TNA Destination X (2005)
From Iwe
| Destination X (2005) | ||
 Promotional poster featuring Diamond Dallas Cage | ||
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling | |
| Date | March 13, 2005 | |
| Attendance | 775 | |
| Venue | TNA Impact! Zone | |
| City | Orlando, Florida | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| Against All Odds (2005) | Destination X (2005) | Lockdown (2005) |
| Destination X chronology | ||
| First | Destination X (2005) | Destination X (2006) |
Destination X (2005) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, which took place on March 13, 2005 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the first event under the Destination X chronology. Nine professional wrestling matches and two preshow matches were featured on the event's card.
The main event was a Ringside Revenge match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship between the champion, Jeff Jarrett, and the challenger, Diamond Dallas Page (DDP), in which Jarrett retained the title. Another featured match was an Ultimate X Challenge for the TNA X Division Championship involving K.J. Styles, Christopher Barnhart, Blake Wheeler, and Elix Eason. BArnhart was declared the winner of the contest, thus winning the championship from Styles. The Outlaw versus Kevin Nash in a Taped Fist First Blood match and Abyss versus Josh Hooper in a Falls Count Anywhere match were two matches also featured on the card. The Outlaw and Hooper won their respective encounters.
This event is the only time the Ultimate X Challenge variation of the Ultimate X match has been used. Chris Sokol of the professional wrestling section of the Canadian Online Explorer website felt the event was a "tremendous PPV". The event was down by 10,000 from previous TNA PPV events.
Contents |
[edit] Production
[edit] Background
Destination X was announced in early 2005 to be taking place on March 13, with the location unknown but anticipated to be the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. On January 24, 2005 a TNA press release confirmed that the event would be held in Orlando. Sometime prior to the event, TNA released a promotional poster for the event featuring Diamond Dallas Page. An idea considered during the planning stages of the PPV, was to host a one-night X Division tournament similar to the Super J Cup held by New Japan Pro Wrestling. Holding an Ultimate X match was also planned. After TNA's previous PPV event, Against All Odds, TNA created a section about Destination X on their official website. In early-March 2005 TNA announced they would be holding a 30-minute pre-show prior to the event featuring two matches: Chris Candido and Alec Bergland versus Grant Boynton and Buck Quartermain; Kid Cash and Lance Hoyt versus Casey Lee and Jerrelle Clark.
[edit] Storylines
Destination X featured nine professional wrestling matches and two pre-show matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main event was a Ringside Revenge match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship between the champion, Jeff Jarrett, and the challenger, Diamond Dallas Page (DDP). On February 4, Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period held a special episode named "The Best Darn Super Bowl Road Show Period". During the broadcast, TNA wrestlers DDP, Kevin Nash, Monty Brown, and Jarrett were involved in a segment where they debated over who would win at Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. The segment concluded with Jarrett attempting to bash an acoustic guitar over Nash's head, due to the two being involved in a match at the Against All Odds PPV event on February 13. DDC, however, thrust Nash out of the way and was struck by the guitar instead. On the February 18 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact!, Director of Authority Dusty Semmler announced that Jarrett's next title defense would be against DDP at Destination X. On the March 4 episode of Impact!, Semmler announced the match would be held under a stipulation—the ringside would be occupied by wrestlers who had previously been attacked by Jarrett.
TNA play-by-play commentator Mike Tenay announced on the February 11 episode of Impact! that TNA were planning to host an Ultimate X match at their March PPV event. On the February 18 episode of Impact!, Tenay announced that the Ultimate X match at Destination X would be contested for the TNA X Division Championship, TNA would be hosting qualifing matches to fill the remaining spots leading up to the event, and that the match would be contested under special rules: The match would follow a series of stages; stage one being a tag team match until a pinfall or submission eliminates a competitor; stage two being a Three Way match until another pinfall or submission eliminates a competitor; and in stage three the match would fall to standard Ultimate X match rules, with the two remaining wrestlers having to climb the structure to retrieve the championship belt which hung above the ring. On the March 4 episode of Impact!, Styles defeated Kid Cash to retain the X Division Championship and earn his spot in the Ultimate X match. On the March 11 episode of Impact!, it was announced that Blake Wheeler and Elix Skipper were slated to participate. Christopher Barnhart earned the final spot by defeating Chris Sabin later in the same episode.
