Destination X 2012: Aries-Roode Caps TNA's Best Tournament-Driven Card of the Stretch

The final X Division tournament entry was decided in a four-way opener between Mason Andrews, Dakota Darsow, Lars Only and Rubix. Every participant had a chance to advance to the night championship decider, so there was more at stake than a standalone opening-card win. Rubix drew one of the biggest reactions after launching a coast-to-coast dropkick at Darsow, while the other three created a dramatic Tower of Doom from the turnbuckles. Andrews took punishment during that sequence but recovered as Darsow and Rubix were temporarily removed from the immediate finish.

With Lars Only standing between him and the next round, Andrews avoided a headscissors counter and hit a jumping knee followed by his fireman-carry TKO-style cutter. Andrews pinned Only at 8:22. The result did not crown an X Division champion; it gave Andrews an immediate match with Kid Kash, with further qualification necessary to reach Ultimate X. B- (7.2) acknowledges the crowd-pleasing risks and recognizable winning combination without grading the match as if its rapid four-way structure had the sustained story of a singles title defense.

Mason Andrews had almost no recovery after winning the four-way qualifier: Kid Kash came straight to the ring for the next elimination-round bout. Kash made the fatigue part of his strategy, punishing Andrews with chops and deliberate holds and repeatedly attempting casual pins. Andrews resisted despite the spent energy of the earlier match, then caught Kash during a risky aerial choice. When Kash attempted a moonsault from the corner, Andrews raised his knees to block it, providing the first believable reversal after several minutes of one-sided control.

Andrews gathered momentum with a clothesline and dropkick, but Kash stayed close enough to threaten another ending. The young challenger evaded a late knee attack and rolled Kash into a quick pin at approximately 8:08. This was not an X Division championship win; Andrews secured one place in the four-wrestler Ultimate X final. B- (7.2) rewards a straightforward veteran-versus-exhausted-upstart structure and the counter at the finish, though Kash offense dominates enough of the match to make this better in the context of Andrews two-match climb than as a stand-alone classic.

Kenny King and Douglas Williams took different approaches to their X Division championship tournament qualifier. Williams kept the early action grounded in chain wrestling and position, trying to deny King enough space for his faster combinations. King mixed holds with sudden athletic attacks, including a twisting leap to the floor. Williams answered with his own dive and nearly forced a countout after the pair fought outside, showing that this was not simply a technician standing still while a flyer performed moves.

Back inside, the reversals gathered momentum and King finally hit the Coronation, his finishing maneuver, to pin Williams at 10:35. The victory moved King into the later Ultimate X four-way for the vacant X Division Championship, not into a World Heavyweight title bout. B (7.6) recognizes a technical contest whose pace steadily increased toward a specific finishing move. It is worth watching for the contrast between King athletic offense and Williams attempts to wrestle at a controlled pace; the clean pin makes the tournament advancement unambiguous.

Sonjay Dutt faced Rashad Cameron in another elimination match for the night vacant X Division Championship, with no belt awarded for this individual fall. Cameron gained control early and broke up Dutt attempts to use his speed, using repeated covers and submission attempts to keep the veteran from building momentum. Dutt answered with rapid aerial offense, forcing Cameron to adapt rather than merely hold the center of the ring. Their compact encounter had clear consequence because the winner would still need to survive a later four-way Ultimate X match.

Cameron found counters to several attacks but could not avoid Dutt decisive high-risk finish: a moonsault from the top rope that ended with both feet driven into Cameron in a double stomp. Dutt pinned Cameron at 7:16 to join Andrews, King and the fourth qualifier in the final. B- (7.2) fits an energetic tournament step with a particularly sharp aerial finish, while the limited time gives less opportunity for a deeper competitive story than the show main attractions. A skim of Cameron early control and Dutt finishing stomp captures its importance.

Zema Ion opposed Flip Cassanova in the final single-elimination qualifier for the vacant X Division title, with both men knowing the successful wrestler would later face King, Dutt and Andrews in Ultimate X. The emotional backdrop involved Jesse Sorensen, injured earlier in the year; Sorensen had addressed the audience before the match and Ion mocked him while making his entrance. Once the bell rang, the two competitors moved quickly through high-risk attacks rather than building a long mat-wrestling exchange. Cassanova tried to use the kind of acrobatics that had earned him his tournament opportunity, but Ion matched his pace and prevented a sustained comeback.

