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Wrestling’s 4R’s PPV Edition 7.10.12: TNA Destination X 2012
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO times a week. We will group our feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and needs discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, our goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. We will not apologize for our opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.
Let’s rock…
TNA Destination X 2012:
By: LARRY CSONKA
QUICK RESULTS:
– Last Chance X-Division Tournament Match: Mason Andrews defeated Dakota Darsow, Rubix and Lars Only @ 8:22 via pin [**]
– X-Division Tournament Match: Mason Andrews defeated Kid Kash @ 8:09 via pin [**½]
– X-Division Tournament Match: Kenny King defeated Doug Williams @ 10:30 via pin [**¾]
– X-Division Tournament Match: Sonjay Dutt defeated Rashad Cameron @ 7:17 via pin [**½]
– X-Division Tournament Match: Zema Ion defeated Flip Casanova @ 4:00 via pin [*]
– Bound for Glory Series Match: Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle @ 14:30 via submission [***¾]
– Last Man Standing Match: AJ Styles defeated Daniels @ 17:40 [****]
– Ultimate X Match to Crown a New X-Division Champion: Zema Ion defeated Mason Andrews, Kenny King and Sonjay Dutt @ 9:00 to become the NEW X-Division Champion [*¾]
– TNA World Title Match: Austin Aries defeated Bobby Roode @ 22:42 via pin to become the NEW TNA WORLD CHAMPION [****¼]
Mason Andrews defeated Kid Kash: Following the opener, they went right into the next tournament match, playing the fact that the established star had the advantage. Kash, being the douchebag southern style heel that he is, rushed the ring and attacked right away. This match had a slower and more deliberate style, which I felt made for a better match than the opener. Kash played the over confident heel role perfectly, and even at his age still can go with any one in the division. It isn’t the greatest match on PPV, but the work was clean and the story is what was important. Andrews was “just an Indy guy” coming in, and in the first 30-minutes of the PPV, he gets the last chance victory and then the “surprise” come from behind win. This made the people care about him and sets up a solid underdog story heading into Ultimate X later in the show. Overall I liked this and got exactly what they were trying to do.
Kenny King defeated Doug Williams: I really like both guys, and thought that they got a good amount of time and that they had a good match. Credit to both men for working hard; King is a great athlete, and what he lacks in technical ability at times he makes up with athleticism and charisma. Doug Williams has been MIA seemingly forever, and it was really nice to see him get a shot on PPV again. The mix of King’s athletic moves and Williams’ chain wrestling meshed better than I thought, and with Williams leading the way, everything worked out pretty well. On a side note, Doug Williams is so good and really needs to be used more by the promotion. It doesn’t even have to be a push, but put him on the road with the younger guys they want to push and let him teach. King got the win and moved on in an enjoyable encounter.
Sonjay Dutt defeated Rashad Cameron: I liked this match, partly due to the fact that the crowd really got into things, and because of how Sonjay Dutt actually comes off as a star as compared to the other guys thus far on the show. Part of it is that Dutt has been in TNA before and that they like seeing him back, but the facts are that besides working the style well, he has a ton of charisma. I liked how they worked the match, I liked the pace and the overall booking added into the feeling of Dutt being a star as he had the most dominant performance of the night (to that point). This was good stuff, and that double foot stomp moonsault is just fucking sick, in a good way.
Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle: And when Joe and Angle got into the ring, business as they say, picked up. While not a MOTY candidate or anything of that nature, it was the right match at the right time on this show. To this point, five X-Division matches had dominated the show, and while that isn’t always a bad thing, they needed to break things up. Joe and Angle came out there and worked their style of match, which was this time more of a “pure sport” style match. The commentary played up the importance of their history and their standings in the Bound For Glory Series, which was a perfect compliment to the work that they were doing in the ring. Since his tag title run with Magnus, Joe has seemed revitalized, not only in booking, but in his work. He is intense again, working hard and becoming a bad ass once again. Angle is the guy that maybe falling apart, but who is also still busting his ass on every PPV he is on. Good work, familiar spots for these guys, but it was also smooth and pulled off very well. I also loved the finish, Joe wins via submission to get the vital BFG Series points, but Angle can play the “I didn’t tap card” later on, since he passed out and the referee stopped the match. Again, this wasn’t a MOTY candidate, but to this point, it was the best thing on the show and a good breather from the X-Division heavy start to the show.
