TNA Destination X pay-per-view buys estimated at 9,000 for Roode vs Aries

Not that this wasn't expected, but it's disappointing for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling to say the least.

The Destination X pay-per-view (PPV) event that took place this past July 8, 2012, from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida, featured a strong main event match that delivered in every way, as Austin Aries won the world heavyweight championship from Bobby Roode.

AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels also tore the house down, despite working the 678th match against each other. Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle had a solid showing and the X-Division wrestlers brought it like usual. It was a damn good show and one the company hoped would see a better than average buyrate at the box office.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, that didn't happen:

Bad news for the idea that having great shows leads to repeat buys. After the relatively good showing of Slammiversary of about 15,000 buys, and the delivering a strong show, the Destination X show on 7/8 is, based on early estimates, falling at about 9,000 buys, roughly the level most of the PPVs except the big ones have been doing this year.

With TNA moving to a live format for Impact and switching time slots from an 9 p.m. ET start time to 8 p.m. ET, it's taken some time for fans to get used to. Plus, the product has gone through a huge overhaul where the powers that be are actually focusing on developing storylines without stopping and starting them. It's a much less convoluted show and has improved greatly over the course of a few months.

Still, it's going to take some time for that to be reflected in PPV buyrates. It's just too bad it wasn't this show, which was far better than most of what TNA puts out.