Superstar Sleeze

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs AJ Styles - Turning Point 2008 This is from the very beginning of the Main Event Mafia. After about 8 incarnations of this storyline, Russo finally got so it was at least interesting TV even though it produced some awful PPV main events. They main evented their January PPV with AJ/Foley/Devon vs Booker/Steiner/Billy Gunn. How this company is still in business is shocking. This is Sting's first PPV defense after defeating Samoa Joe for the belt at BFG 2008. Sting could not care less in this match. He looks like he would rather be anywhere else in the world rather than have AJ hold his wrist. He is just bored in this match. What is weird he does not look that out of place even though it is 2008. He is a giant compared to AJ. He is in decent shape and can still execute everything. The face paint hides how old he is. But he just totally mails this one in. AJ is a spaz in this match and is constantly cutting off Sting as he tries to inject some life in this match with many too many hope spots. He could have tried the old fashion way with some good selling, which he is capable of, but he is a product of 00s and offense reigns supreme in that decade. The best example of my issue with the match is Sting press slams AJ onto the outside in the best spot of the match. Within 90 seconds, AJ hit a backbreaker on Sting. The home stretch was just the usual spots: Scorpion Deathdrop, some Stinger Splashes, Spiral Tap. Then the MEM run out for some weak interference that backfires. AJ whiffs on the Pele and Sting rolls him up for the win. It just kinda ended. The match was just there. I did not think it was out, out bad per se. It was just a really tepid performance from Sting with AJ way overcompensating for that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Sting - Bound for Glory 2009 The Main Event Mafia storyline has wrapped up with Sting realizing that he respects the youngsters and his contemporaries are a bunch of snake oil salesmen. AJ respects Sting too. It is a big 'ol lovefest. AJ won the title on the PPV before this in a convoluted 5 man match. Now he has to beat the Man that has been unbeatbale at BFG beating JJ, Angle and Joe for the World Title three years in a row. That is just a great piece of booking by TNA even if it is a happy accident. This match is much better than their previous effort about a year previous. The wrestle a smart, well-laid out tit-for-tat face vs face match. They do a bunch of parallel spots to display that they are equal. Each grabbing a side headlock, each doing a hiptoss, each letting the other into the ring and each whiffing on a move and eating guardrail. Sting shows a bit more fire in this one, but nowhere near the usual hopped up on speed Sting that I am used to from the 90s. AJ does not overcompensate at all in this match. He makes Sting's offense look good and times his own well. Sting even manages to work one of his old favorite WCW spots in with the tombstone reversal, which I admit I marked for. They also do a helluva sequence to get into the Deathdrop only for Styles to kick out. This is where the Styles proving himself comes in as he kicks out of the Deathdrop and powers of the Deathlock. This is the harbinger that Sting's time has passed and Styles is on the rise as his big bombs can't keep the New Ace down. Sting puts on one more show of bravado, but it is not 1990 anymore and the power up is no longer as potent. Sting looks to follow up a headbutt only to take a Pele and Springboard Splash to end the match. This is probably the best TNA Sting I have ever seen and really shows how much a good layout can hide the limitations of wrestlers. Both wrestlers executed the psychology and delivered a very good match. I am looking forward to AJ's reign as World Champion before he ends up in obscurity and an interminable feud with Christopher Daniels.