AJ Styles defeated Daniels: Last man standing matches can be a funny thing, because without the near falls, many of them lack the proper drama because the crowd doesn’t get into the early teases. With that being said, I felt that these guys had a pretty tremendous match. You know that AJ and Daniels work very well together and have had great matches, but with the angle surrounding things, I know that many were down on the match. But they delivered. They worked hard, they bled, they worked the stipulation very well and overall I enjoyed what they presented. The closing spot, which was the Styles Clash off of the ramp through a table, was the perfect exclamation point to close things out, and they finished at the right time with the right finish. This was a great outing, a very different style of match compared to what had been presented thus far, and they simply delivered because they were given the opportunity to do so.
Austin Aries defeated Bobby Roode: And then we came to the main event of the evening, and it delivered. While Joe vs. Angle was a great “pure sport” match, and Styles vs. Daniels was a great “last man standing” match, Roode vs. Aries was simply a great pro wrestling match. Once again, the best thing about the card was outside of the X-Division matches, the three top matches not only delivered, but they did so in different ways. Variety is the spice of life and all of that jazz. Roode has been great as the heel champion, but due to some of the opponents he has had (Hardy, Anderson, Sting and such) he hasn’t had the chance to shine as well in the main event scene. So you have Roode, who has been delivering, working hard and wanting to shine, and then you add in Aries who is looking to make his mark, and you have a recipe for success. They worked really hard, the crowd was into the entire match and everything was laid out well. In the end, Booby Roode paid for his sins here. After months of screwing opponents with beer bottles and ref bumps, Aries survived, and as he said, he wins matches with brain busters, and that is hat he did here. They gave the fans what they wanted, Aries won the belt, and the title run of the dastardly Bobby Roode was ended. The live crowd loved the victory, and while TNA has missed he ball in the past on such things (giving fans what they want), they paid it off with a nice confetti celebration, making this FEEL like a big time moment. And the thing is that their pre-show “Before the Bell” stuff also helped this, I just wish more had seen that. Aries, about to retire and leave the business and go to Vegan culinary school, takes the bookings this time last year with TNA. He busts his ass, he works hard, he gets over and now he is on top of the TNA World. This was a great match followed up by the great moment, and this is how you do things. I guess the question now is, what does the future hold for the TNA World Title scene? The original plan, or so it seemed was to build to Roode vs. Storm at Bound for Glory. They obviously can change the title back and do that, but the future is a bit unclear here, and that isn’t exactly a horrible thing. Will they give Aries some run and see if he can succeed? I am not sure, but I am curious, and I like that. Sometimes the simplest thing is the best, sometimes you simply need to give the fans what they want, to allow them to be happy. That’s what TNA did here at Destination X.
Last Chance X-Division Tournament Match: Not a bad match at all and a fine way to kick off the show. Part of me feels that this could have been utilized better as a pre-show match, due to the fact that it’s addition makes nine matches for the PPV, and I fear that some of the matches will get shorted on time due to that. But that being said, a fine way to open the show. There was a lot of flying and in all honesty a more “Indy” style of match, which is both good and bad. Good in that it was energetic and fun, but bad in that it felt way too disjointed at times. Going in I felt that Andrews of Rubix should win the match, and while Andrews winning is fine, the crowd was REALLY behind Rubix out there and I also felt that he looked better out there. In my opinion he should have been given the nod, but again, Andrews was a fine choice. Overall this was a fine way to kick off the show, but not quite enough to make it into the right.
Jesse Sorensen Speech – Zema Ion defeated Flip Casanova: TNA decided to remind us about Jesse Sorensen and his broken neck, with a video package and an appearance from the man himself. I get exactly what they were doing here, but unfortunately it didn’t work. Now let me add this, I actually have no problem with them using the Sorensen injury angle here, because they have used it in the past and it is a staple of wrestling. But the problem was that the entire segment was designed for him to discuss Ion and then get MAD HEAT on Ion when he came out. Instead, when Ion came out for their stare down after the big emotional speech, they essentially took a dump on the whole thing, because they didn’t react. So it failed, even with commentary pushing the angle as hard as they did, it felt forced and it didn’t connect with the audience or myself. And then there was the match, which was simply not good. I know that people like to throw around the “Indy-riffic” term a lot, but that is exactly what this was. Flip Casanova, who may be a tremendously nice person, just didn’t fit in all that well, and Ion wasn’t good enough to carry him to a good match. So the attempt to get heat failed, the match wasn’t good, and the fact that Ion also had what was essentially a squash didn’t get him any heat either. This whole segment was the first thing on the show that I really didn’t care for.
Ultimate X: Disappointing on several levels is the best way to describe the match here, as I just never got into what they where doing out there. I know I am in the minority, since so many seemed to enjoy the match and that is fantastic, but I respectfully disagree. The lineup of Zema Ion, Mason Andrews, Kenny King and Sonjay Dutt looked good on paper, but in my opinion, this match ends up on the bottom tier of Ultimate X matches, which is unfortunate, because the tournament ends in a whimper. As someone who has watched all of these kinds of matches, I didn’t go in expecting the world, but it was short, they just threw a bunch of stuff out there, the Dutt injury hurt the flow and the finish was anti-climatic (but I get what they were going for). Also, while I think that the plan to go with Ion vs. Sorensen (when he can return) is a good plan, and they tried to lay things out to make Ion a dastardly heel, he got no heat at all. Seriously, these people didn’t care that he cheated, that he broke someone’s neck and they barely reacted to the fact that Ion dedicated the victory to the guy he injured. There is “A for effort,” and then there is a real grade. They tried to do several things, but I just do not feel that it clicked, which is a shame. Also let me add, much credit to Sonjay Dutt for continuing. He reportedly separated his shoulder, and according to people backstage, pulled a Martin Riggs and popped that bad boy back in himself. Damn son.
NONE
I have discussed this on the podcast, but I will say it again, if at this time last year you told people that TNA would have the most momentum out of the big three (WWE, TNA and ROH) in the US, you would have been laughed at. But the fact of the matter is that they do, and it is a great thing to say. While not a perfect PPV, the big three matches delivered big time, and the moment of Aries winning the title was well done and TNA did an important thing, they gave the fans what they wanted. And that is part of the success I feel. You can’t always bow to the popular demand when building the product, but they have listened to a degree, and it is working. Guys like Storm and Roode are getting the shot we asked for. AJ, Daniels, Joe and Angle are allowed to go out there and do their thing. They are bringing in fresh X-Division talent because they needed it. This PPV had no Sting, no Hardy, no Hogan, and no Anderson. I personally do not like the Claire Lynch angle, but we have gotten great matches out of it. For so long I have always stated that with TNA it is one step forward and three steps back, and that they were their own worst enemy. And that has been true. Allow me to use a baseball analogy. Lately, instead of trying to use the HUGE NAMES all the time and telling them to hit homeruns with everything and promising HUGE GAME CHANGING SURPRISES, they have opted to be a workman style baseball team. They are hitting for contact, getting singles, stealing bases and moving the runners into scoring position. And that is why they are succeeding, they are using the guys to the best of their abilities more often. They are finally giving the guys a chance to succeed instead of screwing the pooch and sending the guys to bat down five in the bottom of the first. This is three good PPVs in a row for the company, and not