TNA – Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles Volume Two

TNA – Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles Volume 2

Introduction

“There are professional wrestlers….and then there is ‘The Phenomenal’ AJ Styles. Throughout the history of TNA Wrestling, no star has been more decorated than this amazing athlete. A triple crown champion, ‘The Phenomenal One’ has held the NWA World, Tag Team and X Division Championships on multiple occasions. Inside the ring, Styles is regarded as a human highlight reel – a daredevil whose no-limits style has electrified fans sine TNA’s inception in 2002. From his humble beginnings to his meteoric rise in the sport, this is the chronicle of a rare breed of athlete who single-handedly revolutionized professional wrestling. Only one word can possibly describe what you are about to witness…PHENOMENAL”

Their words, not mine. I think he’s gotten a little stale myself.

PART I – The Career

MATCH #1: Number One Contender’s Steel Cage Match – AJ Styles vs. Abyss, Lockdown, 4.24.05

Winner of this match gets a title shot at Hard Justice next month. AJ has already held the NWA World Title twice, and Abyss has yet to even get his shot. AJ starts the match hot, leaping through the cage onto Abyss and then hitting a huge Rana on the outside. AJ continues with the high flying, but Abyss is huge, so he just kind of takes the advantage as he sees fit. They continue brawling on the outside and Abyss uses the steel cage door as a toy, leveling AJ in the face with it. That was a sick bump. AJ is bloodied and Abyss grabs a bag of thumb tacks. Abyss just dominates AJ, as the blood gets worse and the crowd is staying hot. This was obviously the right choice for the main event slot. AJ actually kicks out of the Black Hole Slam. Abyss is frustrated, so he goes for the tacks. AJ avoids the tacks but gives Abyss the Styles Clash right onto a pile of tacks. Even THAT is not enough to keep Abyss down. AJ climbs to the top of the cage and Abyss tosses the referee against the cage, which causes AJ to nearly fall off the cage. Abyss grabs his chain and goes up after AJ. He wraps the chain around his neck as AJ struggles to fight back. AJ gets a sunset flip powerbomb and Abyss takes another bump onto the tacks. Mike Tenay ruins the finish by saying “count with us,” as if it were a foregone conclusion that AJ would be winning. He does, at 19:58. Tenay’s call at the end notwithstanding, that was a brutal match that was tons of fun and made both guys look great.
Rating: ****¼

MATCH #2: NWA World Heavyweight Title Match – AJ Styles vs. Jeff Jarrett©, Hard Justice, 5.15.05

Jarrett has been champion since June 2, 2004, and this is his ninth (two against Ron Killings, two against Jeff Hardy, two against Monty Brown, and one against Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page). Tito Ortiz is introduced first, not wearing a referee’s shirt. I love how Tenay and West put this match over as something they’ve looked forward to for so long, when Jarrett and Styles have wrestled each other about a thousand times in TNA. Styles has even won the title from Jarrett TWICE. Oh, Tito had his ref shirt on UNDER his other shirt. That’s clever. They do some chain wrestling to start as the crowd is very behind the challenger. Jarrett avoids Styles and points to his head, indicating his intelligence. Tenay recalls the rule in TNA that says champions lose their titles via DQ, but I distinctly remember Jarrett losing to Sting by disqualification on one of the weekly pay-per-views in a title match but not losing the belt. Jarrett starts going to work on the legs, to set up for the figure-four. He locks it on and the crowd doesn’t buy it as a finisher for a second. Despite Jarrett working on AJ’s leg for a while, AJ can still springboard around and do all kinds of stuff he shouldn’t be able to do. Ortiz gets physically involved on Jarrett, just to irritate me. Jarrett goes out and grabs the guitar, but Ortiz stops him. AJ then tries to use the guitar but Ortiz stops him too, so AJ breaks it on the ring post just to take it out of play. That’s pretty smart actually. AJ does the springboard reverse DDT on his bad leg. He sets up for the Styles Clash and the crowd doesn’t pop. Jarrett gets out of it and eventually powerbombs AJ for two. He goes for the Stroke but AJ counters it. Jarrett comes back with a powerslam but it gets two. AJ gets a backslide for two. Small package gets two as well. Jarrett goes for the Styles Clash and actually hits it for two. AJ comes back and hits the Stroke but it also gets two. Monty Brown comes in and accidentally gives Jarrett the pounce. I’m not sure how that isn’t a disqualification of some kind. While Ortiz is sending Monty to the back, Rudy Charles comes out and tries to make the count, but Ortiz pulls him out because he alone is the referee. AJ gets in Ortiz’s face, allowing Jarrett to hit a low blow and set AJ up on the top rope. He pushes Ortiz away, so he grabs Jarrett and lays him out. That’s patently unfair. AJ, bad leg and all, goes up to the top and hits the Spiral Tap to get the win and the title for the third time at 19:32. The match was pretty solid, and Ortiz did a fairly good job as referee (until actually knocking Jarrett out, I hate that). The crowd was dead though and AJ sold his leg as he saw convenient, not in any kind of realistic fashion. Monty comes back to check on Jarrett and give AJ the eye, which would be a good idea for the next title program.
Rating: ***¼

