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After Destination X was over, I thought that it was a solid PPV. I totally agree with Buck Woodward's commentary on it on pwinsiderelite, and have the same opinions as him. Yes, there were many gimmick matches and bad finishes, but I felt that there was also a lot of in-ring action. I felt that Angle-Steiner could have been better, VKM-Heartbreakers was not good, and Sting-Abyss was too gimmicky and cheesy. Joe-Christian was fantastic and had so many near finishes making you believe that Joe was going to win the title. Hopefully, Joe will chase Christian for the belt. I really liked Sabin-Lynn and wonder what was going on in the crowd. The match itself though was a solid match but had a bad finish. Team 3D-LAX had some great action, and while I know that many people hated the run-ins especially how stereotyped the people were, I was entertained by it because it's a brawl and I wanted to see action and I got it. Sting-Abyss had one or two good spots, especially the candle shot making Sting bleed like no other, and I really found it interesting that the crowd chanted "Fire Russo." Other than that the match was okay at best but too cheesy. While I doubt that management would fire Russo because of that chant, hopefully it opened someone's eyes and if those chants at least lessen the Russo influence then all the better. Elevation X had me entertained; AJ and Rhyno did more than I expected yet the fall wasn't so horrific. All in all, I thought that Destination X was solid with some noticeable mistakes yet better than their last two PPVs, but with a company that is just nearing the five year mark and still a very young company, it is better that they make these mistakes now than when/if they become big.
Chris
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I honest to God feel that Vince Russo is still working for Mr. McMahon and the WWE............all the dumb gimmicks and stupid booking is so WCW in its dying days.............brought to us by the same horrible booker, Mr. Russo.........................the wrestlers do their best to rise above the stupidity but sometimes they just don't come to the surface.................the Main event shined bright tonight because it allowed two talented wrestlers to tell a story in the ring............the rest is Russo-riffic crap........why do Billy Gunn and Arachnaman's brother get on PPV anyhow ??...........AJ and Rhino needed a gimmick like that stupid scaffold to have a good match???............same with the chicken wing crap with Senshi- Low-Ki and Austin Idol ??.............and the street fight??.............and the not even worth mentioning casket - Sting- Abyss- Crap-fest ????....................take off the blinders Jarrett and see what's going on here..............Vince might be your friend , but invite him over for summer BBQ's , don't let him book your wrestling shows anymore.....................no more money for you TNA.........until you change your ways.........I'm with Lance Storm on this one................................
Jeff Riddell
Thunder Bay ON Canada
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two highlights for me:
aj's facial expression when getting out the powder
fire russo chant
hopefully TNA heard this chant and realize having 80% of the matches on the cards filled with gimmicks. the first match was going along good until 200 people came in and fumbled around to ruin it. the finish of the joe cage match was great.
huntsville ontario
Craig
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I haven't watched a TNA pay per view in quite awhile and this show reminded me why. I used to love TNA and watch it regularly, even the weekly pay per views. Tonight's show made me wonder what I ever saw in TNA. At a time when WWE is firing at all cylinders, this is the alternative?
First, way to many gimmick matches. We had the equivalent of a No-DQ match, a bullrope match, a weird version of the casket match, a submission match and the scaffold match. The Hemme surprise was terrible, the match was terrible, and I don't know who's supposed to be the heel.
Here's an idea, give me some wrestling? The best match was Joe vs. Christian because they went out and wrestled, it wasn't too overbooked, and the finish was excellent. Kudos to those two who pretty much saved me from feeling like I'd just wasted three hours.
The scaffold match was what I would expect from one. While AJ hiding was cool, there weren't a lot of tense moments, and the fall was anti-climactic. I give AJ credit for taking the bump but it didn't look any scarier then some of the Ultimate X spots.
And Scott Steiner gingerly sitting on Kurt Angle's chest before getting rolled up for the finish - what an embarrassment.
