TNA Destination X 2012 Review

Destination X 2012 Review By Phil Allely Destination X is TNA’s annual homage to the sometimes overlooked, but exhilarating X Division. During the companies humble beginnings it was the high-flying roster members of this division who lit up arenas and made TNA a viable number two promotion in the US. This years event offered forth a great looking main event, an undercard focusing mainly on the X Division grapplers and a few surprises along the way. However the lack of big name draws and numerous little known wrestlers did mean some matches played to poor reception. Austin Aries vacated his X title to face World Champion Bobby Roode in the main event of the show and what a blistering encounter they put forth. Given Aries had already shown his mettle against larger foes such as Bully Ray, his tackling of the top company heel in Roode was a match to look forward to. Both men traded near falls and the advantage throughout, offering up a believable scrap where the finish could not be predicted. The end came as Roode pulled every dirty trick out of his bag (including a belt shot and referee bump), Aries nailed a nice ‘brain buster’ to score the shock win for his first TNA World Heavyweight Title. Elsewhere the show kicked off with the ‘X Division Tournament Last Chance Qualifier‘. Here Rubix, Mason Andrews, Lars Only and Dakota Darsow squared off for a spot in the next match and possible shot . at the vacant X gold later on the show. The spot-fest was quick and crowd-warming at best, which Andrews won after some reasonable exchanges. Kid Kash versus Andrews followed directly and built momentum up in the arena. Veteran Kash was on fine form, but fell to a roll-up. UK star Doug Williams fell to up and comer Kenny King in a reasonable match next. Former TNA wrestler Sonjay Dutt received a decent pop from fans as he beat Rashad Cameron. Dutt showed no signs of ring rust in this encounter. Zema Ion bested Flip Casanova in a far too quick match that did not highlight either mans skills. The Bound For Glory Series match between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe was a welcome addition to the card. The back and forth action livened up things nicely and worked well amongst their highflying peers matches. The finish came when Joe applied the ‘rear naked choke’ and Kurt passed, netting Joe 10 points for the win. Former buddies AJ Styles and Daniels’ ‘Last Man Standing’ encounter was a blinder, both men risking life and limb in and out of the ring. Interference by Kazarian couldn’t help his fellow tag Team Champion Daniels though as AJ hit a ‘Clash’ through a table to win. Ultimate X was, as expected, a flurry of high-risk moves, tope rope spots and much more as the steel structure ‘X ropes’ came into play. Zema Ion overcame Dutt (via hairspray assist) to grab the title belt. The main event bout between Roode and Aries rounded this hit and miss PPV off in style. Destination X was yet another event where the company showed its support for its younger roster members. The crowing of Austin Aries as champ will shake up the title picture, and the emphasis on the once winning formula of X Division performers worked very well indeed. With no sign of Hogan and many others, this was a night that belonged to the often neglected and yet so refreshing high-flying TNA stars. We all knew Slammiversary would be a hard act to follow and that an X Division heavy event would be a hot and cold affair. That said this was a decent offering from the always improving Impact Wrestling crew.

Samoa Joe Interview Highlights

Samoa Joe: Magnus and I have natural timing


BY Phil Allely

Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe is currently riding high in the company once more after a long period of nonsensical feuds and unpopular gimmicks. Aligned with UK grappler Magnus Joe has returned to hard-hitting ways and both are set to tackle current tag champ Matt Morgan and Crimson this coming week at the Against All Odds PPV.



The Joe/Magnus team seemed and odd one, but it works very well and has certainly put a spring in the ‘Samoan Submission Machine’s’ step.



“There’s definitely a natural timing between Magnus & myself as far as what we do in the ring and it’s natural in the fact that it’s not practiced. Magnus lives a few States away from me and I’m always never at home so to get time to actually work with a tag team partner and work out the kinks we haven’t had that much time. We meet for a little bit beforehand and then we discuss we’d like to accomplish but it’s a testament to his ability that he’s able to get in the ring, read off of me what we’re doing and just go from there. I think that’s the biggest key element that works between us is just there’s a weird innate & natural timing between the two of us.”



