wrestling / Columns
Brandon’s Blast From The Past Vol. 6: An Unbreakable Trio – Joe vs. AJ vs. Daniels
Image Credit: WWE
Vol. 6: “An Unbreakable Trio”
Hello everyone and welcome back to Brandon’s Blast from the Past. A place where yours truly takes you on a journey down memory lane as we review, rewind and relive wrestling’s greatest matches of all time. This week, I decided to sink my teeth into one of TNA’s greatest matches in company history.
This goes without saying that TNA (now Impact Wrestling) has seen better days and has gone through many changes over the past decade. Some people love it. Some absolutely despise it. No matter what or how you feel about the current product, you can’t help but look back and reflect on their past glory days. During the early days of TNA, the company had some incredible matches and was used as a launching pad for new stars. We also saw veterans receive a fresh push they may not have gotten in the WWE. We’ve seen the likes of Sting, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T. Scott Steiner, Bobby Lashley, Raven, Christian (Cage), Jerry Lynn, Syxx Pac, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Van Dam, and various others elevated the company with their star power and likeness to push TNA from a national to a worldwide organization. TNA may not have been seen as a threat to the WWE on many levels in terms of ratings, attendance figures, PPV buy rates and so on, but the company did provide a solid alternative for viewers who grew tired of main stream WWE programming when other organizations such as Ring of Honor or New Japan Pro Wrestling weren’t easily accessible by the average fan.
Having said that. TNA is also responsible for giving new stars a platform to showcase and hone their skills. Three of those men, whom at one particular time back in 2002, would be seen as relative unknowns to the wrestling world. Through their own hard work and perseverance, along with TNA giving these men a stage to showoff their craft, these guys were able to grow and mature into household names.
Today, it is my honor and privilege to talk about one of my favorite matches in the history of Impact Wrestling (TNA). This match brought the meaning of “Total Nonstop Action” to life, as these three individuals put on a wrestling clinic that elevated the bar and pushed the company’s X-Division to another level.
The event was Unbreakable 2005. The one and only Unbreakable event that would take place in TNA’s pay-per-view lineup. The headlining match that we are about to dissect and discuss is certainly one for the history books.
What more can be said about these three men? AJ Styles. Christopher Daniels. Samoa Joe. These guys were the cornerstones of TNA. Not only did they shape the way we would view professional wrestling in the mid 2000’s, but also the impact (no pun intended) they would lay upon the foundation of TNA and their respective careers.
“The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels had a rocky start to his wrestling career leading into 2005. He had unsuccessful tryouts for the WWE during the Attitude Era from 1998 through 2001. Wrestling dark matches and using his experiences to better himself. He also wrestled for WCW briefly. Most notably, he had a match against Michael Modest on WCW Monday Nitro in January 2001 which ended with Daniels botching a Springboard Moonsault. This resulted in Daniels damaging his neck, in spite of Daniels finishing the match. He would later be released from his WCW contract shortly before the sale to the WWE. Daniels would go on to wrestle for both Ring of Honor and TNA. During this time, Daniels would begin his on and off rivalry with both Samoa Joe and AJ Styles between both promotions. Daniels formed “The Prophecy” in ROH, which consisted of Christopher Daniels, Simply Luscious, Donovan Morgan, Xavier, Dan Maff, Mark Briscoe, Allison Danger, and B.J. Whitmer. During his original TNA run, he would form “Triple X” with “Primetime” Elix Skipper and Low Ki. Daniels would develop feuds with the likes of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), Michael Modest, Amazing Red, America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm). Christopher Daniels became the longest reigning TNA X-Division Champion for over 150 days heading into Unbreakable 2005, where his talents would be put to the test against his longtime rivals AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
“The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe started his career wrestling for a WWE affiliate wrestling promotion called Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). This would lead into his one and only WWE appearance during this period as he wrestled Essa Rios and lost. He had much success in UPW and became the promotion’s longest reigning World Champion. However, in spite of this, he was told by Jim Ross and Bruce Pritchard that he would not have a future in the wrestling business for multiple reasons. This was used as a motivational tool to push Samoa Joe to train harder and go beyond his own limitations. After a good run in Japan wrestling for Shinya Hashimoto’s Pro Wrestling Zero-One promotion. Samoa Joe would make his way into Ring of Honor and TNA. He quickly rose into stardom for Ring of Honor, as he became their World Champion by defeating Xavier. Wrestling fans fell in love with his hard hitting style and mechanics that resembled a legit mixed martial artist. He was a big man that could move fast like a cruiserweight and take you out with his deadly strikes and submission holds. His greatest matches to date for Ring of Honor were up against CM Punk and Kenta Kobashi respectively. When Samoa Joe would arrive to TNA, Joe would go on an undefeated streak that would lead him into Unbreakable 2005 as the odds on favorite to win the X-Division championship. This would prove to be Joe’s biggest challenge to date in TNA.