Ion trapped Cassanova and connected with a modified Gory Bomb to earn the pin at approximately 3:54, completing the final group of four. The short bout achieved its bracket purpose but did not give Cassanova much time to build a convincing winning threat. C (6.2) and a skip verdict therefore reflect limited match depth, not a denial of its narrative consequence: Ion advancement mattered because he would compete for the new X Division champion later that evening. The Sorensen incident is an angle before the bell, not a separate participant in this singles match.

Samoa Joe faced Kurt Angle in a Bound for Glory Series match, separate from the five X Division tournament qualifiers that opened Destination X. Joe sought ten standings points with a win and tried to impose his strength, throwing Angle outside before diving through the ropes onto him. Angle repeatedly fought for the ankle lock and responded to Joe heavy offense with suplexes and the Angle Slam. Joe escaped a dangerous ankle-lock exchange, delivered a Muscle Buster for a near fall, then failed on an initial rear-naked-choke attempt as Angle countered. The repeated reversals built a credible struggle between the two men beyond simply preserving the older rivalry.

Late in the match Joe avoided another Angle Slam and cinched in the Coquina Clutch. Angle refused to tap, then lost consciousness inside the hold. Referee Earl Hebner stopped the match at 14:38, awarding Joe a **technical submission** and the ten series points. A- (8.5) rewards a real hard-fought tournament result and the distinction between a referee stoppage and a voluntary tap: Angle never submitted verbally or physically by choice. This was not the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match that evening; the winner gained Bound for Glory Series standings value.

A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels turned their long feud into a Last Man Standing match, where a wrestler must fail a referee ten-count rather than be pinned or forced to submit. Daniels tried to control the early exchanges with a chair and floor attacks while Styles answered with kicks, dives and strikes against the ringside barrier. Both men eventually bled as the fight spread to the entrance ramp and stage. Kazarian then interfered by shoving Styles off the stage, but Styles narrowly beat the count at nine, leaving Daniels surprised that an apparent finishing attack had not ended the contest.

Daniels attempted to use a table beside the stage to put Styles away, but Styles broke free, knocked Daniels into Kazarian and delivered a Pelé kick. He followed with a Styles Clash from the ramp through the table below. Daniels could not rise before the referee reached ten; Styles did, winning the match at approximately 17:41. A- (8.9) fits an ambitious feud pay-off whose final furniture spot is the decisive reason for a ten-count finish. The winning fall was not an ordinary Styles Clash pin, and Kazarian interference did not provide a separate official contestant.

Mason Andrews, Kenny King, Sonjay Dutt and Zema Ion met in Ultimate X for the VACANT TNA X Division Championship after surviving four qualifiers on the same show. Rather than secure a pinfall, the winning wrestler needed to climb the ropes suspended over the ring and take down the belt. King stopped several competitors with aerial attacks; Andrews reached the suspended title before King speared him off the cables. Dutt appeared injured and left with trainers briefly, then returned to scale the structure, which made his comeback one of the match emotional turning points. Ion repeatedly maneuvered his way toward the belt while the other three interrupted each attempt.

Dutt and Ion finally fought on the high suspended ropes with the championship directly in reach. As Dutt reached for the belt, Ion sprayed hairspray into his face, sending him down to the ring below. Ion then unhooked the title and won at 8:50, becoming the new X Division champion. B+ (8.0) credits the dangerous cable exchanges and the payoff to the earlier qualifiers, with cheating incorporated directly into the finish. No wrestler pinned another to win this bout; the physical unhooking of the vacant belt, not a routine three count, defined the championship result.

Austin Aries entered Destination X as the reigning X Division champion who had surrendered that title under Option C for a shot at Bobby Roode TNA World Heavyweight Championship. The X Division belt was therefore vacant and awarded earlier in the card; this match was solely for Roode world title. Roode used his power and grounded holds to slow the more mobile challenger. Aries threatened him with dives and a series of attempts at the Last Chancery submission, but Roode answered with a crossface, a spinebuster and hard impacts into the corner. Their increasingly intense exchanges made the showdown much larger than a symbolic gesture for the former cruiserweight champion.

Roode tried to secure the win illegally, first benefiting from a low blow while the referee was distracted, then striking Aries with the title belt and attempting the cover. Aries survived both near falls. In the final sequence he escaped another suplex attempt, landed a kick and delivered a Brainbuster, pinning Roode at approximately 22:42 to capture the World Heavyweight Championship. A- (8.9) reflects both an extended competitive performance and a major title change that validated Option C in its first prominent use. The celebration with confetti was the aftermath of a legitimate world-title win, not a second championship change on the night.