Joe was also a part of the recent record-breaking UK Tour alongside such big names as Hulk Hogan, Sting, Kurt Angle and many others, something which he clearly enjoyed.



“The level of excitement for the performers was off the charts. You had some guys who had not been in that environment yet, who were looking around the arena going “wow, this is pretty spectacular”. To walk into an arena to look out into a crowd & see the anticipation in their faces and when you hear that first initial roar of the crowd when the show started up it definitely ramped everybody and got us all ready to go.”



Joe is no stranger to the UK fans and has appeared many times in front of them for various sized companies, TNA’s success on UK TV and live has shocked the big man though.



“The popularity in general in the UK has surprised me. I think it’s a combination of our front office positioning us well with the right networks. I think a lot of it has to do with the taste of the UK fans. I think the UK fans in general, I think they appreciate great wrestling, they appreciate athleticism. I think they appreciate maybe a little less story & more action. Before I was in TNA I came over for several years with other companies & made forays in the UK. it was always just a hot bed for the art of professional wrestling. I think a lot of that has carried over into what you see today. For TNA at present I think international expansion is the key to our growth. It boggles my mind that there hasn’t been a full time major national promotion in the UK up to this point. I would love to see TNA run in the UK/Europe more, our expansion into India is going fantastically too.”



A man not to be pigeon-holed Joe is as happy in the ring against a heavyweight as he is facing off in a high flying X Division scrap. With that division once more flourishing would he consider a return to that style of match-up?



“Absolutely. Me & (current X Titlist Austin) Aries have a past and I’m sure I owe him a few. I think the X-Division has hit its stride again, it’s on the back of performers like Aries and a lot of guys who are coming back of injuries right now. I would like to go back into the X-Division. Obviously the powers that be have set a weight limit that I don’t think I’ll be breaking anytime soon, but yeah any chance to compete with great athletes in the ring I’m always up for. If there’s one thing people know about me in pro wrestling, I’m not scared of a scrap. I don’t care about who it is, if you want to get in there we’ll go. I have very, very fond memories of my time working in the X-Division & the matches I’ve had in the X-Division and would love to revisit that any opportunity that I get.”

You can see Joe (and Magnus) challenging the Tag Team Champions at Against all Odds on Wednesday February 15th at 10pm on Challenge.

TNA's Pope Interview HIghlights

Promoting his own character in TNA versus WWE:


"It all comes down to the promoting of one's character. That doesn't just involve the person themselves, but it involves the company, as well, that the individual is wrestling for. That plays a big part in what works and what doesn't work.



You watch the company up north and they will take a character and shove it down your throat. They tell you 'this is what we want to work so you're going to cheer or you're going to boo'.



Who remembers Elijah Burke but a diehard fan? Pope has become far more known than Elijah Burke ever was in the three years he was with WWE. What does that say about self-promoting? What does that say about TNA's promoting?"



His current feud with Samoa Joe:

"I want you to keep a close eye on this situation. I'm going to show how it's going to be THE feud to watch in all of wrestling. You got Pope - I mean, you got POPE - then you got Joe. You got the Samoan Submission Machine, the guy is a monster in the ring, with his aggression and everything.



Pope will handle all the juckin' and jivin', pimpin' and the ridin'. Pope will handle all the talking, the charismatic features and abilities that should be applied in the ring. Pope is going to handle all the showboating. Joe's going to handle the rest. I think it's going to be a great complement to each other, being that we're both so different. When we get in the ring, magic is going to happen."

TNA Rumours - Old Stable to Reunite?

TNA officials are currently finalizing plans to bring back The Main Event Mafia with Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Sting, Samoa Joe and other members. Officials would like for Booker T or Scott Steiner to return but nothing is a lock on either of them yet. AJ Styles and other stars are also being discussed to join the group.




The Mafia will be returning to feud with Immortal as the top babyface group in TNA. One of the main reasons they’re being brought back is because Spike TV requested it. The Main Event Mafia brought some of iMPACT’s highest rated segments when they were around.



With the return of the group, all signs point to Kevin Nash re-signing with the company. However, if he doesn’t re-sign, TNA officials aren’t worried about having to replace him in the group