TNA Destination X Review - July 18, 2013

Chris Sabin, your new TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Main Event Mafia Interrupted TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray

The show started off on a high note with an excellent promo from Bully Ray. He's always awesome on the mic, but this promo helped make the main event feel even more important than it already did. Chris Sabin's video package was also very well produced and gave the match a big fight feel. The Main Event Mafia's promo was good and everyone played their roles well.


Austin Aries def. Bobby Roode to Earn 7 Points in the Bound For Glory Series

Roode and Aries had one of the best matches in TNA history at last year's Destination X event. I simply love the fact a rematch was held at this year's installment and the match quality was just as good. Neither guy may be a full-fledged face, but the crowd was hot for both competitors. They put forth a strong effort in this bout and it certainly paid off. It looks like they're telling a story with Roode's losses in the BFG Series, so I liked how that was furthered following his loss when he destroyed everything in sight at ringside.

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Austin Aries delivers a dropkick to Bobby Roode.

Sonjay Dutt def. Petey Williams and Homocide in an Ultimate X Qualifying Triple Threat Match

Of all the qualifying matches held on this show, I would argue that this was the best one. It had a nice mix of talent and I'm a fan of all three competitors. It's a shame we weren't able to see a Canadian Destroyer, but it was cool to see Homocide back albeit for one night only. Dutt going over was a pleasant surprise and the fact he has yet to win an X-Division Championship makes him a strong contender to win the title next week.


Manik def. Kenny King and Chavo Guerrero in an Ultimate X Qualifying Triple Threat Match

The fact that neither King nor Guerrero received entrances made it fairly obvious who would win the bout, but that took nothing away from the action itself. It was nicely paced and featured some fun spots, but nowhere near as many as in the previous match. Everyone in the contest held their own and put together a decent match. Manik is a cool character, but I would have rather seen King advance in all honesty. As for Guerrero, he might as well turn heel at this point.


The Main Event Mafia Fought Aces and Eights

After building this up as a major confrontation between the two stables, this was the ending result? How weak. It wasn't even much of a fight. They briefly exchanged words before Main Event Mafia was lured into a hallway like dopes while Kurt Angle was "kidnapped" before returning later in the night. This served very little purpose, especially since both factions ended up getting involved in the main event match, regardless.


Greg Marasciulo def. Rubix and Rockstar Spud in an Ultimate X Qualifying Triple Threat Match

I didn't have the slightest idea that Greg would be competing in this tournament, so that was a pleasant surprise. He performed well here and was the most over competitor in the matchup. Since he ultimately advanced, I would love to see the man formerly known as Trent Barreta win the X-Division Championship next week and become an official member of the TNA roster. He needs to change his in-ring, though, as it's a pain in the ass to both pronounce and write out constantly.


Gail Kim Attacked Knockouts Champion Mickie James

The segment was good and all, but was this supposed to turn Kim face? If so, it was done in lackluster fashion. I surely hope she's not turning face, as she makes for a much better heel and I'd rather see her maintain a tweener status for the time being. As for James, she continues to flourish as a heel and she was once again extremely entertaining in her promo on this show. I'm surprised to see them rushing into the title match next week instead of milking the feud for a few more weeks.


Chris Sabin def. Bully Ray to Win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

This match featured solid storytelling and made Sabin look like the ultimate underdog. However, I didn't care for the outside interference from Main Event Mafia and Aces and Eights. They served as a major distraction at ringside and I would have rather seen this match without anyone getting involved. Of course, Sabin cheated to win the belt, but I'm still ecstatic to see him as champion. No one saw it coming and I think it could end up being beneficial depending on how they book it going forward. It was a monumental moment and provided a major cliffhanger going into next week's show. I hope this wasn't TNA's way of getting the title off Ray only to face Hulk Hogan at Bound For Glory, which would be a dreadful disaster.


Overall Show

Some people may not agree with all of the booking done on this show, but I absolutely adored it and thought it was excellent executed. The Bound For Glory Series match was fantastic, the Ultimate X qualifying matches were entertaining, and the main event match told one hell of a story and featured a noteworthy title change. Destination X was the show of the year in both 2011 and 2012, and this year was no different. It was definitely the best episode of Impact Wrestling of the year thus far. I also enjoyed the fact that Jeremy Borash (who has been on commentary at Destination X for since 2011) was on commentary instead of Taz, who Borash is a vast improvement over. I'm liking the direction TNA is taking with many of their storylines right now and here's hoping they can continue the strong momentum going forward.

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