Destination...Why?

2007 is clearly not going to be TNA's year. As if the product hasn't gone far enough downhill this year already, last night's Destination X pay-per-view just helped to dig the hole deeper.

The booking didn't make sense, the storylines seemed rushed and carelessly thrown together, and the overall event, not surprisingly, was abysmal. As this article's title would suggest, it left a lot of questions beginning with "Why".

The pay-per-view started with LAX VS. Team 3D in another cheesy, re-named gimmick match...a "Ghetto Brawl". Why does TNA feel the need to keep making every match between these two teams a match with some sort of special stipulation? Is it because they're viewed as that uninteresting by themselves in a standard wrestling match?

If so, why are they facing each other on the pay-per-view? In a non-title match, no less? Alex Shelley made an appearance in this match for no apparent reason, and ended up being the deciding factor in the match. Weak. Homicide pinned Devon for the non-title win.

Apparently this is how TNA plans on writing off the NWA tag titles. Just don't ever defend them anymore.

Petey Williams and Gail Kim VS. James Storm and Miss Jackie in the "Double Bullrope Match" was next. I don't even remember how this pointless feud started, nor do I really care. Petey is continually being used as a jobber for the company - why he sticks around, I have no idea. There have got to be other wrestling companies around the world that drool over the marketing potential this guy has. Storm gets a pointless win in a pointless match.

Why does TNA still have Bob Backlund around? I know that he was a running joke with the PCS, but that has run its course...what is the purpose of having him around now?

Senshi and Starr competed in another lame gimmick match...winner can go over only by using a Crossface Chickenwing a la Bob Backlund. By this point, I am so tired of hearing about chicken wings on TNA shows, it's not funny. It was, however, a decent match between two athletic guys. Talk about a pair of guys who got huge pushes within the last year, only to be very forcefully pushed down to the midcard. Senshi got the win by slapping the chickenwing on Starr.

I took a well-timed piss next. At least, I wish I had. VKM had a match next against The Heart Breakers (a.k.a. Romeo and Antonio, The Heart Throbs in WWE). You could have heard a pin drop during this match; there was no buildup, no excitement, no nothing.

Why is Kip James even with the company? His shoot interview could have created so much bad P.R. for the company, and it's not like he's ever done anything for TNA anyway. Mafia wins after a Pumphandle Slam following a botched double team spot by The Heart Breakers. Lance Hoyt had a run-in for some reason.

Next was one of the biggest disappointments of the night. Jerry Lynn VS. Chris Sabin sounds like an O-fest, right? This, my friends, was a NO-fest on this particular night. Even the referee couldn't keep his attention on the match - apparently something interesting was going on in the crowd. Great job, TNA. You have one of your titles being defended and everybody's looking elsewhere in the arena. The match seemed too rushed, and it was another gimmick match as well, this time a Two Out of Three Falls.

The biggest disappointment of the event, however, came after the match. Apparently, all Christopher Daniels' extended absence and multiple promos meant was that he was going to grow a beard. That's right, everybody - no main event push, no title shot, just some new
facial hair. Compelling stuff, isn't it?

"Elevation X" was next. 12 minutes of two guys trying not to lose their balance. Amazing. Rhino won by stomping on Styles' hands. Maybe I expected too much considering all the hype this match was given. It was a huge letdown, though. Even the Styles fall at the end didn't get an O out of me.

Angle VS. Steiner didn't feature run-ins, didn't feature gimmicks, just featured two guys who wrestled like they were still in their prime. Counters, finishers, drama...this match, arguably, was the match of the night. The finish was somewhat weak (a sunset flip), but this was still more than I expected out of this match.

Next was the "Last Rites Match" between Sting and Abyss. The fans actually started chanting "Fire Russo!" during this match! I O'd big time. The premise of the match - the ring was set up like a hybrid between a funeral home and a graveyard. After all the hype, all the fancy weapons places around the ring, this thing still boiled down to a damn Casket Match.

I suppose there is nothing more symbolic of Abyss' burial than to have him lose a glorified Casket Match. Afterwards, they raised the casket to the ceiling. No clue what's going to come of this. Don't really care either. If Abyss is going to be used properly, I would suggest that TNA not waste him by throwing him into a crappy storylines like this one.

Finally, the main event. Samoa Joe VS. Christian Cage for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. A lot of people figured that Joe was going to win the title tonight, myself included. Especially after Joe had a tricked-out entrance with dancers and fire twirlers, I would have bet money that he had it in the bag. Let's face it - why would TNA have put on an entrance like that unless the guy was going to get the big win tonight?

The answer is simple - because nothing Russo ever does makes sense. Joe and Cage brawled throughout the "iMPACT!" Zone, then brought it back into the ring. Cage tried to get a count-out, only to have half of the faces on the roster come out and throw him back into the ring.

Referee bump, Cage and Joe battle for a little while longer, and then Cage wins in anti-climactic, heel fashion by pinning Joe with his feet on the ropes. All the hype this match got, all the momentum Joe was being given going into tonight, even going so far as to give him a stylish entrance, was all for nothing. Christian Cage is still the champ.

On a quick side note, TNA needs to stop surrounding this guy with flunkies. Christian has spent the better part of his career in factions or tag teams, and he's usually never portrayed as the leader. It's a very hard stigma to shake, and instead of realizing this, TNA is just surrounding him with more and more henchmen. It's very tricky to create a heel stable - do it wrong and instead of getting heat, suddenly nobody cares about seeing that person anymore.

Let's hope Lockdown doesn't disappoint. If it does, the writing may be on the wall for TNA.

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