While at least the pay per view didn't feel to Russofied other then the abundance of gimmicks, I still walked out disappointed. This is a company that has so many great talents, yet this is the show they put on. I came home and put on an ROH DVD to try and cleanse myself.
Jason Clevett
Calgary, Alberta
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Just horrible. How can this company have so much talent and just squander it.
Samoa Joe should have won the belt. Period.
It really was a "bunch of crap." (Thank you Don West).
Almost every match had some stupid swerve to it.
Vince Russo is riding high in the saddle (and somebody needs to push him off the horse).
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Russo needs to be let go. There has been a noticeable change in TNA since the arrival of Vince Russo, and not for the better. The Destination X PPV was no different. Some matches went too long while others seemed to be too short. The Ghetto Brawl was a fine street fight that most of the fans seemed to be into. However, this was one of the matches that was given too much time. The run-ins with the rival gangs does nothing but clutter the match with people that the fans don't know or care about, and was only done to get the Brother Ray dive spot, which I have too admit is something new that the fans seemed to be into. The Backlund Invitational match was a solid match that was interesting to watch see the creative ways to apply the cross-face chicken wing. The bull-rope match was another match that seemed to be longer than needed, and many of the fans seemed to lose interest long before it was over. The only things to look forward to were the Canadian Destroyer, which Petey didn't hit, and for the Wildcat to show up to get revenge, he didn't. The build has been on for weeks with Harris attacking Storm every chance he could with Storm always getting away. Here was a perfect chance since the Cowboy was tied to Williams, and Chris was nowhere to be seen. The tag match with Hemme's surprise team was a complete waste of time and would have been better on the pre-game show. Also, with all the tag teams that are available, notably the Bashams, the Shane twins, and the Briscoes (when do we get to see them on national TV), along with any combination of individuals, why do we get the Heartbreakers? The fans hated them and hope they were just used to set up the arrival of someone better. The X-Division title match was solid but short. Time definitely could have been taken from the first three matches to let this one go a little bit longer. It did do a good job however of reintroducing Christopher Daniels and showing that he wants the belt back. Elevation X was a good scaffold match that the fans were into. Both men were luck not get injured. Scott Steiner is nowhere near the athlete he once was, and his lack of mobility at times hurt the match. I think some of the fans hoped for a better bout, but at this point, this is best your going to get out of Scott even if he is in there with Angle. In addition, I don't think the outcome was ever in doubt. Steiner is big, impressive, and brings a lot of credentials, but it is understood that he is there to put over the real main eventers of the company (Sting, Joe, Angle). They finally jumped the shark with the Deathbed Match. It was bad enough that it was an over-produced casket match, but with all the candles and tombstones, the entire thing looked real hokey. I was hoping Vampiro would come out of the casket to cost Sting the match. That didn't happen, but by the same token, the casket didn't explode, so I guess that is a small plus. The match itself was good enough to distract the fans from the "atmosphere" and how much they dislike Russo. I just wish once in a while Abyss could get a win at a PPV. Finally, the match of the show. The entrance for Joe really added to the big match feel and gave the impression that this was Joe's night. While I would have loved to see Joe win the belt, I was OK with the finish because Christian had to cheat to win and sold how tough the match was and how lucky he is to still have the belt. It was also a nice touch for Don and Mike to both voice there displeasure on two different occasion with the ref's count. Noting that had the ref been in position or given a good count, Joe would be the champ. It will be interesting to see what happens now that TNA will be parting ways with the NWA, and to see how they handle the belt changes. In conclusion, this was not one of the better TNA PPVs, but did have some cool spots and an excellent main event match. However, someone needs to control Russo. The card consisted of 9 matches, 6 of which were gimmicks. If TNA wants to come across as the wrestling alternative, they need to cut back on the gimmicks and stick to the wrestling. One or two non-tradition matches might be OK (except for Lockdown where at least all of the matches have the same gimmick), but when 2/3 of the card are gimmicks, the company comes off looking like they cannot create compelling storylines so they have to rely on smoke and mirrors. TNA is looking more and more like late WCW, or worse, an indy promotion. If ROH had national exposure, they would be a solid number 2. The have excellent ringwork, and the storylines are straightforward, not ridiculous. TNA is caught between professional wrestling and sports entertainment, and struggling at both. If they don't stick to the former to try to set themselves apart, fan interest will fade, and more talent will be without work.
