TNA Destination X PPV Evaluation 7/8
By Nathan Kyght, PWTorch PPV specialist

BEST MATCH – A.J. STYLES VS. DANIELS

What a battle. The thing that I enjoyed most about this match is that going into it, the two had been involved in a heated "blood feud," and they treated the match as such. It’s always weird to see two wrestlers sell a match based on hatred and the need to injure one another, and then lead with chain wrestling. These two tore into one another and the crowd loved it. They had enough time at a little under 20 minutes, and the finish of the Styles Clash putting Daniels through a table was highlight-reel-worthy (and, more importantly, looked fairly safe upon replays). Match of the night.

WORST MATCH – ULTIMATE X

It seems odd to select this as the worst match of an X Division-themed pay-pe- view, and I’m not sure if they were running low on time, but the whole thing felt rushed and not at all like a major pay-off to the tournament. It wasn’t a bad match, by far, but it was unremarkable and on a night where we had two very strong singles contests and a World Title change, it was almost an afterthought.

BIGGEST SURPRISE – AUSTIN ARIES WINS

Going in to the PPV, this almost felt like a placeholder pay-per-view. On paper, it looked very strong, and it was a good night to test out Austin Aries in the main event slot, but then it seemed like TNA would be back to business as usual; it never occurred to me that TNA would have a new champion. The match itself was great with both men (who seem to only have great matches) treating the match with importance, and then they delivered a memorable, buzz-worthy end to the show. Also nice to note was the celebration afterwards, as it really sold the notion that the World Title matters.

BIGGEST LETDOWN – NONE

If were to be really nit-picky, I’d have liked to have seen Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe go a little longer, as they were on their way to a potential classic, in my opinion. But, that’s a minor criticism and just a personal preference. Everything else was with what I had expected, or exceeded those expectations. Another solid night for the company.

BEST QUOTE – DANIELS

It’s not actually a quote, but whenever they cut to Daniels and he’s inexplicably enjoying a martini, I laugh. So that counts.

BEST MOVE – A.J. STYLES-DANIELS

As mentioned above, the Styles Clash to Daniels from the ramp through a table on the floor was not only a fitting finish to the Last Man Standing stipulation, it was one of those "you have to see this" moves. And, the fact that Daniels didn’t just get up and keep going was great.

BEST MATCH FINISH – ARIES VS. ROODE

I’m picking this due to the shock value, and the fact that it was treated as such a big deal. The crowd was also red-hot for this. I’m not sure that the company is still not aiming for a James Storm vs. Bobby Roode main event at Bound For Glory, but this was still a nice surprise and it’s encouraging to see TNA giving something a try who they believe in.

OTHER THOUGHTS

The X Division matches were mostly spot fests, but I think everyone expected that going in. Still, they were never outright bad and the show had strong matches with A.J. vs. Daniels, Joe vs. Angle, and Aries vs. Roode. This show is worth checking out.

WHAT IT’LL BE REMEMBERED FOR

Austin Aries. After months of being a true highlight of TNA, the company finally decided to give him the proverbial ball. This will be interesting going forward.

UPDATED 2012 PPV EVALUATION RANKINGS

1 - WWE EXTREME RULES (2012-04-29)
2 - WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXVIII (2012-04-01)
3 - WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER (2012-02-19)
4 - TNA SLAMMIVERSARY (2012-06-10)
5 - TNA DESTINATION X (2012-07-08)
5 - TNA SACRIFICE (2012-05-13)
6 - WWE OVER THE LIMIT (2012-05-20)
7 - WWE ROYAL RUMBLE (2012-1-29)
8 - TNA VICTORY ROAD (2012-03-18)
9 - TNA LOCKDOWN (2012-04-15)
10 - WWE NO WAY OUT (2012-06-17)
11 - TNA GENESIS (2012-01-08)
12 – TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS (2012-02-12)

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S TNA SLAMMIVERSARY PPV RESULTS 6/28: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live PPV from Orlando - King of the Mountain match, Storm vs. Magnus, more

KYGHT'S PPV EVALUATION - TNA Bound for Glory: Best/Worst Match, What Will Be Remembered?, Updated 2014 Rankings

KYGHT'S PPV EVALUATION - TNA Slammiversary: Best/Worst Match, Biggest Surprise; Updated 2014 PPV Rankings