TNA Destination X 2005

AMERICA’S MOST WANTED, B.G. JAMES, & KONNAN vs. TEAM CANADA (w/Scott D’Amore & Johnny Devine) - 4.75/10

Good pre-match stuff between AMW and James & Konnan. Good comedy spot from Storm and EY. Good selling from Harris. Not otherwise impressive, though.

JOHNNY FAIRPLAY TRIES TO GET A JOB WITH DUSTY RHODES - Darn. I thought we were done with this crap.

CHRIS SABIN vs. CHASE STEVENS (w/Andy Douglas & Chris Candido) - 4.75/10

Decent aftermath

BULLROPE MATCH:
Dustin Rhodes vs. Raven - 5.5/10

THE WINNING MANAGER GETS TO BE DUSTY RHODES’ PERSONAL ASSISTANT:
Phi Delta Slam (w/Trinity) vs. The Disciples of Destruction (w/Traci Brooks)- 4/10

Traci’s team was getting the babyface pops. They shouldn’t have been the ones cheating.

JOHNNY FAIRPLAY, AMW, & DUSTIN RHODES SEGMENT - Waste of time

�"THE ALPHA MALE” MONTY BROWN vs. TRYTAN- DUD!

They brawl for a bit, then, when Monty goes for the POUNCE, the lights go out. When they go back on, Trytan has disappeared and a masked man is in the ring assaulting Monty. Rather than call for a DQ, the ref does nothing. Monty soon destroys this masked man with a POUNCE, and goes to pin him, and the ref counts the pin… despite the fact that the man being pinned… WASN’T PART OF THE MATCH!

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH:
Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss- 7/10

A lot of good weapon use, but I really didn’t like the lack of use of the stip. They did one outside spot in the beginning, then they came back to the ring and just ignored the Falls Count Anywhere stip.

Knowing where both guys went after this, I don’t see the point of the aftermath. Both guys are moving on to different feuds, so why not just have Jeff get the win here and have that be the end of the feud?

FIRST BLOOD MATCH:
Kip James vs. Kevin Nash- 5.25/10

Decent aside from the spot where the ref had no problem with Kip James using weapons but immediately stopped Nash when he tried to hit James with a chair (and even let James use the chair less than a minute later). I can understand why some people might not enjoy the finish, but much like Roode and Storm from Lockdown 2012, a few minutes later (once Nash powerbombed Kip after the match ) it clicked with me that what I was feeling was the right kind of heat.

ULTIMATE X CHALLENGE MATCH FOR THE TNA X-DIVISION TITLE:
AJ Styles(c) vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Ron Killings vs. Elix Skipper- 7.5/10

The format of this match was first a tag match (AJ & Skipper vs. Daniels & Truth) in which the guy who lost the fall would be eliminated. Then there would be a Triple Threat match in which the guy who lost the fall would be eliminated, and then the final two would have an Ultimate X match for the X-Division Title.

They told a great story here with Daniels and Skipper working together at times, despite being on opposite teams (although that was only because they weren’t allowed to team together as per the stips of the blow-off between Triple X and AMW), and then that relationship breaking down during the next portion of the match.

The one thing about this match that I disliked was the finish. It wasn’t bad on its own, but here it is basically the Ultimate X/Ladder match version of the same finish as we got for the last match, (minus the interference).

RINGSIDE REVENGE MATCH FOR THE NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
Jeff Jarrett(c) vs. �"Diamond” Dallas Page - -4/10! (yes, that is negative four)

This was essentially a Lumberjack match in which the lumberjacks weren’t allowed to get physically involved. Originally it was only supposed to be guys appointed by Dusty who had been wronged by Jeff Jarrett in the past, but Jarrett’s lawyer was able to force Dusty to let Jarrett to have guys at ringside, too. The babyfaces have the 3Live Kru, Monty Brown, and Larry Zbyszko… while Jarrett only has the Naturals and Chris Candido. Shouldn’t the lawyer have been able to at least get things even? And even if he wasn’t, there seem to be some MAJOR names missing here on both sides. Where is Kevin Nash, who had been feuding with Jarrett and was screwed out of a win by Jarrett less than an hour ago? Where is Jeff Hardy? Where is Jarrett’s trusted ally Kip James? Where was DDP’s long-time enemy Raven (especially if Raven and Hardy are about to start feuding, why not do something to start that feud here)?

