TNA News 3/12 TNA Destination X PPV HOLT report: Live perspective on entire event
Mar 12, 2006 - 11:28:00 PM
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TNA Destination X PPV
March 12, 2006
Orlando, Fla. at Universal Studios
Report by Alan J. Wojcik of alanwojcik.com, PWTorch.com correspondent
TNA Wrestling presented Destination X on Sunday March 12th. According to the Alex Shelley voyeurism flicks of recent days, Sting AKA Steve Borden will be here to gain revenge on Jeff Jarrett and his cronies. Jarrett countered Borden on last night's Impact broadcast by telling Mike Tenay he had someone from Borden's past who will be here tonight. According to Jarrett this person as NEVER worked in TNA, so that eliminates Rick Steiner, Scott Hall or Kevin Nash from the suspect list. Jeremy Borash hosted the pre-show and handled backstage interviews while David Penzer did the ring thing. Armando Quintero is not doing the Spanish announce duties with Moody Jack Melendez, it is Konnan. Don't worry he will be part of the six man later in the evening.
Before Borash said a word Jeff Jarrett, America's Most Wanted, Team Canada, Alex Shelley Gail Kim and Jackie Gayda hit the ring. Jarrett said he was able to read from Sting's face on the Shelley video that Sting doesn't have the guts to be in Orlando tonight. Jarrett told Shelley and Eric Young that he needed them for a task; they had to go find Sting. Jarrett said if Sting didn't show his face, he would be labeled a quieter and Steve Borden would be labeled a liar. Everyone left Young at ringside and he looked under the ring and proceeded to head to the locker room.
The following matches were part of the pre-show:
(1) "The Prince of Punk" Shannon Moore defeated Cassidy Riley (sporting his new ring gear).
(2) Diamonds in the Rough members "Primetime" Elix Skipper and David Young (w/Simon Diamond) defeated "Big Wiggle" Norman Smiley and Shark Boy.
Between the matches Don West spoke to three members of the St Louis Cardinals about attending the event. Simon Diamond didn't like the Cardinals being in the building and took them to the wood shed for their dropping the ball in the post season. Diamond told the fans he was going to the White Sox training camp to show A.J. Pierzynski and Dale Torborg he was a two sport athlete.
The PPV was opened with David Sahadi's cold opening that was Felliniesque in nature.
(1) Alex Shelley (w/Shelley Cam) defeated Jay Lethal. Great way to open the PPV. Both men went to the mat where Shelley is an artist. Both men ended up in handstands and bitch slapped each other in the face. Lethal took control with chest chops, an armdrag, bodypress and then a tope through the ropes to the floor where Shelley went for safety. Shelley was cut on his chest as Lethal brought the action back to the ring. Shelley recovered from the floor attack and took over on Lethal with more mat wrestling. Lethal fought to his feet but Shelley hit an enzuigiri and back to the mat we went. Lethal fought up a second time but got clotheslined to the mat. Shelley missed a springboard moonsault and both men raced to beat Rudy Charles' ten count. Lethal got a rush of adrenaline and took over on Shelley with a neckbreaker into a suplex for two. Lethal put Shelley on the top rope but Shelley came off with an inverted atomic knee drop, which was met by a Lethal German suplex for two. Lethal hit a suplex and went up top but Shelley met him. Both men jockeyed for position and Shelley fell to the mat and Lethal came off with what looked like a headbutt for two. Shelley recovered and hit what looked like Sliced Bread # 2 for the win.
Mike Tenay and Don West ran down the card for the home audience. Borash spoke to Team Canada about their matches. As the promo played Eric Young, Alex Shelley and Borash were above the ring on the catwalk filming the search for Sting/Steve Borden.
