Friday, June 3, 2016

TNA Destination X 2010 Review

Match 1: Ladder - Brian Kendrick vs. Amazing Red vs. Daniels vs. Kazarian
Always a sucker for Ladder matches, especially when these guys are involved. I'm digging the story of Kazarian making his return to the company in order to bring some prestige to the X Division. You get what you would expect here, lots of cool dives and innovative spots from all four guys who practically put their lives on the line for a contract to become the #1 contender for the X Division Championship. Kazarian is able to backdrop Daniels off a ladder before knocking down Brian Kendrick to grab the contract. Nice finish to a cool match. Hate to be the guy that mentions this since there's probably going to be more of it later, but I just found it funny how nobody sold anything throughout the match. Felt like spot after spot after spot. Still lots of fun and no knock on the performers at all.
Winner: Kazarian
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Knockouts Championship - Tara (c) vs. Daffney
Tara's whole obsession with her spider is a bit creepy. Tara defends her strap against the even weirder Daffney in the second contest of the night. Just a whatever match that saw Tara pick up the win with a sweet Widow's Peak. Tara looks to celebrate with her tarantula before seeing Daffney holding it and licking the case that holds it. Tara then chased her off. So weird. What the hell am I watching?
Winner: Tara
Rating: *1/4

Match 3: Global Championship - Rob Terry (c) vs. Magnus
This was basically a squash match with Rob Terry beating Magnus in a couple minutes. It's unfortunate because Magnus is a damn fine wrestler and cut a pretty good promo before this. They were tag partners for a good while before this, could they not at least give Magnus some offense in? I get that they want to have these guys on the card, but damn. This felt like a slap in the face to the viewers.
Winner: Rob Terry
Rating: 1/4*

Match 4: Ultimate X - Generation Me vs. The Motor City Machine Guns
These two tag teams in a match is crazy enough as it is. Tossing them in an Ultimate X match only adds to the craziness. Crazy spots and more crazy spots would be the best way to describe this match. Taz mentioned that it felt like he was playing Xbox. Just watching these four guys climb the damn structure and fight over the stupid X is just a wonder to watch. So many dangerous spots just piled up in the time they were given. Mich like the Ladder match earlier, there wasn't much selling. Just spot after spot after spot. Finally, Chris Sabin is able to knock down Jeremy Buck on the top of the thing to secure the X and secure a chance for him and Alex Shelley to win the TNA World Tag Team Championships. A fun and reckless match that probably could and should have gone later in the card since we just saw the Ladder match.
Winners: The Motor City Machine Guns
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: Scott Hall & Syxx-Pac vs. Kevin Nash & Eric Young
So if Scott Hall & Syxx-Pac win this match, then they score big contracts. They awkwardly come down to the ring without any music before cutting a 1990 promo. You can almost hear the audience cringe for this. Hall & Pac look to take advantage of a distracted referee as they spray paint Eric Young's face. The referee must be the biggest idiot in the world as he watches both Hall & Pac punch Young in the face with paint on his face. Kevin Nash steps in and turns on Young before Hall hits a sorry Razor's Edge for the win. Pac then spray paints around Young's unconscious body. The Band then celebrate like old men as their lame music plays. This isn't TNA anymore, this is WCW 2.0.
Winners: Scott Hall & Syxx-Pac
Rating: 1/4*

Match 6: X Division Championship - Doug Williams (c) vs. Shannon Moore
Why exactly does Shannon Moore score the title shot over all the other guys in the Ladder match earlier? Why does he get a title shot so easily when the other four guys had to beat the crap out of each other for a shot? Quick match here that saw Doug Williams retain the title after hitting Moore with a brick. Yes, a brick. Moore was busted up afterwards as Williams made quick work of the newcomer. Who books this stuff?
Winner: Doug Williams
Rating: *1/4