Then the match actually started, and the little logic remaining went right out the window. First they were on the outside for WAY too long, and the referee didn’t even START counting. Then DDP hit Jarrett with a trash can and the ref does nothing. So in a match where the STATED PURPOSE of the guys at ringside is to stop the heel from cheating… the babyface is allowed to cheat? What kind of stupidity is that? (for a moronic attempt at rationalizing this, see the stupid announcer quotes) Jarrett would later use a low blow as well as a chair right in front of the referee, making the Definitely-Not-Lumberjacks entirely useless.

The stupidity then continued as the only time the referee yelled at anyone for anything was when one of the Naturals grabbed DDP when he hit the ropes. At that point the babyface not-lumberjacks started to brawl with the heel ones… whom they outnumbered, making this not a very interesting fight. Then Kip James managed to sneak down to the ring and give Jeff Jarrett a guitar IN FULL VIEW OF THE REFEREE, WHO DID NOTHING TO STOP IT! Jarrett got set to hit DDP with the guitar, but BJ James and Konnan made the save, attacking Jeff Jarrett in the process (doing the one thing they were absolutely not allowed to do) right in front of the referee WHO HAD JUST YELLED AT THE HEELS FOR A MUCH LESS SIGNIFICANT INTERFERENCE... so of course, the referee does nothing. Jarrett ducks BG’s El Kabong, which accidentally hits Konnan. This buys Jarrett some time to go to the top rope, but also bought DDP the time to recover enough to see Jarrett going to the top rope… so the babyface DDP shoves the ref into the turnbuckle, knocking Jarrett off balance. Then Kip James comes back and gives DDP a Fame-asser… while the referee was down, of course. If he had done it while the referee was up, Jarrett surely would have been disqualified. You know, because of how well the rules have been enforced here. And even if there was a DQ, Jarrett would still retain the title, which is exactly what he and Kip want, so why did Kip care if Jeff got DQed or not?

Anyway, the ref recovers just in time to count for a nearfall, but then starts selling again as soon as X-Pac shows up to start fighting off Jarrett and Kip. Then the Naturals and Chris Candido get into the ring and start attacking DDP right in front of the referee, who, naturally… does nothing. So grabbing DDP’s leg on the outside was an offense that warranted getting yelled at, but there are no repercussions at all for running into the ring and attacking him? The match ended when Monty Brown turned heel, hitting DDP with a POUNCE (once again, right in front of the referee, for which there was no DQ) leaving his feud with Trytan entirely unresolved.

A good way to think of this main event would be Bret Hart vs. Diesel from Royal Rumble 1995, except with a bad story rather than an awesome one and blatant interference or cheating being the entirety of the match, rather than only being important turning points. There was enough great wrestling in that match that I still gave it an 8.75 (and probably would have given it a 9.5 or so if they had ref bumps covering up the interferences). In this match, on the other hand, the only thing saving this from being rated even lower than -4 was that the crowd was super-into DDP and that there was one good nearfall.

Final Thoughts
This was the first TNA monthly PPV that wasn’t good, and boy was this bad. This show had some good stuff (Jeff vs. Abyss and the X-Division Title match), but the rest of the card was crappy, including one dud and the atrocious main event. They didn’t even have the �"we’re building to Lockdown” excuse to use, either, because they really weren’t. Do not buy this show. I spent four dollars to get it on ebay, and I am suffering from buyer’s remorse for just that measly about of money.

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:

1. Don West (after DDP has just hit Jarrett with a trash can and Tenay suggests that the ref is giving them �"a little leeway”) �"Who’s gonna stop them?”-
Gee, Don. I don’t maybe. How about the referee? You know… THE GUY WHOSE JOB IT IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE CHEATS AND TO PUNISH THEM IF THEY DO?

2. Tenay (in response to DW’s comment) �"there’s too much at stake”-
Well, by that logic, what has been the problem with Jarrett cheating to retain the title all of these times? And why are the Definitely-Not-Lumberjacks out here at all?