Destination X Preview & Predictions

Destination X comes to us live this Sunday from the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. The Angle Alliance, which consists of the World champion and the tag team champions, are teaming together in a six-man tag match, which means only the X Division and Women’s championship will be on the line. Eight matches have been put on the card, and here is the run down:

- The Angle Alliance vs. Samoa Joe/Christian Cage/Kevin Nash
- Rhino vs. James Storm (Elevation X)
- Jay Lethal vs. Petey Williams (X Division Title Match)
- Booker T vs. Robert Roode (Stand by Your Man Strap Match)
- Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim vs. ODB (Women’s Championship)
- Team 3D vs. Shark Boy & Curry Man (Fish Market Street Fight)
- Rock n’ Rave Infection vs. the LAX vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns (#1 Contenders Match)
- Kaz & Eric Young vs. Black Reign & Rellik

The Angle Alliance vs. Samoa Joe, Christian Cage & Kevin Nash
For being the special enforcer during the Kurt Angle/Christian Cage match at Against All Odds, Jim Cornette promised Samoa Joe a shot at the World title against whoever walked out of the match as the champion. Kurt Angle retained his championship then and Cornette lived up to his promise and was ready to book Angle vs. Joe at Destination X, however, Joe said that he knows he won’t get a fair shot with the Angle Alliance around and enlisted the help of some unlikely allies to help him even the odds by taking Styles & Tomko out of the picture.

Due to a series of matches that happened this past Thursday on Impact, the Unlikely Alliance will have a 3-on-2 advantage for the first five minutes of the match. This is one of the lamest match stipulations I have heard in a long time as it probably won’t make much of a difference in the overall match itself. The slight advantage, however, could save face for all of the champions involved when Samoa Joe delivers on his promise and rides a wave of momentum into Lockdown to face Angle for the championship.

Starman’s Prediction: Samoa Joe, Christian Cage & Kevin Nash to win.

Rhino vs. James Storm (Elevation X)
The Elevation X concept began last year at Destination X in a match against Rhino and AJ Styles. It is basically a scaffold match where the scaffold is in the shape of an ‘X’ and the object is to knock your opponent down to the ring.

Last summer, James Storm reintroduced alcohol into Rhino life by forcing beer down his throat. Rhino, a recovering alcoholic, didn’t take too kindly to that and thus a feud between the two was started. The feud stalled along the way and Rhino disappeared shortly after, only to return to Against All Odds to gore Storm out of his boots and he challenged Storm to an Elevation X match the following week on Impact.

A couple of weeks ago on Impact, James Storm let it be known that he has a fear of heights during a ladder match, so I am assuming that most of this match will consist of him trying to make it to the top of the platform. Hopefully they keep the rest of this contest short and sweet and Rhino should pick up the win here to make his Elevation X record 2-0 and put an end to this feud.

Starman’s Prediction: Rhino to win the match.

Jay Lethal vs. Petey Williams (X Division Title Match)
In my mind, this match would be the one reason to order this pay-per-view. Petey Williams won the opportunity to face Jay Lethal for the title by defeating Johnny Devine and Sonjay Dutt in a triple threat match a couple of weeks ago on Impact. Since then, the match hasn’t gotten too much attention but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a lot of fun to watch.

This match can really go either way, but I will have to side with Petey Williams to win the match and the X Division title. It appears that the seeds have been planted for a feud between Lethal and his friend, Sonjay Dutt, to fight over So Cal Val. Williams, on the other hand, will probably continue on with his strange friendship with Scott Steiner until Steiner finally cashes in on one of those Feast or Fired cases to challenge Williams for the title.

Starman’s Prediction: Petey Williams to win the X Division gold and start his second reign.

Booker T vs. Robert Roode (Stand by Your Man Strap Match)
These two met in a singles match that ended in a double count out at last month’s pay-per-view. In the following weeks, Roode tried his best to avoid Booker until he finally managed to get him and his new supporter, Traci Brooks, into the ring and handcuff them to the ropes. Once cuffed, both Roode and Payton Banks began to whip them with belts. Jim Cornette then made this match a strap match where the winner’s valet will be allowed to give the other valet 10 lashes with a belt.

