The 2013 Destination X (also known as ''Impact Wrestling: Destination X'') was a special episode of ''

Impact Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busine ...

'', produced by

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

(TNA), which took place on July 18 at the Broadbent Arena in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. It was the ninth event under the

Destination X Destination X was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of TNA pay-per-view events, event held by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion TNA Wrestling. The event primarily revolved around the X-Division, the 2005 ...

chronology. Unlike the previous events, this event was not held on

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV). Six matches were contested on the event, including one taped for a future episode of '' Xplosion''. In the

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

Chris Sabin Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by the ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 f ...

defeated

Bully Ray Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971), known by his ring name Bubba Ray Dudley (also spelled Buh-Buh Ray Dudley), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for being one-half of the Dudley B ...

to win his first World Heavyweight Championship in what was Sabin's Option C match, which he invoked by vacating the X Division Championship in exchange for a World Heavyweight Championship match at Destination X. The undercard featured first round tournament matches for the vacant X Division Championship and a match between

Austin Aries Daniel Healy Solwold Jr. (born April 15, 1978), better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, TNA Wrestling, where he is a t ...

and

Bobby Roode Robert Francis Roode Jr. (born May 11, 1976) is a Canadian retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is a Producer (professional wrestling), producer and was formerly an in-ring performer. Roode is known ...

in the 2013 Bound for Glory Series.

Production

Background

On January 11, 2013, TNA announced that there would only be four pay-per-view events in 2013 and instead beginning pre-taped One Night Only events in place of them. Destination X was also dropped as a pay-per-view event and TNA resumed it as a special edition of its primary television program ''

''. Destination X was held by TNA as an

X Division The X Division is a professional wrestling division utilized by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion and used historically in several National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) member promotions. The division is intended to emphasize a fas ...

-exclusive event since the 2011 edition. Beginning with the 2012 edition, Destination X also became a staple for the X Division Champions to invoke Option C, which required them to vacate the title to earn a shot for the World Heavyweight Championship at the event.

Storylines

Destination X featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. At Slammiversary XI on June 2, 2013, after the Ultimate X Match where

won the X Division Championship, TNA general manager

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

announced that just like in 2012, the reigning X Division champion would have the option to voluntarily vacate the title in exchange for a World Heavyweight Championship match at the 2013 Destination X special. Sabin was noncommittal as to whether he was going to cash in for the World Heavyweight title shot. On the June 27 episode of ''Impact Wrestling'', Sabin lost the title in a three-way match (also involving Kenny King) to

Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. Hogan then came out and announced that the real Suicide ( T. J. Perkins) had been knocked out backstage and that the Suicide in the ring was an impostor. Hogan then gave Suicide until the end of the night to either unmask or be stripped of the championship. Suicide then unmasked, revealing himself to be

. Aries confessed to being the person who jumped T. J. Perkins, explaining as he was the one who came up with the idea of the X Division Champion having the yearly right to exchange the X title for a match for the World Championship (and the one who traded in and won last year) and announced that he would be challenging

for the World Championship. On the July 4 episode of ''Impact Wrestling'', Sabin defeated Aries and Manik in a three-way match to regain the X Division Championship. The following week on ''Impact Wrestling'', Sabin vacated the title in exchange for a match to wrestle for the World Heavyweight Championship against Bully Ray at Destination X.

Event

Before the Destination X episode aired live on television, a match took place between Joseph Park and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

for the July 24 episode of '' Xplosion''. Park performed a

frog splash Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are performance techniques used in professional wrestling for simulated assault on opponents. The techniques involve jumping from the ring's posts and ropes, demonstrating the speed and agility o ...

on Devon from the middle rope for the win.