Dude, definitely add all the non-TNA AJ that you can because while I followed ROH, I never watched any of it unless one of their events came to the location I was in at the time. I would love to see some AJ in a non-TNA setting. AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle - Video Game Death Match - Hard Justice Ok, I am being a little harsh with that gimmick name. They deemed this a Last Man Standing Match, but it follows Death Match rules. Everyone knows you cant just have a plain 'ol Death Match. What ensued was the most sterile Death Match of all time. I have seen straight Ric Flair title defenses that used the outside more effectively than these two. This time the blame falls squarely on Angle's shoulders. AJ really brought the hate at the beginning of the match before Angle quashed that and made it into one of his spotfests. Angle started off with the Larry Z, which is a great heat tactic, the only problem is the angle they ran right before this talked about how Angle wanted to rip AJ's head off for sleeping with his wife. AJ basically says "Fuck this" and nails Angle with a glorious right. He follows up with a series of vicious strikes. Instead of celebrating his dropkick as being proud of it, he uses it to set up a clothesline to the outside and a dive. They work the outside pretty effectively together. Angle actually overhead suplexes AJ into the guardrail. Angle's European Uppercuts feel violent. They are off to a great start. I really felt like they could build from here into an all-time classic. Then Angle had to do his big spot to scoop up all the heat. They go out to the entrance and Angle hits a somersault off the ramp onto AJ. T-N-A! T-N-A! T-N-A! I can forgive it. He wanted to do one big spot to pop the crowd so be it that isn't going to ruin all the good work they did at the beginning. Angle just doesn't know how to work violent that has to be it. Once they are back in the ring, everything stays in the ring and it turns into a standard TNA match only this time AJ is bringing the hate to have some glue between the spots. He was really using his right hand to effectively set up his spots as opposed to Angle's video game counters. I am a mark for the torture rack so I liked it when AJ did it, but I can see that not being everyone's cup of tea. It is hilarious that Angle lets everyone counter the Ankle Lock at least 3 times a match, but he submits to it on the first attempt by AJ. Yes, AJ had already reversed the Ankle Lock once in this match. At this point of the match, when Angle hits a low blow on AJ it is a Low Blow of Hate. It is a Low Blow of a Desperate Man just trying to salvage a win. AJ is trying so hard to have a classic match and Angle just only knows one mode. Maybe Angle is better as a babyface in hate-filled matches? This is so frustrating because I know these two have a classic in them. Now here come the barrage of spots: Germans, Pele, Angle run up the ropes (this features some good struggle), Olympic Slam, Styles Clash, Super DDT for the win for AJ. I will say I really like they didn't have a finisher win it. That they went with a move that was very big and uncommon for the finish. It was a really good escalation to a big finish Angle sold the Super DDT perfectly. Post-match, AJ knocks him off the stretcher and dumps him on his head. Sting his the Scorpion Deathdrop on AJ to set up the Main Event Mafia storyline. This match is so frustrating because the beginning is really well-executed with both guys utilizing violent offense to get revenge on the other. However, once Angle went to do his big spot off the ramp the match reverted back to your standard TNA match layout. However, they did some really good stuff in that portion. They did a lot more strikes in between spots. There was more struggle and competing over spots. Rather than Slammiversary, where they were just trading spots. I would not put this in the same league as some of the epic AJ matches I have seen. However, it was very good and could have easily been great.

Just lost this post so we are going to do the following review in bullet points form AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle - Slammiversary -Disturbing Trend: AJ's matches are totally disconnected from storyline, probably not his fault - Heated Angle: Centered around Angle's jealousy that AJ has a crush on his wife and thus Angle beat living shit out of him on TV. Big bladejob by AJ. - So they wrestle a classic championship match. The Announcers and I are like whaaaaaattttttt - AJ is proud of hitting dropkicks on the guy just mauled him like a week ago. Like I said it feels like an underdog who is proving himself to the ace veteran rather than a blood feud match - Angle is King of Shitty Transitions. It feels like a video game. The guy controlling Angle just kept mashing R2 until he broke up his opponents's grapple attempt and starting hitting moves. -Angle's heat segment and AJ's comeback were great. Angle bloodied AJ's nose, toyed with him in the corner and AJ's is a great fired up babyface. Match feels like an elite match after the rocky start because they established what they wanted and I accepted it. Crowd is chanting "Angle Sucks!" and "AJ". The wrestlers are over not the moves. -Angle, King of the Shitty Transitions decides enough of this wrestling stuff and just starts hitting Germans. After this nobody can string together more than two moves. The crowd starts chanting "This Is Awesome!". The moves are over not the wrestlers. - Karen Angle hits the ring and the match is instantly 5 stars. I mean overbooking is bad. Who am I kidding? Overbooking has never looked so good. -Karen holds onto the chair and in that moment AJ is able to use the distraction to hit the Styles Clash to win. Wait I thought AJ and Angle were feuding??? Nope I guess all the face heat is for Karen as she gets her comeuppance on Angle. Only for Angle to rock AJ with the chair and Angle to threaten to hit Karen. Rematch BABY! The beginning was fine once you got over the fact they weren't going to brawl, the middle rocked, and the home stretch was standard TNA/Angle, the finish sucked the meat missile.