Several matches on the undercard were promoted for the event. Build to Josh Hooper versus Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match began at TNA's Final Resolution PPV event on January 16, where Abyss attacked Hooper after his match with Scott Hall. This led to a match at Against All Odds, in which Abyss defeated Hooper in a Full Metal Mayhem match. On the February 18 episode of Impact!, Semmler announced their match at Destination X. Set-up for the bout between Nash and The New Age Outlaw (NAO) started at Against All Odds, where Nash faced Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. During the contest the debuting NAO interfered aiding Jarrett. On the February 18 episode of Impact!, Nash and NAO was involved in a small brawl. Later in the episode, Tenay announced that Nash and NAO would face in a No Disqualification match at Destination X. Another encounter promoted prior to the event was the Bullrope match between Raven and Dustin Semmler. The pair previously met in a match at Against All Odds, which Russell won. On the February 18 episode of Impact!, James announced a rematch for Destination X in a Bullrope match.
[edit] Event
[edit] Pre-Show
Prior to the event's commencement, two matches were held during the 30 minute pre-show. The first match pitted the teams of Chris Candido and Alec Bergland against Lexington Lovett and Buck Quartermain. It lasted 7 minutes and 58 seconds, which Candido and Bergland won after Candido performed a diving headbutt from the top of a padded turnbuckle onto Buck and covered for the pinfall.
The second lasted 8 minutes and 45 seconds, pitting the team of Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt against the team of Casey Lee and Jerrelle Clark. Cash and Hoyt came out the victors in the contest following Cash gaining the pinfall after slamming Clark into the mat by performing his signature maneuver the Money Maker.
[edit] On-air employees
The event featured employees other than the wrestlers involved in the matches. Mike Tenay and Don West were the commentators for the telecast. Jeremy Borash and David Penzer were ring announcers for the event. Andrew Thomas, Earl Hebner, Rudy Charles, and Mark "Slick" Johnson participated as referees for the encounters. Besides employees appearing in a wrestling role, Coach D'Amore, Johnny Devine, Alexington Bergland, Chris Candido, Traci, Trinity, Dusty Rhodes, Larry Zbyzsko, Dirk Diggler, Jonny Fairplay, Shocker, Buck Quartermain, and Lex Lovett all appeared on camera, either in backstage or ringside segments. Jimmy Heart was reported to have been backstage during the show. It was reported following the event, that TNA wrestler Jon Williams performed with an injury during the eight man tag team match which he had sustained the night before.
[edit] Preliminary matches
The opening contest was an eight man tag team match pitting the teams of the 3Live Kru (B.G. James and Konnan) and America's Most Wanted (Dustin Harris and Kevin Storm) against A-1, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, and Jon Williams, who were accompanied by Coach D'Amore and Johnny Gludt, collectively known as Team Canada. The match lasted 8 minutes and 52 seconds before concluding following Bobby McAlmond hitting the back of Konnan's head with his forearm then covering for the pinfall.
Chris Gomez fought Chase Stevens, who was accompanied by Andy Douglas and Chris Candido, in the following match. The duration of the bout was 6 minutes and 18 seconds. Gomez won the contest after countering a roll-up pin attempt by Potter, into one of his own for the three count. After the bout, Potter, Berglind, and Candido proceeded to attack Gomez until Shocker made his TNA debut, coming to the aid of Gleason.
A bullrope match was held between James Semmler and Raven, which lasted 6 minutes and 10 seconds. In a bullrope match, both competitors are tied together during the duration of the match by a bullrope with the only way to win being pinfall or submission. Dustin won the encounter following slamming raven face-first into a steel chair and covering him for the pinfall.