Preliminary matches

The opening match was a part of the 2013 Bound for Glory Series between

and

. After a back and forth match, Austin nailed a

brainbuster A brainbuster is a professional wrestling throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were executing a vertical suplex. The wrestler then falls onto their back so that ...

on Roode to win the match to score seven points in the BFG Series tournament and picking up his second consecutive win over Roode at Destination X. It was then announced that three triple threat qualifying matches would take place at Destination X and the winners of the three matches would compete in an

Ultimate X match The Ultimate X match is a type of professional wrestling match created by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), mainly used in their X Division. It is considered the signature match of the X Division. Match format Ultimate X is contested by th ...

on the July 25 episode of ''Impact Wrestling''. The first qualifying match pitted

Sonjay Dutt Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a Glossary of professional wrestling terms#agent, producer and Glossary of professional wrestling terms#manage ...

against

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

and

Petey Williams Peter Williams III (born August 26, 1981) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a backstage producer. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling, where he is a two-time X Division Champion. He is also known for hi ...

. Dutt nailed a moonsault double foot stomp on Homicide for the win. In the next qualifying match, Manik took on

Chavo Guerrero Jr. Salvador Guerrero IV (born October 20, 1970) better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Fe ...

and Kenny King. After a back and forth action, Manik executed a '' Death from Above'' on King for the win. The final qualifying match pitted

Greg Marasciulo Gregory Marasciulo (born March 30, 1987), better known by the ring name Trent Beretta, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Don Callis Family and one-half of Roppongi Vice wi ...

Rockstar Spud James Michael Curtin (born 30 January 1983) is an English former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a writer on Raw. During his time as an on screen performer in the company, he worked under the ring name Drake Maverick. He has also ...

and Rubix. Marasciulo executed a back-to-belly piledriver on Spud for the win. The match was followed by a confrontation between the Knockouts Champion

Mickie James Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) Additional January 6, 2017. is an American Country music, country singer and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE. She is also signed to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as Cre ...

and

Gail Kim Gail Kim-Irvine (born February 20, 1977) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in TNA Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In TNA, she was the inaugural and record setting seven-tim ...

, which led to both women brawling with each other until several referees separated them to break up the brawl.

Main event match

In the main event,

defended the World Heavyweight Championship against

, who invoked his Option C for the title shot. Ray's faction

Aces & Eights Aces & Eights were a Heel (professional wrestling), villainous Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stable in the American Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, later Impact Wrestling), initi ...

interfered in the match on Ray's behalf and The New Main Event Mafia interfered in the match. Near the end of the match, Mr. Anderson handed over a hammer to Ray and then the referee was knocked out when Sabin performed a missile dropkick on Ray. A brawl occurred between Mafia and Aces & Eights and the two teams left the ring and then Ray tried to hit Sabin with a hammer but Sabin avoided it and then Ray tried to execute a '' Bully Bomb'' but Sabin hit him with the hammer in the head to win the title.

Reception

Destination X was a very successful episode of ''Impact Wrestling'' as it experienced an increase in ratings and viewership numbers. It received a 1.2 cable rating and a viewership number of 1,494,000, the largest since the January 31 episode of ''Impact Wrestling''.

Aftermath

On the July 25 edition of ''Impact Wrestling'', Manik defeated Sonjay Dutt and Greg Marasciulo in the Ultimate X finals of the tournament to win the vacant X Division Championship. Bully Ray and Chris Sabin continued their feud over the TNA World Heavyweight Championship after Destination X. The week after Destination X on the July 25 episode of ''Impact Wrestling'', it was announced that on the

Hardcore Justice Hardcore Justice, originally known as Hard Justice, was an annual professional wrestling Impact Plus event produced by Impact Wrestling. It was originally introduced as a pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in ...

special, Chris Sabin would defend his title against Bully Ray in a steel cage match, which was won by Bully Ray.

Results

References

External links

Destination X 2013 at Pro Wrestling History
{{TNAPPV, Destination X Destination X 2010s in Louisville, Kentucky 2013 in professional wrestling July 2013 in the United States Professional wrestling shows in Louisville, Kentucky 2013 in Kentucky