After the first 5 matches, I was shocked how awful the card. I only thought the six-man was decent of those first five matches and that was because they worked a bare bones fundamentals based match that suited the babyfaces well. Then Holy Shit, did the women deliver. I was watching Velvet Sky the other week and struck me how shitty she was at she moved in the ring and I expected the same from Taryn. At first, I was like at least she moves decent. Then all of sudden they were busting out all these big spots that actually looked violent as opposed the to gymnastics tumbling routine that was the opener. The bump Gail Kim took off the steel chair and spinning out onto the floor was the wicked. Hell, the single leg trip on the ramp by Gail looked sick before they did the Diamond Cutter off the ramp, which had me marking. Easily the best women's match I have ever match from TNA or WWE (I am not exactly a fan of women's wrestling so I maybe forgetting an obvious contender). I liked AJ/Angle well enough, but I think it was only on par with the women if that. It was on course to easily be better until Angle decided to take over. AJ was friggin awesome at the beginning. He was laying everything so well and his strikes look so much better than the rest of the roster. The dropkick to the outside and his new single leg crab submission looked wicked. Of course, Angle blew off the knee psychology and did his usual match, which I don't hate, but it was disappointing because they were working something different before Angle overdrive kicked in. AJ still had some nice bumps and work to make it interesting. Sting/Bully was way better than I thought it was going to be. They worked a smart match and the exposing the ring wood was a really cool spot to me. Has anyone ever done that? The overbooking nonsense was lame and I think the piledriver on the wood should have been the finish. Three matches saved the card and my brother and I had an excellent time. We got our running gag of the night immediately as we were finding our seats they were hocking Dixie Carter action figures. We laughed so hard at the thought of someone actually buying that thing.

If Backlund doesn't get picked, isnt he a shoe-in to be the heir Verne's position as the babyface of the AWA and be Bock's foil from about 77-82?I will admit I know absolutely nothing about the AWA pre-1982, but given Verne's love for amateur's reps and Backlund's Minnesota origins you would have to imagine that Backlund would at least get a serious run at Bock's title if not a 2 year run with the strap. Now more importantly, did Backlund/Bockwinkel happen and does exist on tape because I just done gone gave myself a raging wrestling mental boner.

Hey yo everybody, I know we have some guys in the Boston Metro area, I don't know if anybody else is attending, but I won tickets through the local classic rock station for knowing that Hogan's name in Rocky III was Thunderlips. Talk about a meatball. I am a big enough AJ Styles fan that I am going with my brother. Unfortunately, due to a lot of stuff this week was not able to watch as much AJ as I wanted. I did watch about 5 weeks of Impact to get a feel of what I was to expect. I feel like the in-ring quality has really taken a nose dive and is nowhere near as good as the WWE anymore. Aries and Styles are the only guys working at a truly high level. Friggin Samoa Joe is feuding with Midcard Mafia's B-Team. I think of all of Angle's opponents in TNA, AJ is his best, but I should re-watch the Samoa Joe matches again so I am hoping that salvages the show. I will probably post a review when I get a home or tomorrow. My brother and I love live wrestling no matter how shitty it is. We still talk fondly of a SD! taping where the only notable event was the Birth of "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. Plus Sting main evented the very first live wrestling show I went to WCW's 1998 Boston Brawl. The more things change...

I will re-watch it when I get a chance, but I just felt like it was your run of the mill spotfest where AJ shone, but the other two were your usual X-Division wrestlers. I actually nabbed that off a 411mania list. So unless you write for that site, you are not the drug-addled man in question. Hard Justice 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs LAX I remember this angle being red hot at the time and it is my all-time favorite TNA angle. The video package is included before the match and I was totally pumped for this match, but man alive was it a letdown. They just did not wrestle to level of violence necessitated by the surrounding angle. I get it. It is your first match and you don't want to blow your wad, but there was a huge disconnect between the angle and the layout of this match. AJ & Homicide immediately show you why they are better their partners because they wrestle with so much intensity and actually start the match off on the right foot. You feel like a street fight is just ready to break out. However, they settle into the conventional tag formula off a sick rope-assisted Diamond Cutter from Homicide. The heat segment is well-worked and Homicide unleashes a pretty spectacularly timed flip cannonball dive through the middle rope. Daniels hot tag is pretty tepid. Then we hit the TNA portion of the match. The dive train is actually pretty sweet even though it is does not fit with the violence of the angle. They do a couple double team moves and everybody hits their stock spots. Hernandez looks impressive during these. I like the finish even though I thought LAX should go over as AJ irish whips Homicide into Hernandez to set up