2005 TNA Super X Cup Tournament

Tournament

The 2005 TNA Super X Cup Tournament featured seven matches involving numerous wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes and less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in wrestling matches.

The tournament consisted of three rounds: the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. The quarterfinals and the semifinals took place on TNA's television program TNA Impact!, while the finals were held at Sacrifice. The quarterfinals were taped on July 19 and aired on the July 22 and July 29 episodes of Impact!. The semifinals were also taped on July 19 before airing on August 5 and August 10 episodes of Impact! Then-TNA X Division Champion Christopher Daniels provided commentary for each encounter. Daniels nicknamed the competition the "Christopher Daniels Invitational".

Quarterfinals

In the first of two quarterfinal matches aired on July 22, Samoa Joe fought Sonjay Dutt in a match lasting 9 minutes and 32 seconds. Joe won after forcing Dutt to submit with his signature Coquina Clutch submission hold. The second bout pitted A.J. Styles against Michael Shane. Before the match began, Shane announced he was changing his stage name to Matt Bentley. Styles won after America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) interfered. Harris distracted the referee, allowing Storm to kick Bentley in the face.

The third and fourth quarterfinal bouts aired on July 29. Alex Shelley fought Shocker in the first match of the episode, winning with a pinning combination at 5 minutes and 28 seconds. Petey Williams faced Chris Sabin in the second match. A-1 interfered during the encounter by distracting the referee and tossing Williams a hockey stick, which Williams used to hit Sabin across the stomach. He then performed his signature Canadian Destroyer maneuver, forcing Sabin's head into the mat and winning the match at 11 minutes and 45 seconds.

Semifinals

Joe, Shelley, Styles, and Williams advanced to the semifinals. The first match took place on the August 5 episode of Impact! between Joe and Shelley. Joe slammed Shelley back-first into the mat with his signature Muscle Buster maneuver and then choked him unconscious with the Coquina Clutch at 9 minutes and 4 seconds to win and advance to the finals. In the second semifinal match on August 10, Styles defeated Williams with a small package pin at 9 minutes and 19 seconds.

Finals

The tournament final between A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe took place on August 14 at Sacrifice. As Styles laid against the ring ropes at the beginning of the match, Joe ran across the ring and kicked him in the face, causing him to fly out of the ring and crash down on the floor. Joe followed by diving through the ring ropes and smashing Styles in the face with his forearm as Styles reached his feet. Joe later held Styles in an STF submission hold, which he was forced to release when Styles touched the bottom rope. Styles then gained the advantage with a dropkick and front-flip splash from the ring ropes. He held Joe on his shoulders before twisting him off into a powerbomb, or what he calls a Rack Bomb. During the move, referee Andrew Thomas was kicked in the face and knocked unconscious, allowing Daniels to interfere in the contest. Daniels attacked Styles and attempted to hit Joe with the X Division Title belt before Styles threw Daniels from the ring. Joe followed by lifting Styles up and performing his Muscle Buster maneuver, then placing Styles in his Coquina Clutch submission hold. Styles submitted to the move as the referee came to, giving the victory to Joe. The final bout lasted 15 minutes and 15 seconds.

Joe's win gave him the Super X Cup trophy and made him the number-one contender for the TNA X Division Championship. He earned a title match against Daniels at TNA's Unbreakable PPV event on September 11.