That speaker weighs next to nothing so I'm sure it wasn't dropped. It was thrown with extreme prejudice. Almost every single box I've received from Axiom has, what I consider to be, and excessive amount of damage (not to the contents; just the box). I feel that Axiom has exercised a great amount of due diligence with the packaging design. If it had to be more robust, it would have to be crated and that's a huge expense. If I was Axiom, I would be documenting each and every occurence like yours and negotiating compensation with the shipper.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated