Ground Zero: Entry 21
TNA Impact 160 - Destination-X (2006)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Picture:
Following what had proven to be a really successful fourth edition of Bound For Glory, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship picture had become really interesting now that Jeff Jarrett was no into his fourth reign as the company's champion. Jeff Jarrett would make it clear that he had a lot of respect for Dave Batista for making the jump during a time when it hadn't been certain whether or not the TNA venture was going to prove to be successful. This would then lead to Jeff Jarrett speaking the praises of other member of the roster that had made the same jump. However, Jeff would make the point as much as he respected the decision to jumps ship that wrestlers like Batista were never going to matchup to the wrestling calibre that wrestlers like Jeff Jarrett, Syxx-Pac and Kevin Nash were able to bring to the ring each and every week. This would lead to Jeff making Batista an offer, in exchange for a shot at the world title Batista would have to agree to one condition. If he lost to Jarrett at Victory Road, then he would become the newest member of Planet Jarrett and that Jeff would take Batista under his wing and educate him in such a way that he would become the future face of the company. Batista would offer a response a week later, and make it clear to Jeff that he would accept Jeff's challenge but that there was absolutely no chance that Jeff was going to be able to claim a victory over him in a one-on-one situation. This agreement would be made part of the contractual agreement as part of the title's contract signing ahead of the match at the pay per view.
The contest at Victory Road would prove to be a hard fought contest, but it very much looked as if Batista was on course for reclaiming the title as he had a tank of stamina much larger than Double J. However, Jeff never being someone to just plainly follow the rules would have aid from his stablemates with Kevin Nash clambering onto the ringside distracting the referee and diverting his attention is such a way that would allow for AMW's James Storm to smash a beer bottle right into head with the glass shattering everywhere. Jarrett would make sure to sweep all of the glass out of the ring with his foot, before dropping on top of Batista for the pin-fall and retaining the world title. On the episode of Impact following the PPV (Impact episode 164), Batista would be summoned to the ring where he was now contractually obligated to join Planet Jarrett which he would do so without a fight joining Jarret, Nash, Syxx-Pac, Harris and Storm in the ring. Jeff would welcome Batista to the family and make it clear that the best way to learn to be the best, was to watch the best and so from this point onwards Batista would be accompanying Jeff to ring to become the perfect understudy.
Batista - the newest member of Planet Jarrett
At the same time Jarrett would make the announcement that Batista would therefore not at the needed level of expertise to be entering the Turning Point Trophy at the upcoming pay per view which to surprise, would massively frustrate Batista but he would have no other choice but comply. Batista would shadow Jeff Jarett, who would be booked to face Kip James at the Turning Point Pay Per View. Kip James would unfortunately to really come close to what Jeff would bring to the match, although Batista would only watch at ringside and not actually provide any aid in Jeff's successfully retaining the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The man that would end up winning (the now 8-man tournament) would end up being AJ Styles who had now earn themselves a shot at the world title at Slammiversary (2006). The relationship between TNA and NJPW would result in Jeff Jarrett defending the world title against Hiroyoshi Tenzan at the Tokyo Dome Show: Toukon Shidou Chapter 1 in a contest that would thrill the Japanese fans (with Batista joining Jeff at ringside) in a match that would raise the profile of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as Jeff would retain the title. A few weeks later at Final Resolution, Jeff Jarrett would be challenged by BG James in what was sold as the final time that James would challenge Jeff for the top prize in TNA. In the match at Final Resolution though, Batista would seem to finally dance to the tune that Jarrett had been wanting him to as he would play a part in the contest and end up leaping into the ring and flattening BG with a Spear whilst Jeff feigned an injury as the referee checked on him which would soften BG up enough for Jeff to follow up with the Stroke and the title victory. Batista look uncomfortable during Jeff's title celebration as he had seemingly transitioned from a babyface to more of a neutral standing within the company.