only was this another important step in the right direction, but it is hard to argue that they are on a roll and delivering. Sure there are some things that annoy others and myself (the Claire Lynch thing for one) but the last three PPVs have delivered, and not only am I enjoying the overall product, I am very interested to see what will happen next. Overall this PPV was a huge positive for the promotion, and the best that they have put on in some time. But that’s just my opinion. SHOW RATING: 8.3 What the numbers mean.. 0 – 0.9: Torture As a reminder, this is not a basic “how good was the show” number like a TV show, as I have always felt that a PPV is very different from a regular show. I have always judged PPV on how they built to a match, the match quality, crowd reactions to matches and angles, the overall booking, how the PPV leads into the future, PPV price and so on and so forth. I have added this in here for an explanation since so many have asked, and I have previously discussed it on podcasts. I understand that this may seem different, but that is how I grade. Obviously your criteria may be different. |
YEAR IN REVIEW (PPV) by Csonka:
TOP PPVs:
* Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur iPPV 8.4
* TNA Destination X – 8.3
* DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2012 iPPV – 8.2
* DGUSA Mercury Rising 2012 iPPV – 8.1
* WWE Extreme Rules – 8.0
* EVOLVE 13 iPPV – 8.0
* ROH Border Wars iPPV – 8.0
* WWE WrestleMania 28 – 7.9
* ROH Best in the World iPPV – 7.5
* ROH 10th Anniversary iPPV – 7.4
* TNA Slammiversary – 7.4
* ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – 7.4
* EVOLVE 12 iPPV – 7.3
* TNA Sacrifice – 7.2
* EVOLVE 16 iPPV – 7.1
* EVOLVE 14 iPPV – 7.0
* EVOLVE 11 iPPV – 7.0
* EVOLVE 15 iPPV – 6.8
* TNA Victory Road – 6.5
* TNA Against All Odds – 6.5
* WWE Over the Limit – 6.5
* TNA Genesis – 5.0
* WWE Royal Rumble – 5.0
* WWE No Way Out – 4.9
* WWE Eliminating Chamber – 4.0
* TNA Lockdown – 3.0
TOP PPV MATCHES:
* From The ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night Two iPPV –ROH Title Match: Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin [****¾]
* From WWE Over the Limit – WWE Title Match: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan [****½]
* From WWE WrestleMania 28 – Hell in a Cell: The Undertaker vs. Triple H [****½]
* From TNA Slammiversary – Tag Team Title Match: Kaz and Daniels vs. Kurt Angle and AJ Styles [****¼]
* From WWE Extreme Rules – World Title Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus [****¼]
* From DGUSA’s Mercury Rising 2012 – Low Ki, BxB Hulk and Akira Tozawa vs. Ricochet, PAC and Mazaaki Mochizuki [****¼]
* From EVOLVE 11 iPPV – Fit Finlay vs. Sami Calihan [****¼]
* From TNA Destination X – TNA Title Match – Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode [****¼]
* From WWE Extreme Rules – John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar [****]
* From WWE Extreme Rules – WWE Title Match: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk [****]
* From EVOLVE 11 iPPV – Low Ki vs. El Generico [****]
* From EVOLVE 13 iPPV – El Generico vs. Sami Calihan [****]
* From DGUSA’s Mercury Rising 2012 – Open the Freedom Gate Title Match – Johnny Gargano vs. Masato Yoshino [****]
* From DGUSA’s Open the Ultimate Gate 2012 – Open the United Gate Tag Title Match: Chuck Taylor vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet and Masato Yoshino [****]
* From DGUSA’s Open the Ultimate Gate 2012 – Akira Tozowa vs. Masaaki Mochizuki [****]
* From WWE WrestleMania 28 – WWE Title Match: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho [****]
* From The ROH Best in the World iPPV – Hybrid Fighting Rules: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly [****]
* From The ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – Last Man Standing Match – Kevin Steen vs. El Generico [****]
* From TNA Sacrifice – AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle [****]
* From TNA Destination X – Last Man Standing Match – AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels [****]
* Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur iPPV – Ladder Match: Gran Akuma vs. Icarus [****]
* From EVOLVE 15 iPPV – Samuray Del Sol vs. El Generico [****]
* From EVOLVE 14 iPPV – Samuray Del Sol vs. El Generico [****]
* From WWE No Way Out – WWE Title Match – CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan [***¾]
* From TNA Destination X – Bound For Glory Series Match: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe [***¾]
* From TNA Slammiversary – X-Division Title Match: Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe [***¾]
* Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur iPPV – Campeonatos de Parejas Match: Chuck Taylor vs. Johnny Gargano © vs. The Young Bucks [***¾]
* Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur iPPV – Lucha de Apuesta: Mask vs. Hair Match: Hallowicked vs. Tim Donst [***¾]
* Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur iPPV – Eddie Kingston, Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Soldier Ant & Green Ant defeated 17, The Shard, assailANT, combatANT, deviANT [***¾]
* From TNA Sacrifice – Austin Aries vs. Bully Ray [***¾]
* From TNA Lockdown – Bobby Roode vs. James Storm [***¾]
* From WWE Over the Limit – World Title Match – Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio [***¾]
* From WWE WrestleMania 28 – The Rock vs. John Cena [***¾]
* From The ROH Best in the World iPPV – ROH World Title Match: Davey Richards © vs. Kevin Steen [***¾]
* From The ROH Border Wars iPPV – ROH World Title Match: Davey Richards © vs. Kevin Steen [***¾]
* From The ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – ROH World Title Match: Davey Richards © vs. Roderick Strong vs. Eddie Edwards [***¾]
* From TNA Victory Road – Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy [***¾]
* From TNA Against All Odds – TNA X-Division Title Match: Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley [***¾]
* From The ROH 10th Anniversary iPPV – Eddie Edwards & Adam Cole vs. Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly [***¾]
* From DGUSA’s Mercury Rising 2012 – El Generico vs. Lince Dorado vs. Rich Swann vs. Cima vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Samurai Del Sol [***¾]
* From EVOLVE 12 iPPV – Fit Finlay vs. Jon Davis [***¾]
* From EVOLVE 12 iPPV – AR Fox vs. Sami Calihan [***¾]
* From EVOLVE 13 iPPV – Low Ki vs. Jon Davis [***¾]
* From EVOLVE 13 iPPV – DGUSA Open the Dream Gate Title Match: Johnny Gargano vs. AR Fox [***¾]
Thoughts From the Man Cave Review’s HBO’s Entourage: Stewart Lange is back in the Man Cave with Jeremy Lambert to continue a look back at famous TV shows that have wrapped up. In this episode they tackle the HBO hit Entourage. They’ll look back on all eight seasons, the greatness of Ari Gold and Lloyd, the missteps in the final season, the uselessness of Turtle, and everything in between. They run down the show season by season and give their thoughts on the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly of the show including all the great music and guest stars. You can check out the show here.
Thoughts From The Man Cave Reviews HBO’s The Wire (Season 1): All-around personality Mark Radulich joins the Man Cave to look back at one of the greatest TV shows in history, The Wire. Unlike in previous TV show review podcasts though, we couldn’t fit all the details of The Wire series into one podcast, so we’re looking back season-by-season. In this episode we’ll go through season one and give our thoughts on all the main plots including Jimmy McNulty’s quest for greatness, Stringer Bell’s quest for legitimate success, D’Angelo Barksdale’s quest to understand the game, Omar’s quest for revenge, and so much more. We’ll go into as many details as we can about the season and tell you why you should watch the show if you love smart television. You can listen to the show at this link.
Thoughts From The Man Cave Interviews Strikeforce Fighter Jason High: Special co-host Todd Bergman and Jeremy Lambert interview Strikeforce fighter Jason High in the Man Cave. We’ll talk to Jason about finally having a fight after nearly 10 months of being out of action, what he’s been doing/working on during his time off, and his opponent next Saturday. Then we hit a number of other subjects with “The Kansas City Bandit” including his thoughts on twitter, this weekends Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen bout, TRT vs. Weed, Breaking Bad vs. The Wire, Childish Gambino, and more. Plus I try and book Jason’s next fight. Make sure to watch Jason in action next Saturday against Nate Moore on ShowtimeExtreme at 8PM Est on the preliminary card of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy. You can listen to the show at this link.
Thoughts From The Man Cave Reviews HBO’s The Wire (Season 2): Great man Mark Radulich joins the Man Cave to continue our trek through The Wire. This episode we’ll go through season 2 and discussion everything that went wrong with the detail, the Sobotka’s, the Barksdale’s, and pretty much everyone who wasn’t Greek. Even though this was a transitional season, there is still plenty to talk about as a lot of what happens in season 2 sets up the rest of the series. You can check out that show at this link.
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