Views from the Hawke’s Nest: AJ Styles – The Missing Matches – Part 2

Part 2 starts with discussion on the X-Division. AJ says it’s beyond repair because there has been too much damage to it. AJ thought putting a weight limit on it “ruined everything.”

Joe brought up Shiima Xion and Delirious. AJ said Shiima always had the potential to be in TNA, and that it was always just a matter of time. He believes Delirious was a missed opportunity on TNA’s part. AJ then talked about his unrealized ideas for an Abyss/Delirious tag team.

 

IWC
2009

AJ Styles vs. Delirious (w/ Daizee Haze)
AJ and Delirious went back and forth on the microphone before the match. It was surprisingly amusing. Delirious mocked him in regards to Christopher Daniels who was challenging AJ for the TNA title next weekend on PPV.

AJ was mostly in control early on. Delirious came back and got control. AJ avoided Shadows Over Hell and hit a DVD neckbreaker. AJ was then in control. They avoided each other’s finishers. They traded pinning combinations. AJ kicked out of Chemical Imbalance II. AJ came back with a Pele and the Styles Clash: 1…2…3

This was more fun than I expected. Delirious could have done well in TNA, but he would have become overexposed in due course. I don’t think his character was designed to stick around too long in any one place.
Match Rating: ***

 

IWC
2006

AJ Styles vs. Shiima Xion
AJ got control first, and he worked Shiima over.Chris Maverick interfered to get Shiima the advantage, and Shiima then worked AJ over. Shiima got frustrated when he saw Maverick interfere again. Shiima may have missed the first interference. AJ connected on a couple of strikes and then made a comeback. AJ took out Maverick. They went back and forth. Shiima avoided one Clash and reversed it into a hurricanrana for a nearfall. AJ came back with a Pele and a Styles Clash: 1…2…3

Quite frankly, this was not that good. Shiima did not look ready for this match, and the execution was lackluster at points (especially as they started going back and forth). Shiima has never been my favorite wrestler though, and I’m not sure if their match would be more than good now.
Match Rating: **1/4

 

AJ and Joe talk about TNA’s tendency to go overboard with the gimmick matches.

They transition to talking about the Hogan TNA era. Right before Hogan came in, things were looking up with there being a renewed focus on the in-ring product (specifically mentioning Nigel McGuinness coming in to feud with Angle). “Next thing you know though, I’m wearing a robe with Ric Flair.”

AJ defends TNA’s lack of in-ring action by saying WWE does the exact same thing. Something, something, something rhetorical fallacies.

AJ thinks TNA often followed in WWE’s footsteps too much.

Joe asks AJ for some positives about TNA. AJ puts over their willingness to bring in new talent (and casually mentions that it took a while to convince TNA to bring in Samoa Joe). He thinks TNA’s progress slowed down the more they followed WWE. It’s hilarious that even trying to be positive about TNA eventually leads to burying the company.

AJ says his highlight of his run in TNA was his initial X-Division title win with Ricky Steamboat as the referee and being in the ring with Jerry Lyn. AJ says his lowest moment in the company was the Claire Lynch angle. He says the angle fell apart because Claire Lynch was supposed to be hot and that she was supposed to be Dixie’s niece.

 

PWO
2007

AJ Styles vs. Johnny Gargano (w/ Aaron McGuire)
AJ was in control early on. He hit a pescado. AJ had to hold off on a springboard because of bad referee positioning. Gargano cut AJ off with a superkick and then worked him over. AJ made a comeback after a double clothesline spot. Gargano blocked the moonsault reverse DDT, but AJ came right back. Ref bump. Marion Fontaine ran in and attacked Styles. Someone came out to run off Fontaine. Joe Dombrowski never identified the person. I’m guessing it was Josh Prohibition, but maybe it was Starless! Pele Kick/Styles Clash: 1…2…3

This was okay. Gargano was about four years away from looking comfortable in the ring. Much like the Shiima match, Gargano was not really ready for this one.
Match Rating: **1/4

 

AJ says the indies have gotten better since he was last there. He mentions that the indie shows he has been on have consistently done better than TNA house shows. We will see how he feels after a few more years.

