In TNA's early days, it was very easy to get the impression that Vince Russo and company were just trying too hard. This PPV suffered badly from stipulation overload.
'Ringside Revenge' For The TNA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. DDP
The TNA commentators were keen to insist that this wasn't a 'lumberjack' match, but it was admittedly hard to tell the difference. This was a decent affair, but as expected, there was a screwy finish which tainted the bout significantly.
The novelty of the 'ringside revenge' concept quickly wore off, making this incredibly tedious, and nothing out of the ordinary. This was a poor main event.
X Division Show Their Talents
The X-Division Title match on the card definitely delivered though. Elix Skipper, AJ Styles, Ron Killings and Christopher Daniels were the combatants, and this was worked very well.
The wrestlers started out on two tag teams, and just had a regular tag team bout. The person who was pinned was eliminated, then a regular three-way dance ensued. Once a combatant was eliminated from this, the two remaining wrestlers fought in an 'Ultimate X Match' for the X Division crown.
This was an extremely lively bout which contained outstanding high spots and near falls. Once again though, the bout was marred by a screwy finish, but despite this, this was still 'match of the night'.
Best Of The Rest: The Undercard
The best match on the undercard was a 'falls count anywhere' bout contested between Jeff Hardy and Abyss. This had weapons and high spots galore, and added to Jeff Hardy's reputation for having good matches in TNA.
Kip James' 'first blood' match against Kevin Nash wasn't a great offering. It was better than most people would expect, but that isn't saying much. The mobility (or immobility it should be said) of Nash was the determining factor in this, and James really didn't have much to work with. However, one plus of this bout was that it seemed to go down well with the crowd, so there is at least one good point.
Monty Brown's match against Trytan was pure garbage. Trytan looked uncomfortable everywhere, and after all the hype that surrounded his entry into TNA, there was a massive comedown as he was an appalling wrestler. The only saving grace of this bout was that it was quite short.
Phi Delta Slam's tag team affair with the Disciples of Destruction (the Harris Brothers) was only marginally better. This was just filler for the PPV, and it isn't surprising that the crowd didn't get into this.
Two shot workers also collided as Dustin Rhodes collided with Raven in a bullrope match. This pointless stipulation added nothing to the bout, and the PPV would have probably been better off without this.
Chase Stevens' bout against Chris Sabin was much better. This highlighted that the X-Division is TNA's biggest asset, and that they should be exploiting this more. Sabin is just an excellent wrestler, who rarely has a bad match.
The opener on the card was an eight man tag where AMW (America's Most Wanted), BG James and Konnan fought Team Canada. This actually set the scene very well for the PPV, and this really got the crowd going.
Destination X 2005: The Final Verdict
The X-Division title match is really good, as is Jeff Hardy's bout against Abyss. However, there is a lot filler, and a lot of pointless stipulations, but this should be just about cancelled out by the good points. There are better TNA events, but this is still a solid enough effort.
Rating: 6.5/10
How To Buy Destination X 2005
TNA Destination X 2005 is availiable on demand on the website of TNA Video Vault.
