, but I feel that TNA will keep him in that division for the rest of his career. Still, the best person for the part won the match, so it will be interesting to see how he will be used on the show.
Winner via pinfall: Austin Aries
Match #7: Abyss vs Brian Kendrick for the X Division Title
This was the matchup that had the biggest storyline for this entire PPV, but also had some weak buildup for the past month. If TNA would have built this matchup for the past month, it would have had a greater impact and left more of an impression, at least in my opinion. The weakest match of the night, but it was expected and the only reason I was invested into this matchup was because of the storyline. Like I said about the PPV in a past review, the reason I couldn't get overly excitied about this PPV is because most of the matchups didn't really serve much of an importance for future or current storylines in TNA and the whole showing felt like a filler/tribute show for the X Division. During the match, Abyss was destroying Kendrick since there is no way a small guy like Kendrick can take down a big guy like Abyss. A ref bump happens, so that brings out Eric Bischoff. He is yelling at Kendrick to go to the back, but he greets him with a Stoner Punch and KOs Bischoff (Show me your moves). The rest of Immortal come out and try to attack Kendrick, but a few X Division guys show up and try to help out, but they go down. A second wave of X Division guys show up and they clearly have the numbers game and can deal with Immortal. During all of this madness, Kendrick pulls off a rollup for the win. I didn't like the pinfall attempt here because if you look at the tape, Abyss's shoulders weren't even down and clearly the ref had a bad look at the whole thing. Kendrick winning the title doesn't really add anything to Kendrick's character because he has been made to look weak this entire rivalry with Abyss and is being booked as the luckiest guy in the world. He doesn't come out of this looking any stronger and instead looks weaker. What was odd was the confetti drop when Kendrick won the title. Even though this was one of the weaker matchups, it had the biggest storyline compared to the other matches on the card and thus THIS match should have been the true main event because it would have meant a lot if the show closed with the confetti dropping and the X Division stars all celebrating in the ring, but they took a different route instead. After the match, Bully Ray is yelling at Abyss for losing and Abyss pushes him down and walks out. I am kinda glad he just pushed him and not just punch him so we get the development for Abyss leaving Immortal and maybe turning face. If he would have punched him, they would have rushed it all too fast, so at least TNA is taking their time with this one....for now. I am personally more of a fan of Abyss has a heel than a face (and I am not even an Abyss fan to begin with), but it might be interesting to see how he changes now that the seeds have been planted.
Winner via pinfall and NEW X Division Champion: Brian Kendrick
Match #8: AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels
TNA was really going overboard in trying to bill this up as the ultimate feud in TNA. Throughout the night, they were showing clips of Styles and Daniels' accomplishments. I think it was overkill and I think TNA didn't do a good enough job to build up this match. The match is about what I expected. It started off slow, but it did pick up and it was a pretty good match. It wasn't as good as some of the previous Styles/Daniels matches, but this was an ok edition to the rivalry. The audience here was getting really annoying with the whole "AJ Styles/Daniels" chants. I know that is common in pro wrestling, but this went on for almost five minutes and made me want to break something. Some people might have made this their match of the night, but I still think the contract match was the better matchup. There was a good balance between technical and highflying wrestling. Styles hit Styles Clash, but a two count. Daniels hit Angel's Wings, but still a two count. Finally, the finish comes when Daniels fails to hit the Angel's Wings from the top rope and falls to the mat (D'oh I missed). Styles hits the Spiral Tap for the win. After the match, Daniels shows frustration and didn't want to shake Styles' hand, but since heel Daniels has been done to death, he shakes his hand and the show closes out with Styles celebrating in the ring. One of my problems with making this matchup the main event was it wouldn't really do much in terms of storylines or do anything to create a new storyline. It's like; yeah, the two can put on a decent match, but what now? I still say a different match should have closed out the show, but I will agree that the show ended on a positive note. So, it could have been worse.
Winner via pinfall: AJ Styles
Overall Impression:
The PPV is about what I expected. I expected this to be TNA's best PPV of the year since they were going with an X Division theme, and it was. However, this PPV doesn't really do much for future storylines on this show. What did Styles/Daniels match accomplish? Nothing really. How about RVD/Lynn? Again, nothing for the long run. So, I guess after tonight we know the X Division got their title back and Shelley is going to be challenging for it next. It doesn't sound like a bad idea, but based on the way TNA built up tonight's X Division title match, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole match is put together in a video package and we have no real confrontation between Kendrick and Shelley leading up to the title match. Aries gets a contract with the company, which can be a positive move. Aries has a lot of tools that work in the pro wrestling world and he can be big in this company, but something tells me TNA is going to hold him back and keep him in the X Division and I think he can at least be a midcard player in TNA because the guy actually has charisma and can cut a promo. It is kinda odd that the tribute/filler PPV is the best PPV TNA has had to offer all year long. Heck, this was better than any of their PPVs in 2010. Still, while it did a great job paying tribute to the X Division, chances are TNA won't really build upon this and the X Division will become an after thought once more. They will probably get featured a little more often, but like I have said many times, the X Division doesn't get the ratings up and it doesn't get casual fans invested in the product. In fact, you show this PPV to hardcore casual fans and they will probably tell you they are bored with it. I would like to see the X Division get featured on a weekly basis and actually offer a storyline for the title, but I don't want it to be the main focal point of the show and the main storyline should always be with the bigger guys or the world title. If they just give the X Division that much, then things will be ok with the division itself, but this idea that the X Division needs to be the prime focus of TNA is just ridiculous. Again, casual people are more interested in Immortal and Anderson then anything the X Division will offer any day of the week. Still, I shouldn't be this harsh on TNA because they actually got their s*** together and delivered a pretty damn good PPV. If I were to grade this PPV on a scale of 1-10 and 5 being average, I would give this a 7 out of 10. Remember, I don't do decimal points and I would consider this a pretty good PPV. The crowd was very invested into the action, but this was also performed in front of the Impact Zone and they really need to broadcast these events somewhere else because it would have been interesting to see how well this PPV would have been responded by a different audience. This is a PPV that you would consider getting on DVD when it is available since I can see the replay value for this one actually being worth something. So far, this is actually a candidate for PPV of the year, but so far, only WWE's Extreme Rules I felt was a better overall PPV, at least as of right now. If you like cruiserweight, lightweight, highflying, technical wrestling, then this is the PPV for you because it delivers in all of those categories. Still, I have to take off points because it doesn't really do much for TNA's current product or add to future events and storylines. There is a chance that this PPV CAN be the event that changes the company, but at the moment, I don't see that being the case. That is going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. See....I am NOT completely against TNA and do address when the company does something GOOD. Still, I expect to still get complaints from the TNA marks out there, but whatever. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and tonight's show. You can also find me on blogger/blogspot by searching the WrestlingNerd show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time and.....that's STILL was the dumbest thing I've ever heard....
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