(2) Lance Hoyt defeated "the Maverick" Matt Bentley (w/Traci Brooks) I am wondering if Bentley is Maverick, does that make Brooks Iceman or Slider. For some unknown reason Bentley attacked Hoyt after a tag team match on Xplosion. And for some unknown reason Bentley wore chaps to the ring, possibly to mock the Texan Hoyt. Hoyt and Bentley went at it before the bell. Hoyt backdropped Bentley so high Bentley's feet hit the Ultimate X. brooks tried to tempt Hoyt but it backfired as Bentley got hit upon his return to the ring. Hoyt went for a chokeslam but Bentley escaped only to be hit with a powerslam for two. Anytime Bentley hit Hoyt, Hoyt fired back. Hoyt placed Bentley on the top rope but Brooks distracted the referee so Bentley hit Hoyt in his package. Bentley did his best to keep the near seven foot tall Hoyt on the mat. Hoyt got to his feet and hit the flapjack. Hoyt took over Bentley with power moves, dropping Bentley's package on the top rope. Bentley avoided Hoyt's moonsault but missed the superkick, but hit an STO. Borash, Shelley and Young got on camera during the match. Young dropped "Have You Seen This Man" fliers on the crowd. Brooks and Bentley argued over the flier, which allowed Hoyt to kick Bentley right in the jaw. Hoyt gets the pinfall victory.
Jeremy Borash spoke to Team 3D, Ron "the Truth" Killings and "War Machine" Rhino about their match later on tonight.
(3) Team Canada members "Canadian Enforcer" Bobby Roode and "Showtime" Eric Young (w/A1 & Scott D'amore) defeated The Naturals (Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas). This match was made after Roode and Young cost The Naturals their 3rd/4th NWA World Tag Title reign. Roode jumped Stevens before the bell but Stevens fought back. Douglas and Stevens made tags working over the Canadians until Roode tripped up Douglas, sending Douglas to the mat face first. That opening allowed all four Canadians to beat down Douglas for several minutes. Stevens was powerless as the Canadians cheated several times behind Rudy Charles' back. Douglas fought off defeat several times before tagging out to Stevens. Stevens went to jump to the floor where young went to, but Roode came from behind and sent Stevens crashing to the guard rails. As Young wrestled the fans chanted "We See Sting." Team Canada didn't have better luck trying to pin Stevens as he survived their attack, hitting Young with an enzuigiri that sent Young crashing from the top rope to the floor. Stevens finally tagged out to Douglas and his multiple vampire tattoos. Douglas took over on both Canadians. Stevens and Roode got involved as well. All four men had victory snatched away from them. Young hit Douglas in the head with the hockey stick as he came off the top rope and Roode scored the pin.
Jeremy Borash spoke to "Alpha Male" Monty Brown about his title match with "Captain Charisma" Christian Cage. Larry Zbyszko cut off the interview to tell Brown that the referee would be Earl "you Screwed Bret" Hebner. A video package reminding the fans about the LAX-James Gang feud played.
(4) The James Gang (Kip James, B.G. James and "Bullet" Bob Armstrong) defeated Latin American Exchange (Konnan, Machete and "The Notorious 187" Homicide). Konnan and B.G. James traded insults on the house mic before the match began. B.G. had control until he got caught in the LAX corner. Kip and Bob were powerless as LAX made tag working over B.G. James. B.G. and Homicide hit cross bodyblocks. B.G. tagged out to Kip as Homicide tagged out to Machete. As all four fought on the floor Armstrong and Konnan fought in the ring and then out of it. Konnan was dumped on the announce table. Homicide came back to the ring and went to hit B.G. with a chair but Bob stopped him, sending the chair hit Homicide in the head. This left Machete to be pinned when Kip hit the One and Only.
Borash, Young and Shelley continued the search for Sting backstage. Young wandered into a bathroom where he found a black bat and a bag. They thought they found Sting, but it was A.J. Styles coming out of a stall. Styles said the black bag and bat were in the room when he arrived.