Rhino would emerge as Jeff Jarrett's opponent at Against All Odds, with the recent arrival having been making quite a name for himself to the point that he was no being rewarded with his second shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Just like the previous pay per view, it would be Batista's involvement that would lead to Jeff successfully retaining the belt at Against All Odds. Rhino would take great exception to this though, but rather than demanding another shot at the title his sole focus would become exacting clinical and damaging revenge on Batista. This would result in Rhino and Batista being booked to face each in a Hardcore match, whilst Jarrett would defend the world title against a man who had been injured for the last fifteen months. Travis Tomko.
Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion - Travis Tomko
Travis Tomko had held the title for a period of eight months in which he had successfully defended the title nine times before having injured himself at Victory Road (2004) and had since not wrestled since. TNA Commissioner Sting had decided that despite Tomko being out for so long, he had never lost the title and therefore he felt that he was the man who was most deserving of a world title shot. Tomko's ring rust would be noticeable though as he would fall short with Jarrett successfully retaining the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once more at Destination-X. In the other contest Rhino would beat the crap out of Batista, only for Kevin Nash coming to Batista's aid with Nash Jackknife Powerbombing Rhino through a table that would allow Batista to get back into the contest and win the match. At the matches' conclusion, Batista was actually hugging and thank Nash for coming to his aid.
NWA TNA X-Division Championship Picture:
TNA Commissioner Sting would announce that following the success of the 'Super X-League' - wrestlers that wanted to be part of the X-Division would need to officially register themselves as part of the division in order to participate within it and challenge for the NWA TNA X-Division Championship. Sixteen men would revealed as the first official members of the 'X-Division'.
Ace Steel, Austin Aries, Brian Lawler, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Jimmy Rave, Katsushi Takemura, Paul London, Petey Williams, Rey Mysterio, Rocky Romero, Sabu, Samoa Joe, Spike, Syxx-Pac & Tazz Wolf.
With Katsushi Takemura now the holding of the anytime X-Division contract, made him the second most powerful man (behind champion Sabu) but because of the manner in which he had won the 'Super X-League' with the aid of Justin McCully had now painted a massive bullseye on his back with Samoa Joe as the man chasing the target. Much to Samoa Joe's annoyance Takemura would be working in Japan for the next month, whilst McCully would be nowhere to be seen which would result in Samoa Joe taking out his anger on every member of the Division he would face for the next month picking up three impressive wins. However, it would be decided that Tazz Wolf who had been one of the more impressive men in the competition and it would be decided by Sting, that he would face Sabu at Victory Road for the title. Another match that would take place would be a triple threat contest between Samoa Joe, Jimmy Rave and Paul London with it made clear that the winner would earn themselves a title shot Turning Point.
At Victory Road, Samoa Joe would be on course to himself his title match at the next pay per view only for Justin McCully to leap over the barricade and with the same metal spade would smash into the side of Joe's head knocking him right off his feet, preventing him from pinning the fallen Jimmy Rave. McCully would exit the ring, after having screwed Joe over twice now, whilst Paul London was able to claim the easiest victory of his career as he flopped on top of the motionless Joe to claim the win. In the X-Division Championship match it would be Tazz Wolf who would claim victory over Sabu, to become the new champion.
It would surface that Samoa Joe had been put on the injury list for two months with doctor citing that he had been showing signs of a concussion after the second metal spade attack. This would give Katsushi Takemura more time to complete his commitments with NJPW (as it was obvious that some sort of storyline was brewing between both men, but with Takemura being primarily employed by New Japan - the Japanese promotion would always be his first priority. And it wasn't surprising considering how much time four members of NJPW had spent on TNA programming in recent weeks. Paul London had earned his championship match at Turning Point - but he would seemingly be an aid in just putting Tazz Wolf (Tarzan Boy) over and making him look strong as the new champion without being a complete squash at the final pay per view of 2005.
Tazz Wolf would make it clear following Turning Point, that he wanted to prove himself against a high calibre opponent if he was going to be given the respect of a true champion. This would result in him calling Syxx-Pac, Jimmy Rave and Brian Lawler. Tazz Wolf would make it clear that all three men were without a doubt the top three threats to him in the division at the current moment in time. Tazz Wolf would make it clear that he wanted to face all three men at the next pay per views, and would admit that even if he were to lose the title before he had faced everyone he still wanted to be booked to carry on proving himself against all three men. Jimmy Rave would be the first of the three men to step forward, which would lead to Tazz applauding Rave and thus setting up a match between the pair at Final Resolution.