Match 7: World Tag Team Championships - Matt Morgan & Hernandez (c) vs. Beer Money, Inc.
The tension between Matt Morgan & Hernandez started at the last PPV and escalates here where Hernandez challenged Beer Money, Inc. to a match for the belts here. The dying cohesion between Morgan & Hernandez is fantastic. Morgan makes such a smug heel. His frustration with Hernandez led him to constantly yelling, tagging himself in, blocking Hernandez from diving out of the ring and  tossing Hernandez back into the ring when Hernandez finally dove. Morgan makes such a great heel. Through all that, Hernandez scored the win for his team when he finished off James Storm before Morgan was inadvertently spit in the face with beer. After, Morgan lands a Carbon Footprint on Hernandez and poses with both belts. Decent match but the thought of Beer Money actually competing here felt like a distant thought. I love the story between Morgan & Hernandez but not at the expense of Beer Money.
Winners: Matt Morgan & Hernandez
Rating: **

Match 8: Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle
I fucking loved this feud. You have the smug heel in Mr. Anderson going up against the prideful and focused Kurt Angle. The match they had at Against All Odds was a bloody mess that saw Anderson carve Angle up with the warrior's medal. The promos leading up to this were nothing short of spectacular and that includes Angle's promo earlier in the night where he lit a picture of Anderson on fire. You tend to forget how good Anderson is, especially on the mic. If you haven't seen the promos he cut before this match, go ahead and search them up. With that being said, they had a solid match here that saw Anderson work on Angle's arm throughout the match as Angle sold the assault beautifully. The dude is just a legend at psychology of the sport. I'm not a fan of referee bumps but it definitely worked here. After Angle accidentally knocked out the referee with a clothesline, Anderson hit an Olympic Slam and brought out a steel chair. However, Anderson throws out the chair and takes the warrior's medal. Angle turns the tides as he suplexes Anderson before slicing open Anderson with the medal! Anderson is a bloody mess this time as he taps out to the Ankle Lock! Anderson calls for the mic after the match and cuts a sweet promo on Angle. This match gets so overlooked. The psychology of it all was just a beauty to watch. The warrior's medal being brought into play made things so much more exciting as the blood brought things up a notch. The promo after the match with the camera focusing on Angle's stoic face was something else. Angle was able to avenge his loss in spectacular fashion, but things weren't even close to being finished.
Winner: Kurt Angle
Rating: ****1/4

Match 9: TNA World Heavyweight Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Abyss
Ric Flair accompanies AJ Styles in a wheelchair after Abyss Chokeslammed him through the ramp on an episode of Impact. Crazy to think that Abyss was Hulk Hogan's top guy at the time. To nobody's surprise, this was a really odd main event. Styles can't drop the title and Abyss can't afford to take the loss. This can't be good. The action itself was good and really shows off just how good Abyss is in the ring without the thumbtacks and such. Styles has good chemistry with just about everybody and really knows how to work with a big guy like Abyss. He was able to maximize his athleticism in order to counter the strength of Abyss. Everything was going fine until Ric Flair sprayed the referee with mace. You just had the feeling throughout the match that some sort of fishy ending was going to go down. Hulk Hogan then came out where he pushed Flair away as Abyss then Chokeslammed Styles through the ring as the new referee in Earl Hebner called for the bell. Thus, nobody knows who wins the match. Hogan then hands Abyss the title. I am so confused. Flair runs down to the ring and gets sprayed with the mace. Desmond Wolfe comes out and also gets sprayed for his troubles. Wolfe falls into the hole with Styles as Flair then followed suit after. Nothing makes sense. It was almost like I was watching a bad circus show.
Winner: n/a
Rating: ***1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This is a really hard PPV to score. On one hand, you got the Ladder match, the Ultimate X match and the Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle match that all delivered. On the other hand, we got some really crap matches that included a main event with the lamest finish I have ever seen in my life. If anything, check out the matches that did give the show a spark and ignore the rest. But definitely don't dismiss the Anderson vs. Angle match because it's a crucial point in their amazing 2010 feud.
Rating: 5.75/10

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