Total Elimination for the win. This felt like a match that never got out of first gear and actually could have used some more interference from Konnan who was such an integral part of this angle. I did not think any one guy shined in this match. It was just a disjointed that had good mixed with bad. It was such a violent build-up and instead we got the usual helicopter powerbombs and dive trains. I remember liking the Ultimate X quite bit and the street fight on Impact even more. ------------------------------------------------------------- No Surrender 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions LAX vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels - Ultimate X Alas, I could not find the street fight. This was not as good as I remember, but it is one of the better TNA spotfests. I don't feel like re-watching all of TNA 2006, but for the most part TNA fans just pop for spots rather than well-laid wrestling psychology. I think there is an argument to be made that TNA wrestlers ought to please their fans rather than drag them kicking and screaming through a good match. TNA matches have weird heat because the fans are only looking to pop for spots and can be quite dead for extended periods of times. This was pretty much a non-stop-spot-a-thon. There were plenty of eye-please spots with AJ getting thrown by Hernandez, a nice dive train, some nice work with the ladder. I literally just watched that match and cant remember the order of the spots and all of them. In the moment, I thought it was cool, but now just minutes after I am struggling to piece together where AJ's comeback was in relation to the second dive train. The finish was smart because it was actually the two impressive spots in the match. If you are going to do a spotfest then you best hold your last two trump cards for the end. AJ Styles Clash Homicide off the apron into table and Daniels leaping for the tag belts were visually very impressive. Very disappointed by both of these matches and hopefully Bound For Glory can save it. It is starting to feel this feud is all talk and no walk. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bound for Glory 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs LAX - Steel Cage Match Finally they bring the Hate. Still, they let the usual TNA tropes seep in, which hamper this match and lend a disjointed feel to a match. However, LAX finally live up to their gimmick of militant thugs using a fork and clothes hanger. AJ/Daniels get in on the action using the fork against Homicide. Still they do silly stuff like the Tower of Doom though it does setup an impressive dive from AJ onto Hernandez. Daniels taken out via the clothes hanger leaving AJ at the mercy of LAX. He gets annihilated by a Hernandez clothesline and then a Gringo Killer for LAX to pick up the duke. I really have to track down the street fight as these matches really left me wanting more. Hernandez has some really impressive stuff, but I just wasn't feeling the hate from him. I think Homicide has been the best in these matches, but this was really just a carry-over his gimmick from ROH just with more ethnic nationalistic overtones. Daniels felt more flat in this feud than AJ, but I am not a total AJ homer. I will call a spade a spade, while AJ showed flashes of is brilliance, he did not really bring it during this feud. The angle seemed so hot, but the matches were either tepid or plagued by the shoehorning stock TNA spots into a violent feud. In my opinion, the AMW feud was the way better one in ring. Do Homicide/AJ have any revered singles matches? I would be interested in watching them because I think they have good chemistry. Elite AJ Matches of 2006: 1. NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels - Slammiversary 2006 2. X-Division Champion Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles - Against All Odds 2006

Against All Odds 2006 - X-Division Champion Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles At first, I was like am I crazy or is this better than the more heralded Unbreakable match and after the sick Joe/AJ combo Back Drop Driver head drop on Daniels, it was pretty clear this is the better match. It is tighter and more efficient clocking in at around 16 minutes of action. There are just as many MOVEZ~! (aforementioned sick head drop, the monkey flip callback this time into a Boston Crab, Joe's suicide dive with AJ bumping like a champ). However, this time the match is structured so much better! Joe comes off as such a badass in this match. He dominates pretty much the entirety of the match. This leads to a cool sub-storyline where AJ and Daniels are constantly trying to beat each other because they know they cant pin Joe, really smart angle. Daniels wrestles so much better as the uber-sympathetic, concussion-prone babyface. It gives him so much more direction in the match and really makes him seem so much more relevant especially on his comeback attempts. AJ had a tough role because the match was really centered around the Joe/Daniels dynamic. I liken AJ to a good guitar fill in a song with badass riff. Joe/Daniels are that badass riff, but that fill in between verses is just as much as a hook. AJ gives you so much variety and intelligence in any match that I dont think he could ever be a detriment. I dont think this was as good as my current top two, which were a couple beast match. However, as a SMART spotfest (still very much a spotfest), this is one of the best. For all the praise Unbreakable gets, definitely sit down and watch these two side by side and decide for yourself because I dont think Against All Odds gets