Booker T has been punked out time and time again during this feud. First, his wife’s jaw was broken where he took time off to be with his wife. Upon returning, he has been subject to multiple sneak attacks from Roode and hasn’t been able to get extract the revenge on Roode that he has vowed to deliver as Roode always finds a way out of it. This should be the night that it happens as Roode will have nowhere to run to as he is strapped to Booker. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharmell made a surprise return during the match as well.

Starman’s Prediction: Booker T to get his revenge on Roode.

Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim vs. ODB (Women’s Championship)
Awesome Kong has been a force to be reckoned with in the women’s division. She defeated Gail Kim for the title earlier in the year and has also successfully defended it against ODB last month at Against All Odds. Kong looks seemingly unstoppable and is now looking to further her dominance by taking on Kim and ODB at the same time.

Much like the X Division title match, this match also has an opportunity to steal the show. These three are the best the division has to offer and I don’t think it will disappoint. Gail Kim and ODB have shown that they can work together and they will need to do to stop Kong, but they also have their own agendas, which will probably prevent either of them from winning the gold. Kong won’t win this match as easily as she defeated Salinas this past Thursday, but she will still win the match.

Starman’s Prediction: Awesome Kong to retain the gold.

Team 3D vs. Shark Boy & Curry Man (Fish Market Street Fight)
Ever since losing at last month’s pay-per-view, Team 3D has been made to weigh in prior to all of their matches to see if they are under the 275 pound mark. Their opponents, Shark Boy & Curry Man, won the opportunity to name their own stipulations by winning a Destination X Battle Royal. Shark Boy, speaking for Curry Man, the winner of the battle royal, made the match a Fish Market Street Fight and if Team 3D loses or doesn’t make weight, they will be gone from TNA.

There really isn’t anything for me to say about this match aside from the fact that I don’t foresee Team 3D losing and being forced to leave TNA. If they do lose, you can almost bet that they will find some sort of loophole to stay employed with the company.

Starman’s Prediction: Team 3D to win the match

Rock n’ Rave Infection vs. the LAX vs. the Motorcity Machine Guns
Until these three teams were entered into the Destination X Battle Royal this past Thursday, I didn’t even know they were on the card. Although, it doesn’t surprise me to find a match or two at a pay-per-view that doesn’t have any buildup whatsoever. With that said, it is hard to predict a winner for this.

The Machine Guns were given a lot of focus during the fight for the survival of the X Division, while the LAX have been used sparingly and the Rock n’ Rave Infection continues to be a regular fixture of Impact although they are usually on the losing end. With no buildup it really is a toss up between the three and I am going to pick the Motorcity Machine Guns as they have been the most worthy as of late.

Starman’s Prediction: The Motorcity Machine Guns to become #1 contenders

Kaz & Eric Young vs. Black Reign & Rellik
Kaz has been in a feud with Black Reign and Rellik for a few months now and Eric Young was tossed into the mix as he has nothing else better to do and because he is afraid of monsters, such as Black Reign and Rellik. Kaz has been trying to get through to Young that Reign & Rellik are just alter egos and has been encouraging him to dig deep to find his alter ego as well, which brings us to this match.

I’m almost positive that Young’s alter ego will make some sort of appearance during the match. If he doesn’t have it when the match starts, I’m sure he will change into it sometime during the match. This should give his team the upper hand and given the track record of Black Reign & Rellik, it should be an easy win for the team.

Starman’s Prediction: Kaz & Eric Young to win the match

There is the Destination X pay-per-view in a nutshell. A lot of thought and logic went in to my predictions therefore I am probably wrong on a number of them as logic seems to defy TNA for some reason - especially during pay-per-view time.

Aside from the pair of title matches, most of the card seems to be filler it has even been reported on Gerweck.net that TNA is treating it as a throw away pay-per-view. Unless you are a hardcore fan, you will probably be better off saving the $30 and using it towards the huge WrestleMania XXIV price tag instead.

As always, live coverage of Destination X will happen live on Gerweck.net starting at 8:00 EST.