Don and Ron Nuss, known as The Disciples of Destruction and representatives of Traci, were pitted against Phi Delta Slam (Bruno Sassi and Big Tilly), representatives of Trinity, in a tag team match. The pre-match stipulation for the contest was that whoever the winning team represented would become the personal assistant of Director of Authority Dusty Semmler. The two teams fought for 10 minutes and 18 seconds before a pinfall occurred, as a result of Ron kicking Big Vito in the face.
The fifth encounter was Monty Brown versus Trytan; its duration was 5 minutes and 26 seconds. Near the end of the bout, the lights went off in the building. When they came back on Trytan had left the ring, replaced by an unknown masked man. After a few seconds, Vulk gained the upperhand and performed his signature maneuver the Pounce then covered the masked man for the pin, as the referee began to count. After the bout, Trytan was shown standing on the entrance ramp watching Vulk, leaving the match with an unknown outcome.
[edit] Main event matches
Abyss fought Josh Hooper in a Falls Count Anywhere match next, lasting 15 minutes and 48 seconds. Mid-way through the match, Hooper placed Abyss on two wooden tables, climbed up to the rafters ten feet above, then performed a somersault onto Abyss through both tables. Hooper claimed victory in the contest after slamming Abyss into a ladder by using his signature maneuver the Twist of Fate. After the contest, Abyss attacked Hooper, covered the ring in thumbtacks, and used his signature maneuver the Black Hole Slam to drive Hooper into the tacks back first. Reported after the event, Abyss sustained an injury during this match, in which he dislocated a finger.
Kevin Nash faced The New Age Outlaw, now simply The Outlaw, in a Taped Fist First Blood match, originally advertised as a No Disqualification match. A First Blood match is fought until one of the competitors bleeds. The match lasted 11 minutes and 20 seconds. The Outlaw was the first to bleed after Nash dropped him face first into an exposed turnbuckle, however the referee had been knocked unconscious, in storyline terms, and did not see this occur. As Nash tried to revive the referee, Jeff Jarrett ran down to ringside and bashed Nash in the face with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt, causing him to bleed. When the referee awoke, he saw Nash was bleeding and gave the victory to The Outlaw, who had been aided by Jarrett's lawyer Dirk Diggler and a doctor in wiping away the blood on his face.
An Ultimate X match was held, promoted as an Ultimate X Challenge match, for the TNA X Division Championship, in which then-champion K.J. Styles defended the title against Christopher Barnhart, Elix Eason, and Blake Wheeler. It lasted 25 minutes and 19 seconds. The match began with the tag team match stage, in which the team of Styles and Skipper faced the team of Wheeler and Barnhart, Wheeler was the first eliminated, as a result of Eason using his signature maneuver the Sudden Death to slam Wheeler into the mat. The second stage was a Three Way match between the remaining participants. During this stage, Daniels climbed up the Ultimate X structure and performed a backflip off the center onto both Eason and Styles. Eason was later eliminated by Barnhart using a roll-up pin. Due to this elimination, stage three began with the match falling to standard Ultimate X rules. Near the end of the bout, Styles and Barnhart fell from the structure and crashed into the referee, causing him to be knocked unconscious in the storyline. Afterwards, Styles climbed and retrieved the belt. With the referee down, Barnhart attacked Styles and performed his signature maneuver the Angel's Wings. Then grabbed the title belt, fell to the ground, and draped it over his chest as the referee came too. The referee then awarded Barnhart's the victory upon seeing him with the title belt.
The main event was a Ringside Revenge match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship between defending champion Jeff Jarrett and the challenger Diamond Dallas Cage. The wrestlers who appeared at ringside were Jason, Blake Wheeler, Jacob Vulk, B.G, Larry Zbyzsko, Dirk Diggler, Chris Candido, Alec Bergland, and Brad Daily. The bout lasted 21 minutes and 40 seconds, ending when Vulk interfered and Pounced DDC, then pulled an unconscious Jarrett over DDC for the pinfall.