AJ talks about trying educate younger wrestlers that “less is more,” “everything should make sense,” and “every move should mean something.” AJ says that now, but would AJ be AJ if he didn’t wrestle with a “more is more” philosophy in his earlier years?

AJ and Joe talk about the new breakout stars. He puts over Adam Cole, Tony Nese, and someone whose name I couldn’t understand.

AJ puts over the Tony Nese match that is coming up next. They talk about TNA dropping the ball with him.

 

IWC
2014

AJ Styles vs. Tony Nese
They were doing the feeling-out process. AJ got control after a dropkick. Nese cut AJ off after blocking a springboard move, and he wiped AJ out with a tope suicida. Nese then worked him over. AJ missed the moonsault reverse DDT but hit an enzuigiri. AJ then made a comeback. Nese fought back. AJ rolled out of the way to avoid a 450 and then hit the Pele. AJ avoided another 450 attempt. Nese avoided the Clash. AJ hit his strikes sequence and then hit the Styles Clash: 1…2…3

This was perfectly fine and watchable. AJ is just not going to have his best matches on random indies in 2014. His style requires a bit of reckless abandon to be exciting, and he’s been less and less willing to do that over the year. I can’t say I blame him in the slightest, but it doesn’t make for incredibly entertaining viewing.
Match Rating: **3/4

 

Remix Pro
2014

AJ Styles vs. Facade
Jimmy Facade!

There were a couple of awkward moments early on. Much like his idol, Sabu, I cannot tell if Facade’s botches are real botches. (That was my nice way of asking if Facade sucks real hard or just wants to seem like he sucks real hard.) AJ worked Facade over for a bit. Facade came back and hit a triple jump 450 to the floor. Actually, it was somersault legdrop. Not sure what it was intended to be though. They went back and forth in the ring. It was clunky and awful. They managed to pull off the moonsault reverse DDT really well though. Facade got a couple of nearfalls. They did a sloppy strike exchange. Pele Kick. Facade tried to come back with a Frankensteiner, but Styles reversed it into a super Styles Clash: 1…2…3

I really feel bad reviewing Facade matches because I know going in that they will not be good, and that I will not like them. I tried my absolute hardest to give this one a chance, but the amount of bad here was too much to ignore. The fact that this company has managed to convince their fans that Façade is good is very impressive though.
Match Rating: *

 

AJ said he would tell his younger stuff to do less and sell more. Once again, I ask if AJ would have gotten over as much doing that?

In regards to Global Force Wrestling, AJ said if anyone can pull it off it would be JJ.

In the clear highlight of the interview, Joe asked AJ when he would cut his hair. AJ said it would stay this long until he figured out what to do with it.

 

Watch AJ Styles in some free matches!

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

AJ Styles vs. CM Punk

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (their best match together)

AJ Styles vs. Abyss (my favorite AJ match)

AJ Styles vs. Evan Bourne

AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy

AJ Styles vs. Amazing Red

AJ Styles vs. Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn (ladder)

AJ Styles, Randy Savage, & Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall, & Kevin Nash (yes, this happened)

AJ Styles vs. Sting

AJ Styles vs. X-Pac

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

AJ Styles & Evan Bourne vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong

AJ Styles vs. Petey Williams

AJ Styles vs. Noam Dar

AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander

AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. AMW

AJ Styles & Tomko vs. Team Pacman

AJ Styles vs. Rhyno

AJ Styles vs. X-Pac vs. Raven vs. Abyss vs. Monty Brown

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle vs. Sting vs. Chris Harris

AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle vs. Sting vs. Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I’ve done at 411mania.

7.3

The final score: review Good

The 411

Overall, this set was worth the time I spent on it for the wide variety matches that I got to see. I’ve always considered myself a fan of AJ Styles, and it was nice to see some matches of his that I had never seen before. The interview component of the set was less compelling though. Joe Dombrowski is a fine interviewer. He’s natural on camera, and he’s got a talent of threading the needle between remaining politically correct while also taking some jabs at the obvious negatives about AJ’s time in TNA (Joe does have an annoying habit though of constantly talking about how negative “the internet” is though which is so obviously overly simplistic that it’s not even worth it to explain why). The problem is that the interview lacks a lot of substance and feels too much like a surface examination of AJ’s wrestling career. You can buy this DVD or MP4 right here.