Jarrod Fanelli
Plains, PA
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NEGATIVES: The concept of The Last Rites match...what looked like to me a botched Angle/Steiner finish, thought maybe they were rushing it due to a possible neck injury to Angle from Steiner's Olympic Slam...Elevation X, not long enough match, not enough room on walkways, Rhino winning didn't make sense, now it looks as if any Elevation X in the future, it'll involve Rhino, ala Jarrett with King Of The Mountain matches...POSITIVES: No Elevation X death like injuries...Angle looking ok after scary bump from Steiner...Lynn/Sabin match, but should've been Ultimate X, great match, loved Lynn's leap into crowd, reminded me of his feud with RVD in ECW, amazing...Joe winning would've been neat, but Christian's pin finish was brilliant in a heel way...NO INTERFERENCE in main event was great, if there was, it would've reminded me the Jarrett era of matches with endless interferences...PPV GRADE: B...
Nathan
St Louis,MO
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I'm sure some people will have more in depth comments, so I'll just hit what stood out to me:
*Why was LAX-3D announced as non title if LAX was going over? That's an old school WCW move.
*Where was Chris Harris to get his revenge? I'd think the guy that belted me with a bottle and blinded me being roped to someone else would be a perfect time to attack and beat the hell out of said guy. And who can wait for the inevitable beer bottle on a pole match, or blindfold match. Yeah, so can I.
*I liked Starr-Senshi, can't think of anything that stood out, other than the build for a Starr-Backlund match.
*How the hell did Christy Hemme become the heel? And why did she verbally attack the guy who, up until that point, was trying to be the peacemaker? Did Russo really want to dig up the King Of The Ring 1999 low blow spot with Christy playing the role of Chyna, and Kip playing the part of BG Dogg? And most important.....Who brought this ridiculous angle back to life? At least there was no Fat Naked Oily Tiny.
*Although the match was pretty good, I can go the rest of my life and never see Jerry Lynn dance again. Poor guy looked like he was having a seizure. The fake out springboard into a fist drop attempt from Sabin was pretty funny, just like the fake dive spot where he walks to the apron. And if Chris Daniels wanted to confuse people as to who he was, shouldn't he have worn another mask instead of a Sting mask? Maybe Curry Man?
*Elevation X was not the train wreck I thought it would be. If Rhino's almost falling spot in the beginning was planned in advance, he did a great job in selling how close he came to taking the fall. The ending fall from AJ was pretty impressive, but the flip bump off of Ultimate X that he took at Final Resolution 2005 was still more memorable, and probably the same height.
*I hope it the finish on the Angle-Steiner match was botched, because if it was planned that way, then the crowd was right when they crapped on it. And considering the way Angle has been portrayed as being intense to the point of insanity, isn't it any wonder that his entrance music is based on Lunatic Fringe?
*How ridiculous was it that Abyss was selling the "weight" of the tombstones outside the ring, when Sting picks one up with little or no effort. I won't even talk about the baseball bat breaking it with no problem.
*What was the point of Muta being there, to spit green mist and point to his grey hair on his chin?
*Considering the story going around that the NWA thinks they still matter enough to dictate how their title is represented, I did expect Joe to win that match and throw down the belt, or at the least be named TNA Champion. I really expected it when they had the grand entrance for him. To have Christian win......you know, it actually doesn't bother me. Maybe they can build it right for a rematch at Slammiversary, instead of hot shotting it to be at Lockdown.
John Shepherd
West Valley City, Utah
