The show kicks off with a 4-way Ladder Match to find out who will be the next challenger for Doug Williams' X-Division Championship between Brian Kendrick, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Amazing Red. The crowd is fairly solidly behind Kendrick, which I'm guessing is mostly because (a) he was relatively new to TNA and (b) he had a reputation for being underutilized in the WWE. Kazarian was, in kayfabe, returning to TNA after an extended hiatus caused his shame over losing in the X Division Cup some years earlier, but really he had been under a hood as Suicide for much of that time. Kazarian is a guy that the TNA execs always seemed eager to push and its not really much of a surprise why; he was a very polished worker who could do just about any style, had a good physique, did not look out of place against heavyweights, and was handsome and young. However, he never quite got over as himself - or even really as Suicide - to the level of deserving that big main event push (at least to my eyes). This is a good, fun spotfest but nothing more than that. Cool moves, ladder bumps, but nothing much going on in terms of psychology or innovation that would make me ever want to see this again. (3/5)
Tara vs. Daffney is next and is...surprisingly not terrible. They don't get a lot of time and the crowd doesn't seem super into it, but I liked Daffney's use of submissions and urgency throughout. Tara's finisher looked brutal too. I think the real problem here is that Daffney was never treated like much of a big deal in TNA - or even WCW - so it was odd seeing her getting a title shot on PPV. (2/5)
Rob Terry defends the Global Championship against Magnus (no longer "Brutus") in a squash that goes less than 3 minutes. Its hard to rate something like this - it's either really remarkable because of the characters involved or its not. This was not. Rob Terry had a great look, but his execution of big power moves wasn't super special. I guess it could've been worse and they'd actually have put on a competitive contest? (1.5/5)
Ultimate X is next - GenerationMe (aka the Young Bucks) vs. The Motor City Machines Guns to determine who will be the number one contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championships. Like the opener, this is spotfest, but a fun one and because the environ is not your typical ladder match, there is something "fresher" about this. I also like that, unlike a multi-man where everybody is trying to win but there ends up being guys having a lot of "down time," there is more of a structure to this match. I wouldn't consider this "must see" unless you are super into this sort of action, which, to me, is a bit too "spotty" and doesn't really pack enough emotional punch. Yes, the high-flying is great. Yes, guys take some wicked falls off the structure to the mat. Yes, the superkicks and the slams look great. But...I dunno...its all so "performative," intended to impress rather than to really tell a story. (3.5/5)
And the next match - Kevin Nash and Eric Young vs. Sean Waltman and Scott Hall - might suffer from the exact opposite problem, telling a story so tired and predictable that even if it were perfectly executed, it would probably still be bad. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the execution of the predictable heel turn from Nash was not only telegraphed but is performed so poorly that it is painful to watch. I guess there might be some sort of morbid fun in watching Scott Hall either pretend to be high and going through the motions or actually be high and go through the motions. Waltman actually looks good for moments in this match, doing most of the work for his team against Young, but in this context, a retread of angles and gimmicks that were last relevant over a decade earlier, it is a waste of whatever remaining agility, speed, and ability he had left in the tank. This isn't a trainwreck because trainwrecks are interesting, this is more of just a slog. Bad stuff. (1/5)
The X-Division Champion, Doug Williams, defended the title against Shannon Moore next. Moore was doing his Prince of Punk gimmick, which was atrocious and, at one point, drew "CM Punk" chants. Moore may have been a legit punk rock fan, but his get-up was so over-the-top that it was impossible to believe and the opposite of "credible." As a wrestler, though, he was solid and this is a decent enough match. I'm not sure what Moore did exactly to earn this title shot aside from being Jeff Hardy's buddy, which is alluded to on commentary. This probably could've been on TV rather than a PPV, but whatever. Inoffensive and too brief to be boring. I liked Williams' post-match promo. (2.5/5)
The TNA Tag Team Championships were on the line next as Hernandez and Matt Morgan defended against Beer Money. The story of this match was Morgan was upset about Hernandez offering up a shot at their titles to Beer Money, who were also babyfaces. Morgan had basically turned heel at the previous PPV, but he and Hernandez had not yet split up their partnership as they were reigning champions. I really liked the way this was worked as Hernandez got to be a powerhouse babyface while Morgan was a smarmy bastard. I don't "get" the chants of boring that happened at times because all the work was really solid and Hernandez and Morgan's big spots were great. Maybe this felt "old hat" or repetitive of other similar storylines over the years, but I thought this was pretty darn good. (3/5)
Kurt Angle vs. Ken Anderson follows. These two have good chemistry and wrestle a bit more of a "Sports Entertainment"-type match than some of the other more spot-heavy matches on this show. It is a nice change of pace. I liked the physicality. I liked that Anderson had to use some shortcuts and treachery to shift the momentum because Angle was the more experienced and more skilled grappler. They jammed a ton of action into a relatively short match. I wasn't a fan of Anderson getting a visual pin after a ref bump, especially as he had not hit his actual finisher or used a weapon to accomplish it. Anderson grabbed a chair as the referee oversold the getting run into but then tossed it aside and grabbed Angle's dog tags instead. Anderson went for a big right hand but Angle caught him and hit him with a German Suplex! Angle grabbed the Warrior Medal (I'm not sure what the difference is between those and a dog tag) and used it to carve into Anderson's head! Ouch. The referee still being unconscious didn't make much sense but he eventually came to as Angle applied an Ankle Lock and Anderson, his face covered in crimson, was forced to tap out. I don't know if it needed such an overbooked finish - especially one that relied on the referee being knocked out for minutes on end - but this was a good bout and was believable as a "feud ender" (though it wouldn't end up being that after Anderson's post-match promo, calling out Angle on having to resort to cheap tactics to defeat him). (3/5)
Main event time - AJ Styles vs. Abyss for Style's TNA World Championship. Styles is an awesome bump machine in this match and, for the second PPV in a row, proved he was more than capable of being "The Guy" in TNA even as a heel. Styles might be Abyss' best ever opponent as he bumps and sells and feeds for him with so much energy that you forget how limited Abyss was outside of hardcore matches (and how goofy and cringe his babyface work is). I'm not sure I would call this a total Styles carry job because Abyss' offense looks good and the crowd is behind him, but its clear who is making this match work. The finishing sequence is abysmal, though, with the referee having to react to "mace" seconds before the can actually spews any mist and the camera man missing Styles' low blow. Then we get a non-finish when Styles gets choke-slammed through the mat because Abyss channeled the Power of Hulkamania that existed in Hulk's Hall of Fame ring (which he had gifted Abyss for some bizarre reason). (3/5)
With an overall Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5, Destination X 2010 was a mixed bag featuring a strong Bucks/MCMG match, a pretty good main event, a solid Angle/Anderson bout, and a Tag Team Championship match that, like his match against Angle months earlier, showed there was some serious untapped potential Matt Morgan if he had had the right coaches to push him to that next level. The worst match on the show was the Hall & Waltman vs. Nash and Young bout, which was both predictable in its outcome and in its quality. Tara/Daffney was decent and both X-Division matches were perfectly fine if unmemorable. If you're into this era of TNA Wrestling, this show probably offers just enough to make it worth checking out.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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