(5) Team TNA's "the Future" Chris Sabin defeated Team New Japan's Puma, Team Canada's Petey Williams (w/A1) and Team India's Sonjay Dutt. Needless to say this was fast and hard hitting. Dutt and Puma began the match and Williams tagged in as Dutt had little success. Puma tagged out to Sabin who faced of with his bitter rival. Both men traded offensive moves but Sabin hit a springboard dropkick. Williams stalled for time and blinded Sabin with a rake of his eyes. When anyone went for a pin the other two broke it up. Dutt, Sabin and Williams tried to keep Puma from tagging out. It was a success of sorts but none of them could pin Puma or get a submission. Puma finally tagged out to Williams who went sing O' Canada on Dutt's crotch but Sabin tagged in. With Dutt still upside down Sabin hit a dropkick to the face. Sabin kept Dutt on the mat but Dutt fought to his feet and took over on Sabin. Puma tagged in to exact some revenge on Sabin. Williams tagged in and got to sing O' Canada on Sabin's package. Williams locked Sabin a straight jacket chinlock but somehow Sabin escaped and all four men took to the sky, landing on each other out on the floor. Puma cut off Dutt with a clothesline. Sabin went to toss Puma through the ropes but Puma caught himself. Sabin went for a spear, Puma moved and Sabin went out to hit Williams. Dutt got revenge and hit all three with a top rope backflip plancha. All four men went for their finishers. Williams went for the Canadian Destroyer but Dutt hit the Cop Killer. Sabin hit Dutt with a spinning sitout power bomb. Williams hit Dutt with the Canadian Destroyer but Sabin hit him with an enzuigiri. Sabin won the exciting match by hitting Puma with the Cradle Shock.
(6) "King of the Mountain" Jeff Jarrett (w/Gail Kim), NWA World Tag Team champions America's Most Wanted ("Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm and "Wildcat" Chris Harris w/Jackie Gayda) and Abyss (w/James Mitchell) defeated Team 3D (Ray and Devon), "War Machine" Rhino and Ron "the Truth" Killings. These eight men have been beating each other up over the last few months; hopefully tonight their issues are settled. For the first time I joined some TNA staffers in booing Jarrett's introduction. All eight men brawled all over the building, into the stands and anywhere else they could go for what seemed like an eternity. I felt like I was back in the Nashville Fairgrounds AKA the Asylum. Finally Devon, Rhino and Storm came back to the ring. Eventually the other participants followed them back and the fighting began again. Team 3D had Storm set for the Doomsday Device but Harris hit Devon in the back with Mitchell's walking stick. All four men took turns beating down Devon. Devon survived and tagged out to Ray. Rhino came in and hit AMW with a GORE to the corner. Jarrett slid into break up the pin attempt. Rhino went to hit Jarrett with the GORE but Gail Kim slid in to stop it. Rhino went to piledrive her but Abyss kicked him in the face. Rhino was beat up for several, and I do mean several, minutes but survived the attack and tagged out to Killings. Killings was a one man wrecking crew, with some help from Team 3D. Jarrett got GORED but Abyss hit Rhino with the Black Hole slam. 3D and Killings hit Jarrett and Kim with Wassup legdrops with help from Gayda. Abyss went to chokeslam Gayda but Devon hit a low blow, then 3D hit Abyss with the 3D. AMW hit Devon with the Death Sentence. AMW thought they handcuffed Killings to the ringpost but Harris ended up cuffed. Killings hit Storm with the Scissor kick but Jarrett broke up the pin. Jarrett went for the Stoke but Killings countered and went for the Scissor kick, but Harris tripped up Killings. Jarrett recovered and hit the Stroke to win.