MATCH #3: TNA X-Division Championship Match – AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels©, Unbreakable, 9.11.05

Daniels has been champion since 3.13.05, and this is his fifth defense. Samoa Joe rightfully earned this title shot by beating AJ Styles at the last PPV, but for some contrived reason Styles was added to the match. Styles has already held the X-Division title four times. Styles and Joe team up on Daniels to abuse him in the early going. The action is moving very fast and it’s hard for me to catch all of so bear with me. Daniels has really nice jabs. No one is able to get a clear cut advantage. West calls a moonsault a “backwards moonsault,” which is redundant and superfluous. Daniels and Joe are on the outside and Styles hits a beautiful springboard shooting star press to the floor. I’m missing a lot in the play-by-play because there’s so much going on. Joe gets Daniels in the choke and Styles breaks it up with the Spiral Tap. Daniels hits Joe with a flatliner and goes for the Best Moonsault Ever but Styles breaks that up. Styles and Daniels find themselves outside the ring for an awesome sequence, and then Joe hits a twisting dive onto both of them. Joe hits the Muscle Buster on Styles while Daniels grabs the title belt. He tries to hit Joe with it but he gets powerslammed instead. Joe ends up taking the belt to the face from a Daniels enziguiri. Daniels and Styles exchange blows now, and Daniels gets a near fall off a Blue Thunder Driver. Joe gets back involved but Daniels hits the Last Rites. Daniels hits Styles with a superplex. Joe puts on the STF and the camera has a great view of them loudly calling their next sequence. Styles Clash on Daniels is broken up by Joe. Joe gets taken out a few seconds later and Daniels goes for the Angels Wings but Styles gets a pinning combination out of it and gets the win and the title at 22:50. What an awesome match. The psychology and selling was pretty good throughout, and the action never stopped for almost 23 straight minutes. I question the reasoning behind AJ Styles winning the belt for a fifth time when having Joe beat Daniels to end the longest X-Division Title reign ever would have had much more of an impact. Either way, this match rocked it and is the clear TNA Match of the Year for 2005.
Rating: ****¾

MATCH #4: Non-Title Match – AJ Styles© vs. Roderick Strong, Impact, 10.1.05

This is the opening match of the first episode of Impact on Spike TV. Styles is the X-Division Champion, but this is a non-title match. These two had a killer match in ROH a few months before this, but I think they’ll get about a quarter of the time here that they got there. The match starts off fast, since they’re out to make a good first impression. Don West correctly points out Strong’s expertise with the backbreaker. Styles hits his big dropkick and he looks like he’s bleeding from the mouth, oddly. He follows it up with a big dive on Strong outside the ring. Styles continues to be dominant while Christopher Daniels comes out to watch. This distraction allows Strong to get his first real offense in with a nice backbreaker. Styles comes back with the Pele and follows up shortly thereafter with the Styles Clash to get the pin at 4:00. Naturally that didn’t get much time to develop, but for a first match on the new network I’d say it was good enough.
Rating: **

MATCH #5: TNA X-Division Title Match – AJ Styles© vs. Petey Williams, Genesis, 11.13.05