Tazz Wolf and Rave would have a high standard match with both men showing their high flying ability and pure athleticism in a match that would really engage the fans and it was clear that Tazz Wolf was a man who was able to provide a wrestling product that had previously been offered when the likes of Ronn Killings, AJ Styles, Amazing Red and Chris Benoit had been the faces of the division. Tazz retaining the NWA TNA X-Division Championship would be followed up by Tazz making it clear that the man he would be facing at Against All Odds would be against two time tag team champion and one time X-Division champion Brian Lawler. Lawler though would prove to be much less of an impressive opponent as Jimmy Rave had been, but nonetheless the match was still a spectacle and Tazz Wolf would continue to look strong. This would now leave Syxx-Pac as the final man in the champion's journey with the match at Destination-X be booked as an 'Ultimate-X' match.
Tazz Wolf and Syxx-Pac would have a truly epic match with everyone watching on in complete awe at the high octane contest that both men were putting on for them in the contest, which would have thought as being a hard feat to following considering how exciting the last Ultimate-X match had been at BFG IV. It would be the two time former world champion Syxx-Pac though who would pull down the championship belt, to win the title belt for the first time in his career. More shockingly, despite him being a heel and a member of Planet Jarrett was that after the match Syxx-Pac and Tazz Wolf would share the ultimate sign of respect by shaking hands after the contest. One thing seemed for certain though, and that was that it seemed highly unlikely that these men would lock horns sometime in the near future.
NWA Intercontinental Championship Picture:
Following Bound For Glory, the announcement of the newly created NWA Intercontinental Championship had generated a lot of interest for the roster with it very much being sold as a gateway to the world title in the same way that the X-Division had been for the longest time - but it was clear that the wrestlers involved in challenging for the title wanted to be seen in a different manner than just the high flying luchador style that the X-Division was now being packaged as. Rather than a tournament being put together to crown a new champion, instead four top contenders were put on a shortlist by Sting who would struggle to decided who to cut so instead would book a Fatal Four way at Victory Road between Chris Benoit, Kevin Nash, Rhino and AJ Styles. The match would be an interesting contest, but it would be Benoit who would have his hand raised at the end of the contest to become the first ever champion. Benoit would clearly be pleased to the first champion and would take a lot of pride in building a legacy for the new title and the prestige that would eventually come with it. Benoit would defend the belt against Kevin Nash at Turning Point, with Chris holding onto the title once more. Following his first successful title defence, it would be announced that Chris Benoit would feature on the Toukon Shidou Chapter 1 card and would defend the title against none other than young talent Katsuyori Shibata - in what was being sold as Shibata's last match with New Japan. Benoit would give Shibata a great send off, whilst at the same time retaining the the title in what was Benoit's first match in twelve years.
1st ever NWA Intercontinental Champion - Chris Benoit
Benoit would once again successfully retain the title at Final Resolution as he would pick up a solo victory over Kevin Nash continuing his good run of form. At Against All Odds, after winning a number one contender's match at Final Resolution it was Colt Cabana who would earn his chance to challenge for the title. It would be Cabana who would pull off the performance of arguably his whole career as he would nail Benoit with the Colt .45 to wipe out Benoit and claim his first title during his tenure with TNA Wrestling.
Destination-X would be Cabana's first title defence and he wouldn't be given an easy one, as he be forced to defend the NWA Intercontinental Championship against America's Most Wanted James Storm and Team 3D's Bubba Ray with Cabana almost playing third wheel in a storyline that had been running between both tag teams for quite a while. Cabana would find himself having to contend with Chris Harris, D-Von, Spike and Syxx-Pac all involving themselves in the contest with Cabana getting no aid from any of his James Gang stablemates which would ultimately lead to his downfall as it would be James Storm who would claim the victory to become the title's third champion.