The Lockdown PPV commercial played. Jarrett grabbed the house mic and taunted Sting/Borden. Jarrett counted to ten trying to force Sting/Borden to the ring. Jarrett got to nine and paused to taunt Sting/Borden some more. Jarrett reached ten and behold, NO STING/STEVE BORDEN. Jarrett declared Sting/Borden a quitter. A recap of the Joe-Daniels-Styles feud played as the TNA staff set up the X title belt. Jeremy Borash spoke to the champion Samoa Joe. Borash compared Joe's streak to Bill Goldberg's WCW run. Joe said it's not about who's next, but about who's left.
(7) In the Ultimate X match for the NWA World X Division championship, "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels won the title when he defeated Samoa Joe and "Phenomenal" A.J. Styles. This was different then the previous Ultimate X matches. This time a 280 pound man was trying to get the title down. I don't know how but this topped all of their previous encounters. To no one's surprise Joe had major difficulty climbing to get the title down. So much trouble that Joe never got close to getting the belt down. Daniels outsmarted both men to win the title. Joe didn't take the defeat well, kicking the announce table and tossing around the ringsteps
Jeremy Borash spoke to NWA World Heavyweight champion "Captain Charisma" Christian Cage before the main event.
(8) NWA World Heavyweight champion "Captain Charisma" Christian Cage defeated "Alpha Male" Monty Brown. During a TV interview Cage said he was not 100% and he cracked three ribs during Brown's POUNCE attack on Impact two weeks ago. Brown wore a knee wrap on his right knee, but I am not sure as to the reason for it. Cage went for a waistlock but Brown muscled him to a corner causing a break. Cage locked on a side headlock and Brown escaped with rib shots and a shoulder tackle. For some unknown reason Brown allowed Cage to get to his feet. Brown went for a test of strength but Cage chopped him, only to see Brown toss Cage to the floor. For the first time ever Brown tossed Cage into the fans instead of faking them out. Both men fought but returned to the ring. Brown and Cage traded punches and chops but Cage got sent to the floor. Brown followed out once more, tossing Cage rib first into the ring barricades. Brown missed a chair shot and hit the X rigging instead of Cage. Both men got in the ring where Brown kept control of the match only to fight on the apron and Cage was dropped to the floor. Brown dropped Cage chest first on the guard rail. Brown tossed Cage back in the ring where the assault on Cage's ribs continued. Cage tried to fight back but Brown would tag him in the ribs, or drop him on the top rope suplex style. Brown tossed Cage into the ringpost and went for a pin but got two. Brown slapped on an abdominal stretch but Cage refused to submit. Cage escaped the hold but got hit with a knee to the mid section. Brown went for a corner splash but ran into Cage's boot. Cage went for a Tornado DDT but Brown tossed him to the mat for a two count. Cage recovered and hit the DDT. Both men beat the ten count and Cage got a burst of energy but missed the Eddie Guerrero Frog Splash. Brown locked in a mat submission hold. Cage escaped but Brown presslammed him and dropped him on the top turnbuckle support. Brown went up after Cage but Cage sent Brown back to the mat and hit a senton like move for two. Brown hit a power bomb for two. Cage escaped a second attempt but didn't escape an F5; he did however kick out of the pin. Cage stopped Brown's POUNCE and hit the Unprettier to retain the title.
The end of the match brought Jeff Jarrett down to the ring. Jarrett said he won the war, proved Sting/Steve Borden is a quitter and now he wants a rematch for the World title. He said he would make Cage a transitional champion like his brother up north. The fighting began but Brown jumped in the ring as the fans chanted for Sting. Alex Shelley, Abyss, Rhino, AMW, Team Canada and all came down. Chris Harris handcuffed Cage to the ropes as everyone hit Cage with a belt. From the crowd emerged Steve Borden who cleaned house, saving Eric Young for last. Borden dragged Jarrett into the ring to whip him with the belt. As this happened out of the crowd came "BIG POPPA PUMP "SCOTT STEINER!!!! The rest of Jarrett's posse ran into the ring to join Steiner in his assault of Steve Borden. During the skirmish it looked like Jeff Jarrett tweaked his knee and had to be helped to the locker room.
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