“The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles. After AJ had several runs for various Indy promotions, he would reach his first worldwide exposure working for WCW as a part of “Air Raid”, along with his then tag team partner Air Paris. The duo would wrestle several times until the company was bought out by WWE, in which time AJ’s contract was not picked up by WWE. AJ would go on to debut for Ring of Honor in 2002. He began feuding with Low Ki over the ROH World Heavyweight Championship, a title that he would unsuccessfully capture, but would elevate AJ to main event status for the organization. AJ Styles would become the ROH Tag Team Champion with Amazing Red as his partner, along with becoming the first ROH Pure Champion. He would wrestle for ROH until 2004, when the company withdrew their contracts from any association with TNA. AJ wrestled for TNA from the very beginning in 2002 and quickly became the companies flagship star. Much like Sting was to WCW, AJ Styles earned the moniker of “The Phenomenal One” and became the company’s “franchise” player, so to speak. He became TNA’s go-to guy. He became the first ever TNA X-Division and won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on three occasions. He was also associated with Vince Russo and his Sports Entertainment Extreme (S.E.X) stable in 2003, during the height of the S.E.X vs NWA faction feud. AJ would feud with Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lynn, Syxx Pac (X-Pac), Sting, Abyss, Ron “The Truth” Killings (R-Truth), Raven and various others. AJ would eventually go into the X-Division exclusively in 2004 and have classic bouts with Chris Sabin, Frankie Kazarian, Jeff Hardy, Kid Kash. AJ began his longstanding rivalry with Christopher Daniels that became synonymous with the history of TNA Wrestling, as the two men shared a rivalry that were akin to the old saying: “Best Friends, Better Enemies” over the years on a professional level. When you threw in Samoa Joe into the mix, it was like adding gasoline to a raging fire. You were going to get a big explosion that would leave wrestling fans clamoring for more.
AJ Styles. Samoa Joe. Christopher Daniels. These three men had a score to settle. Each man wanted to prove to the world they were the best. Not only in TNA, but the wrestling industry as a whole. This showdown of epic proportions is a classic that I, as a wrestling fan, am pleased to share with you this evening.
Now wrestling fans, let us all sit back, relax, kick our feet up and watch what is arguably the greatest match in TNA history! I present to you AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe. A triple threat match for the TNA X-Division Championship at TNA Unbreakable 2005.
TNA Unbreakable 2005 took place at the “Impact Zone” (Universal Studios) in Orlando, Florida in front of approximately 775 fans. “Professor” Mike Tenay and Don West provided the commentary for this matchup. This was the headlining match for the show, with the Raven’s Rules Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship between Raven and Rhino going on second to last. This was an excellent call by the TNA booking committee as this truly was the match of the night for the card, and subsequently for TNA throughout the year 2005 (arguably).
Mike Tenay and Don West, whether you love or hate the duo, did a pretty good job of selling the action and exaggerating things as they went along. I used to hate Don West during these days, but now as I look back on it, he wasn’t quite that bad. Mike Tenay is underrated as a play-by-play man. That’s not to say that he’s on the same level as a Jim Ross or the late Gorilla Monsoon, but he had his unique charm of calling the action while telling a good story, intellectual background of each participant and a passion to sell the audience what they were seeing in the ring.
The story for this match was cut and dry, yet simplistic. Samoa Joe was the undefeated “Samoan Submission Machine” that could not be stopped. He proved what the X-Division was all about — no limits! His style of wrestling and MMA provided a deadly dynamic duo of moves, holds and high-flying ability that would make any man cringe and double over in fear.
“The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles was certainly “Phenomenal” in very sense of the word. He had done it all in TNA and was building up his legacy for the organization, but could he defeat his greatest rival in Christopher Daniels and an unstoppable Samoa Joe? “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels was the longest reigning TNA X-Division Champion in company history, holding the championship title for over six months and counting. He had an ego and was proud of this very accomplishment. Daniels felt he was better than AJ and could be the one to stop Samoa Joe. Tonight was his night to prove it once and for all.
