Destination X is upon us and is coming to us from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. As is the staple of Destination X, the Ultimate X match will return to showcase the X Division and thankfully the other X staple, Elevation X, is nowhere in sight. Moving on from the overuse of the letter X, the pay-per-view will feature eight matches, five of which are title matches.
Here is a rundown of the card.
- Sting vs. Kurt Angle w/ Special Referee Jeff Jarrett and Special Enforcer Mick Foley (TNA World Championship)
- Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Suicide (Ultimate X for X Division Title)
- Booker T vs. AJ Styles (TNA Legends Championship)
- Beer Money, Inc. vs. Team 3D (Off the Wagon Challenge for TNA Tag Team Championship)
- Awesome Kong vs. Sojourner Bolt (TNA Knockouts Championship)
- Abyss vs. Matt Morgan (Match of 10,000 Thumbtacks)
- Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner
- Beautiful People & Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi/Taylor Wilde/the Governor
Sting vs. Kurt Angle w/ Special Referee Jeff Jarrett and Special Enforcer Mick Foley (TNA World Championship)
Last month Sting and Kurt Angle took part in a 4-way match for the TNA World Championship at Against All Odds. Sting would go on to retain the title, however, the title started to cause some friction between Sting and Angle. The two have tried to settle their differences with an empty arena brawl, but Angle’s dislike and contempt for Sting shined brightly and these two will face off in a one-on-one match for the championship.
To make sure the match is contested fairly with little involvement from the rest of the Main Event Mafia, Jeff Jarrett has assigned himself as the guest referee and Mick Foley as the special enforcer, marking the third time Foley has been in this role in the five months he has been with TNA.
With the Lockdown poster showing a match between Mick Foley and Sting, it is probably safe to assume that Foley will cost Sting the title whether it is intentional or not. My guess is that Foley will turn heel and help Angle during the match and Angle will walk out as the new TNA World Champion.
Starman’s Prediction: Kurt Angle to win the title.
Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Consequences Creed vs. Suicide (Ultimate X for X Division Title)
Even though the Motorcity Machine Guns and Lethal Consequences are on the same side with the Front Line, the two tag teams have been battling it out due to the Guns’ nonchalant attitude and commitment to the group. Suicide, on the other hand, has been propelling from the rafters and attacking the MMG’s. This match will also be the first match that Suicide has been a part of.
In the TNA Rough Cut segments, the wrestlers interviewed said that Suicide is a wildcard in the match. I could really see him picking up the X Division Title in his first match ever, but I am going to predict that Shelley retains. Whatever the outcome, this should be a show stealing match considering the talent involved.
Starman’s Prediction: Alex Shelley to retain the X Division Title.
Booker T vs. AJ Styles (TNA Legends Championship)
AJ Styles returned to TNA after being taken out last month at Against All Odds and stole Booker T’s Legends Championship. Since then, Styles has been attacking Booker from behind whenever the opportunity presents itself. Booker has fought back by getting the police involved and Jim Cornette decided to put these two in a match against each other and put the Legends Championship on the line.
Booker and Styles are two of better wrestlers TNA has on their roster and this match should be a decent one to watch as long as the outside interference is kept to a minimum. In the end I feel that AJ Styles will win the match, however, it will be by some means of disqualification so Booker will retain the Legends Championship.
Starman’s Prediction: AJ Styles to win the match but not the title.
Beer Money, Inc. vs. Team 3D (Off the Wagon Challenge for TNA Tag Team Championship)
Beer Money has issued the Off the Wagon Challenge to any tag team in TNA. If the challengers win, they win the titles, however, if they lose, the person pinned will have to leave TNA. Since the challenge has been started, both Petey Williams and Lance Rock have lost their jobs. Team 3D is the third team to step up to the challenge and will do so at Destination X.