NWA World Tag Team Championship Picture:
Following 'Wicked Waters' (Hallowicked & Sharkboy) victory at Bound For Glory the pair had earned themselves a shot at the tag team titles at Victory Road. America's Most Wanted though were proving themselves to be on really good form and would just be too well oiled as a duo for either Hallowicked or Sharkboy to discover a way to penetrate the current tag team champions tough defence. Harris and Storm would both be seemingly impressed with their opponents, so much so in fact that they would offer them a second shot at the titles at Turning Point. Once again though America's Most Wanted would pick up another victory and continue their six month reign as the NWA World Tag Team Champions to finish off 2005. At Final Resolution however, the match would be booked as a triple threat ladder with the added addition of Team 3D. Team 3D's involvement in the match would finally prove to be AMW's undoing, that both teams would become so distracted with each other that Hallowicked would be given just enough time to sneak up the ladder and pull down the titles belt giving 'Wicked Waters' their first reign - but also make Shark Boy a four time tag team champion.
Hallowicked one half of the 'Wicked Waters' the new NWA World Tag Team Champions
At Against All Odds two major tag-team matches would take place. The first see America's Most Wanted and Team 3D compete in brutal 'Fans Bring Their Own Weapon's Match' in which both teams would absolutely brutalise each other to the point where both D-Von and Chris Harris were unable to even stand on their own two feet with James Storm somehow managing to drape his hand on top of Bubba Ray to claim the a brutal victory. In the match for the titles, 'Wicked Waters' would successfully defend their titles for the first time against a tag team that had really started to step up to the plate in recent months - The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas). It would be the current champions that would hold onto the belts, however at Destination-X, the Naturals as well as Zero-1 (Frankie Kazarian & Nova) would be involved in the first tag team Ultimate-X match. The match would seemingly backup Bubba Ray's vision of the importance of an injection of new teams in order to make the tag team division a strong as possible. All six men would put on a stellar performance, but it would be Frankie Kazarian who would uncouple the belts and make Zero-1 the new NWA World Tag Team Champions.
NWA National Championship Picture:
As had been its new intention, the belt would not become so much involved in heavy storylines but more became a prize that the wrestlers on the lower end of the card would involved themselves within. This shift in the championship's purpose would result in Rey Mysterio dropping the title relatively quickly to former champion William Regal (now three time champion) , although Regal despite having experience with the belt was still considered as someone one the bottom side of the pecking order. Regal would go on to hold on the title until Final Resolution, at which time he would lose the title to Nova. Nova however, would lose the title just a few weeks later (Impact episode 177) to Lance Hoyt. Lance Hoyt with Jacques Sharpe as his right hand man and watching his back, would then keep hold of the NWA National Championship with his last successful defence being against Austin Aries (Aries would return from injury to take part in the Destination-X PPV).
NWA Women's Championship Picture:
It would be scheduled for the NWA Women's Championship to be contested for at Against All Odds in a Battle Royal match that would crown the first champion during the TNA era. Missy Hemme who had been spending time in NWA: Florida would return to the main roster and joined by fellow developmental talent in - Allison Danger, Allysin Kay, Gail Kim, Jaqueline, Kimber Lee, Madison Rose, Michelle McCool, Traci Brooks, Trinity & Zoey Skye all joining the roster being promoted from TNA's developmental territory.
TNA would also announce the signing of indie worker Amy Dumas (Lita) who had departed company with her former employers about four months previous. The battle royal would be the first time in a long time that a women's match had been part of TNA programming and as positive as it was too watch, it would be Missy Hemme who would be the last woman in the ring and thus become the inaugural NWA Women's Champion. It was clear that she most definitely was not the most talented women in the ring, but it would be clear that her winning the title was largely because of her long-term loyalty to the company even during stints that their hadn't really been a place for her on TV.
Miss Hemme though would go down in the history books as the first, but she would lose the title almost as quickly as she had won it because on her first title defence at Destination-X, who would be used as nothing more than a tool of a squash match as Amy Dumas would claim the title for her own and very much give the women's division the representation the company clearly felt that it needed to be successful. The manner in which Miss Hemme had lost so easily, would leave questions of where Hemme would actually fit into TNA's long-term plans or whether she had been nothing more than a patsy who had now served her purpose.