Styles has been champion since 9.11.05, and this is his second defense. This match is being built heavily on both men’s finishing maneuvers. They had a finisher vs. finisher match last night on Impact, and Petey came out victorious. A1 is accompanying Williams to ringside. They do some cool mat wrestling to start, and both guys have support from the fans. AJ dominates early and goes for the Styles Clash, but Petey blocks it. AJ hits a sick dive to the floor and goes all the way into the crowd. A1 tries to goad AJ into the crowd to fight him, but AJ blows him off and goes back to Petey. They tease the German Suplex off the apron, and then they actually hit it! AJ takes a sick bump right on the guardrail. A1 gets sent to the back. Petey gains control and hits the jumping rana to the floor very nicely. Petey takes a water break and gets back in the ring and delivers the “O Canada.” AJ comes back and gets a couple of near falls. Petey gets a super rana but AJ rolls through for a near fall. Petey locks on the Sharpshooter and incorporates the arm when AJ reaches for the ropes. He does reach though with his other arm. AJ gets distracted by Samoa Joe up on the entrance ramp and Petey takes advantage. They’re battling on the top rope and AJ hooks the Styles Clash and gets the pin at 18:19. That was a tremendous match that showed me again that Petey Williams is underrated. The prospect of Joe versus AJ again is promising.
Rating: ***¾

MATCH #6: NWA World Tag Team Title Match – AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. America’s Most Wanted©, Slammiversary, 6.18.06

AMW have been the champions since 10.22.05 (beating the Naturals), and this is their sixteenth defense. They’ve already successfully defended them against Styles & Daniels three times (Impact on 1.1.06, Impact on 5.4.06, and Sacrifice on 5.14.06). Styles and Storm start it out with some intensity and Styles hits his dropkick. I always hate his reaction to hitting that. Daniels and Harris come in and exchange holds, with Daniels awesomely stepping on the back of Harris’s head. Daniels then encourages the crowd’s “Brokeback Mountain” chants for the cowboy tag champions. Storm accidentally flips Harris outside the ring, and the challengers then toss him too. Styles executes a nice dive to the floor. Back in the ring Daniels continues to work on Harris. The battle soon spills to the floor, and that’s where the champions take advantage. Back in the ring they continue to dominate and score several near falls on Styles. Storm goes for the Eye of the Storm but Styles gets out and almost makes the tag. Storm hits Chris Nowinski’s old finisher instead and Daniels breaks up the cover. Styles fights back and hits the Pele. West somehow found it better than the other times Styles did the move. Tenay notes that Styles is a great “improv” wrestler, and that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. You want people to think it’s a real contest, and calling it improv implies that there’s a script of some kind. Styles makes the hot tag and Daniels is in. Blue Thunder Driver by Daniels but Gail distracts the referee and gets on the top rope. Styles tosses her off, and a large man comes in the ring and chokeslams Gail. They’re calling her a woman but I have my doubts. He tosses Gail outside the ring and carries her to the back. Back in the ring Daniels almost pins Harris with a victory roll. He goes for the Angels Wings but it’s blocked. He eats a chair but is able to kick out at two. Styles comes in and starts beating everyone up. He goes for the Spiral Tap but it misses. Harris hits Styles with handcuffs to no pop, but it only gets two. The match breaks down in the ring and Daniels hits a Death Valley Driver and Styles follows it with a somersault for two. Storm puts his cowboy hat on and goes for the superkick, but Daniels blocks it and hits the Angels Wings. Harris hits the referee to stop the count. Storm tries to hit Daniels with the beer bottle but he hits his partner instead. Uranage by Daniels followed by a Styles frog splash and the best moonsault ever and we have new NWA World Tag Team Champions at 17:44. That was an immensely entertaining tag match with an awesome finish and a satisfying end of AMW’s reign.
Rating: ****

MATCH #7: Ultimate X Match for the NWA World Tag Team Titles – AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Homicide & Hernandez©, No Surrender, 9.24.06