enough praise. Destination X - X-Division Champion Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles Easily the least of the three triple threat matches, but that isnt that much of a knock on this and more of a praise to how well-done the other matches. I like how in the previous match, AJ and Daniels were at each other's throats because they knew they couldnt pin Joe so they thought their best chance to win was against each other. However, this time they do a lot more teaming up against Joe including the nice symmetry of the two savings each other from Joe death blows (Ole Kick to guardrail and Musclebuster to chair). I believe the angle was set up well for Daniels to take it because he had the most sympathy due to the concussion. I think they could have stretched it out and give Daniels a big singles victory over Joe. In an effort to preserve the streak Ultimate X was smart. I just wish we got a Joe/Daniels rematch and Daniels got his win. Sacrifice 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels We get a pre-match interview from AMW, Gail Kim and Jackie Gayda's Totally Bitchin Rack. I totally forgot Jackie was with the company and apparently this was her exit as she announced she was pregnant and summarily fired. Charlie Haas is one lucky man. This match was pretty good and I really liked the energy of the babyfaces from the get-go as they got the crowd rocking. AMW worked a solid heat segment on Daniels, but nothing to write home about. The hot tag to AJ is where this one fell apart as Daniels totally neglects he had the shit beat out of him and just starts rattling off moves. Normally I hate the Tower of Doom spot, but Daniels adds an intelligent wrinkle by shoving everyone off and hits a high cross-body and gets a two. Then the match degenerates into a spotfest which forces the babyfaces to stop selling and the heels to kick out of babyface highspots, which is killing my vibe on this match. I dont know why a BME/Frogsplash should ever be kicked out of by a heel. Daniels treats the DVD as a transition move bothers me. There are a couple of botches. The finish is that Gail, who is not allowed at ringside, "throws" a nightstick down from the rafters giving AMW a win. It was a fun match, but nothing I would consider a classic. Slammiversary 2006 - NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted vs AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels NOW, this match is the perfect melding of X-Division with Southern tag team wrestling in a way that satiated my inner mark. AMW's channel MX hard by doing some funny comedy spots at the beginning of the match: Storm's head ending up repeatedly in Harris's crotch and Storm unknowingly headscissoring Harris over the top rope on a skin the cat. I liked this babyface shine better than the last one. The heels smartly get the faces outside where Gail Kim helped them gain the advantage and Storm took out Styles' legs while on the guardrail. The theme of these matches is definitely how the faces are full of piss and vinegar, but are too overzealous sometimes and that lets AMW take over. AJ is a pretty face in peril than Daniels and makes the heat segment more interesting. Daniels for his part is a really good hot tag and love how the match is structured for the babyfaces to overcome each of AMW's tricks: Gail (with a butch woman, I was hoping for Jackie), a chair, handcuffs, bottle, ref bump before finally taking the titles. The finish run was really exciting and really had you pulling for Styles/Daniels as resilient challengers and AMW as desperate champions. The use of the frogsplash/BME as the finish was pitch perfect. Definitely one of my favorite matches as it used all the good tropes from a Southern-style match: early heel clowning, effective heat, put the faces at a disadvantage and eventually the good guys come out on top with all the best parts of the X-Division: MOVEZ~!

So I won tickets from the local classic rock station to go see TNA's Slammiversary. Unbelievable softball: What was Hogan's name in Rocky III? I was toying with going because I do like AJ & Aries a good bit, but the card seemed so blase. I love live pro wrestling enough that free tickets are enough to get me and my brother to go. In order to get myself psyched, I am watching a ton of AJ Styles. I am reposting my earlier reviews from a different thread for ease of access. Final Resolution 2005: X-Division Champion Petey Williams vs Chris Sabin vs AJ Styles in an Ultimate X Match I watched this match because it made someone's Top Ten TNA matches and I have no idea what that guy was smoking. This is a fun spot exhibition, but it is nowhere near the best match of a promotion. What I like about above average matches is that certain things become pronounced. One of those things is how much better is AJ is at everything than your standard X-Division wrestler. He sells better, he punches better, he bumps better, he makes everything you watch count. From the iconic flip bump off the turnbuckle to actually selling his hand during the match, AJ totally outclassed these guys. Against All Odds 2005: X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels Wow, way better than I remembered and a true joy to go back and watch. The opening is really well done and makes AJ looks like a million bucks. Daniels sells the arm so well even during his heat segment and puts on a clinic working over AJ's mid-section. AJ, for what is worth, not holds his ribs, but actually sells it like he is sucking air. The only time I have seen that is in Japan. AJ is fuckin good. The finish to the first fall may be one of my favorite finishes