Team 3D hasn’t held the TNA Tag Team Championship in almost two years. Since I really don’t foresee either of them leaving TNA in the near future, I have to say that they will win the match. Like the Booker T/AJ Styles match, this one has a possibility of ending in some for of disqualification to allow Beer Money to retain the gold, but I am going to have to side with Team 3D actually winning the titles tonight.
Starman’s Prediction: Team 3D to win tag team gold.
Awesome Kong vs. Sojourner Bolt (TNA Knockouts Championship)
As a member of the Kongtourage, Sojourner Bolt won a 9-woman gauntlet to become the #1 contender to the TNA Knockouts Championship, a title held by her stable-mate, Awesome Kong. It wasn’t long after that before Bolt, along with Rhaka Khan, left the Kongtourage and Bolt is cashing in on her title shot at the pay-per-view.
For you wrestling historians out there, this will be a rematch from last year’s Slammiversary as Bolt, then wrestling as Josie Robinson, took Kong up on her $25,000 Fan Challenge. Bolt didn’t even last two minutes before being easily beaten by Kong. I think it is safe to say the match at Destination X will last a bit longer, but the outcome will be the same with Kong retaining the title.
Starman’s Prediction: Awesome Kong to win the match and keep her Knockouts Title.
Abyss vs. Matt Morgan (Match of 10,000 Thumbtacks)
After having a falling out, these two former tag team partners met in a match at Against All Odds with Abyss coming out on top. Wanting revenge, Morgan sunk down to Abyss’ level and challenged him to a Match of 10,000 Thumbtacks. Since Abyss is trying to reform himself from having to resort to these types of gimmick matches that mutilate his body, it took some goading to get him to agree to it. Mainly in the form of Morgan threatening to hurt and/or getting to frisky with Abyss’ love interest, Lauren.
Abyss usually takes the fall in these types of matches but he has won the other two 10,000 thumbtacks matches he has previously competed in. That streak should come to an end, though, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a distraction/interference by Lauren is the reason why he ends up getting tossed into the tacks and loses the match.
Starman’s Prediction: Matt Morgan to win the match.
Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner
Samoa Joe has returned with a vengeance after being taken out by the Main Event Mafia late last year. He has promised to bring out the real Joe and bring a nation of violence with him. His first target has been Scott Steiner and Joe has confronted him a couple of times and held a huge machete to his throat.
Even though it is already mid-March, this will be the first televised match that Joe has taken a part in 2009. Joe will pick up the victory in this match and there is a possibility that this match truly is brutal. If the Front Line picks up one clean victory over the MEM all night, it will happen during this match.
Starman’s Prediction: Samoa Joe to win the match.
Beautiful People & Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi/Taylor Wilde/the Governor
Newcomer Madison Rayne came into TNA and quickly turned on the popular Knockouts to side with the Beautiful People. With the addition of Rayne, the trio is now going by the name of Mi Pi Sexy sorority. As Roxxi, Taylor and the Governor have made it their duty to make the lives of the Beautiful People hell, the two sides will face off in this 6-woman tag team match.
This match can really go any way. As I need to predict one, I am picking the Beautiful People & Madison Rayne.
Starman’s Prediction: Mi Pi Sorority to win the match.
The main event for Destination X has been built up pretty well for the most part. With that said, it has also been overbooked with the addition of Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley. With all of the outside factors, I feel that it will take away from the match which is something that should never happen when the World Championship is concerned.
Ultimate X had some good buildup in the form of the TNA Rough Cut segments, but with the participants not being announced until this past Thursday, there wasn’t much time to promote the wrestlers in the match. At any rate, the five in the match all work well together and could be easily worth the price of the pay-per-view alone.
The Booker T/AJ Styles match and Team 3D/Beer Money also have the potential of being decent, if not great, matches. No, this isn’t a stellar pay-per-view by any means and will more than likely be used to set up Lockdown, but it has the chance of being entertaining in the least.
As always, live coverage of Destination X will be on Gerweck.net starting at 8:00 EST.