Homicide & Hernandez have been champions since 8.24.06, and this is their first defense. It’s a big brawl to start, and this is the very first tag team Ultimate X match. Homicide tries the Gringo Killer early on but can’t hit it. The LAX take control as Hernandez tosses Styles around. Homicide makes the first attempt to go for the belts but Daniels stops him and goes after the arm. Styles and Daniels use their speed to take advantage; but then Homicide throws Daniels outside and hits the Tope Con Hilo. Styles follows Homicide out with a Fozzberry Flop. Back in the ring Daniels locks Hernandez in the Koji Clutch. That doesn’t last long and Hernandez is throwing Styles and Daniels around again. They bring a ladder into the ring and Homicide ends up eating it in a cool spot and Hernandez takes it in the nuts. He doesn’t let that bother him though so he throws Daniels all the way across the ring with a choke suplex. Konnan takes cheap shots at Daniels outside the ring while Styles gets beat up inside the ring. Hernandez tries crossing the X to grab the belt but Styles knocks him down. Homicide brings a chair into the ring and uses it on Styles. Homicide tries next so Styles goes out to meet him and kicks him, but Homicide is somehow able to use an Ace Crusher but the commentators completely fucking miss it. Daniels tries to climb but LAX stops him and delivers an assisted bulldog. Styles fires up and takes down both members but Homicide, as usual, decides not to sell. He tries a frog splash a few moments later but he misses and the challengers take him out. They try to double team Hernandez, but he fights through it. Konnan sets up a table outside the ring as Hernandez hits a backbreaker on Daniels. The challengers fight back with a series of top rope maneuvers. Homicide hits a spinning neckbreaker and West gets confused and calls it the Gringo Killer. Styles and Homicide fight on the apron and a really contrived spot leads to Homicide taking the Styles Clash through the table. Konnan slapjacks Styles and knocks him out. Konnan tries to hit Daniels with a kendo stick and Daniels climbs the support beam and leaps out onto the X and takes the belt down to win the match and the titles at 15:29. I know that match got a lot of praise but I honestly don’t see what for. It had some cool spots and the finish was neat, but most of the match was just standard stuff and lots of no-selling. It’s still a good match and one I liked, but I think it’s a victim of being over-hyped.
Rating: ***½

MATCH #8: TNA X-Division Title Match – AJ Styles vs. Chris Sabin©, Impact, 11.2.06

Sabin has been champion since 10.22.06 and this is his first defense. They start off trading offense quickly, as I don’t expect this one to go long. Sabin is a newly minted heel at this point, so he’s wrestling as such and doing a good job I think. Sabin uses a chinlock and Styles breaks out of it and hits a spinning kick. Sabin fights back but Styles hits the springboard forearm. They trade a few moves and then Sabin hits a nice tornado DDT for two. Styles tries the inverted DDT but Sabin blocks it and hits a big boot to the face. He tries the Cradle Shock but Styles gets a small package out of that to pin Sabin and win the X-Title for the record-extending sixth time at 4:20. That was a good sprint, but these guys need at least three times that amount of time to make something really happen.
Rating: **¼

PART II – The Chronicle

This would be the documentary portion of the DVD. I’m not sure how much of this I want to recap; I’m mostly just into doing the matches, so we’ll see how much of this I want to comment on. In high school he spent some time in jail because of his immature temper. He talks about how he got into the business and his training, and various memories of TNA. It’s a neat little addition, but I’d still rather have matches.

PART III – Bonus Footage

• The first part is called “Going Home,” which is AJ Styles going back to the trailer park where he grew up. It’s his first time going back since he left.
• Next is a tour of Styles’ old high school, where he was a jock who won lots of awards for sports. It turns out his favorite class was the one that taught him about hand massage and manicures.
• Now we get footage of Styles’ son, who is actually named Ajay Covell (Christopher Daniels’s real last name) Jones, balancing while standing on his father’s hand. He can do that at 21 months old!
• The last bonus feature is a match from NWA Wildside from January of 2000 between AJ Styles and Ron Killings. Andrew Thomas and AJ Styles are doing the commentary here. I don’t feel like doing a full match review, because this is really atrocious. Styles rightfully makes fun of his own ring gear. They both look incredibly amateur here and I can’t imagine what anyone who watched this at the time would have thought of either guy.
• Lastly we get a photo slideshow, with photos by Lee South.

The 411: AJ Styles is clearly one of the biggest stars TNA has produced since their inception, and that is proven by the fact that this is a Volume Two. There’s only eight matches here, and six of them are over three stars and the other two are short TV matches that I appreciate being on there, so this is a really solid set. I’m not that into AJ Styles but I know that he has a lot of fans and this DVD should certainly please them.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]