The match was as you would expect it to be. Fast paced. Action packed. Full of excitement. Hard hitting. These guys laid into each other and used everything but the kitchen sink with their moveset. Christopher Daniels took the brunt of the punishment in the opening moments. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe took out the cocky X-Division Champion, as both challengers were striking down “The Fallen Angel” with a wide variety of strong style moves. Anything you can do I can do better is exactly what AJ and Joe did, with Daniels paying the price for it.
The crowd in the “Impact Zone” were really into this match. Now, you wouldn’t think a crowd of just over 700 plus fans would make a lot of noise but for a crowd of this magnitude they did an amazing job of selling it to the at home viewers. They were behind every strike, every counter, every pulse pounding movement. You know as a wrestling fan that if the crowd loves it you know its going to be good. This match was no different and proved to be special and certainly one for the record books. The fans were split between all three men and were so involved with the match they likely didn’t care who walked away the X-Division Champion.
One of the most exhilarating spots throughout the match was the breathtaking springboard Shooting Star Press from AJ Styles on both Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels outside the ring.
AJ has done this spot more than enough times throughout his career, especially in the mid 2000’s. Every time he would perform this spot you can’t help but think: “How can a human being do this?”. All you could do was sit back and take in the breathtaking flight from point A to point B. If that wasn’t enough, how about the incredible sequence we would see later on in the match when Christopher Daniels monkey flipped AJ Styles into Samoa Joe, with Joe capturing Styles into a Power Bomb position with AJ countering into a Hurricanrana. Amazing, right?
Now, if you ever wanted to showoff to the wrestling world what the X-Division meant to TNA and how to define it, you can easily use AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe as your prime three examples. The moves these guys would pull off on each other you could only imagine and play out in your head, or in a video game, during these days. Granted, you had your audience that didn’t buy into this style of wrestling and would prefer a more old school approach, but even those fans would respect and appreciate the fast paced adrenaline rush the X-Division provided.
The match continued and we would see another thrilling spot that is worth noting. Such as…
Can you imagine a man the size of Samoa Joe pulling off a Twisted Suicide Dive on the arena floor to both AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels? Doesn’t seem possible nor realistic, but the “Samoan Submission Machine” proved that anything is possible! No matter your size. Your weight or height. There was nothing that a wrestler could not do inside the squared (or six sided ring) if he believed in himself and his god given abilities. Joe proved that he could out wrestle anyone on any level, no matter if you were a high flyer, a brawler, mixed martial artist, technician.
The roller coaster ride of twists and turns and thrill seeking action came to an end rather abruptly after almost twenty five minutes. AJ Styles would capture his fifth TNA X-Division Championship by reversing Christopher Daniels’ Angel’s Wings finisher into a bridge pin to get the victory. You can argue that perhaps the ending could have been executed better, but it certainly did not take away from the match or the performance. AJ Styles walked away as the new champion. Christopher Daniels had his championship streak snapped and would only heighten the rivalry between Daniels-Styles. Samoa Joe would carry on his undefeated streak, which is debatable considering that even though he was not physically pinned or submitted, he did technically lose the match. Be that as it may folks, what you got was a TNA classic that can easily fit into any fan’s top ten list.
You can probably find better matches that equal to or could perhaps be better than this triple threat match. That is all completely subjective. This match was a pivotal point in my fandom for TNA during this time and made me interested in the product. This was a head turner that caught the eyes of wrestling fans searching for an alternative. AJ Styles is now arguably the best wrestler in the entire world today in 2017. He and Samoa Joe are at the top of their game, entering the prime of their careers for the WWE. Christopher Daniels is one of the top stars in Ring of Honor and captured his first ROH World Championship back in March 2017. Someday we may see “The Fallen Angel” rise from the ashes and have a WWE run in the near future…? Could we one day see AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels or a rematch of sorts between Styles/Daniels/Joe at a WrestleMania before all is said and done with their respective careers? I know as a wrestling fan I would pay to see these men go at it one last time in front of 75,000 fans and counting.
That will be it for this week’s episode. I apologize in advance for not producing this article sooner, as real life duties have kept me very busy over the holidays. The next episode will cover a match from the “Golden Era” of professional wrestling, as we travel down memory lane and visit one of the many classics from Mid-South Wrestling. Until then I’ll see you next time!