ever. AJ goes for a big bomb to polish off Daniels, but on the 450 he eats knees, which plays right into the mid-section work and Angel Wings (AJ with a full layout because he is ALL MAN~!) sees Daniels goes up 1-0 in sublime fashion. The rest of the match is well-worked and AJ times his hopes spots so well and keeps the crowd constantly heated. Im ok with AJ getting the pin in a quick rollup, but I would have liked it better done Steamboat style with a ton of desperation cradles rather than kinda out of nowhere. My main critique is that match is structured weirdly down the stretch because you have Daniels in desperation to get the last pin and AJ just trying to hang on (emphasized by his bladejob). They do the Koji Clutch and AJ is saved by the bell. I hate this because I think the babyface should be the guy doing this down the finishing stretch. Daniels needed to really heel this portion up to save it. Then of course AJ pulls it out in OT in really weird booking. It was like they wanted to protect AJ due to weak as finish in regulation, but then they cut off Daniels' balls. Classic match until last 5 minutes, which leads to believe there will be better matches. Lockdown 2005: AJ Styles vs Abyss - Number One Contender's Match So in a card full of cage matches, what do AJ and Abyss do to ensure differentiation they spend the first half brawling outside. I actually think that is pretty smart given the circumstances The spots AJ hits during the babyface shine are ridiculously awesome and breath-taking. It was the perfect way to establish AJ's speed as a threat to Abyss' unmitgated power. When Abyss took over with those vicious cage door shots on AJ, AJ went into Ricky Morton mode and I knew we were entering classic match territory. Once in the cage, Abyss did some great power offense and a classic Southern-style, bloodbath cage match developed with AJ timing each hope spot for maximum effect. I even liked the inclusion of thumbtacks because it played into the sadism of the match. The finish has everyone on their feet cheering for AJ. One of the better David vs Goliath type matches because AJ never tried to out power Abyss or force Abyss to look weak. AJ shined through his speed offense and wrestling a smart match. Of all the matches, I have seen so far, seek this one out. Sacrifice 2005: Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles Finals of the Super X Cup This is what I am talking in terms of non-memorable. I totally forgot this match and its circumstances. Basically, the winner gets a shot at Daniels' X-Division Title. I forgot how good 2005 Joe was. Joe was so explosive in a way that very few were. I would say on the level of a Dr. Death. Those two men are the very few who wrestle with such a lethal combination of quickness and power. This match does not touch Williams' best work because Joe doesnt always work with urgency in the match. AJ is a great pinball for Joe (an absolutely sick bump onto the floor off a kick and then slides into the announce table). Joe, for his part goes overboard much like Vader, goes a little overboard in bumping for AJ (a German suplex would have been perfect in a latter bout to pop the crowd instead it is thrown out in the first match). Also since I am in full All Japan mode, I loved the direct All Japan cosplay as Joe plays Kawada and AJ plays a great version of Misawa with a flurry of elbows. While they outright steal All Japan spots it doesn't feel like an All Japan match instead a weird mish-mash of America and Japan. A good comparison is the Liger vs Otani match from 1997 which is the New Japan juniors doing an All Japan match with Otani cast as Kobashi (such a perfect role for him) and Liger as Misawa (again perfect casting choice). This match never reaches that level, but it is a very good first installment. The finish was smart as it protected AJ and made Joe still look like a beast. The musclebuster was so fuckin sick. I would say this one the level of the Against All Odds match in that is a very good match, but not something I would put in the Top 10 of a decade (with TNA we are looking at a decade). I am going to watch the Unbreakable 2005 match, which I remember liking a shit ton back in 2006, but my tastes have definitely changed. It has some very stiff competition from AJ vs Abyss in that cage, which was so amazing. Unbreakable 2005: X-Division Champion Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe I would hazard to say this is the most famous match in TNA history and is very much a product of its time period. There is a lot of excellent stuff in this match, but there is a lot of weird booking issues in this match. For my money, AJ vs Abyss is still a level above this match. Joe could be a better wrestler than AJ, but his instincts are awful. He lets people get way too much shit on him and he kills his unqiueness. You can defend letting AJ getting him into a Torture Rack because he is letting the babyface shine, but I think there are plenty ways of letting AJ shine without that. Indefensibly, he lets Daniels Death Valley Driver him. Why would you ever let a heel shine like that? In Joe's defense, he had the hardest role in the match, he had to be a heel for AJ and a babyface for Daniels. He was clearly more comfortable working with AJ. Which brings me to my next point, Daniels is a horrible heel. This match proves in my mind pretty definitively that Daniels is a step below both AJ and Joe. It isnt that much of a knock because AJ and Joe were probably the two best wrestlers in 2005 in North America. It is just Daniels is pretty good at everything, but excellent at nothing. He cant fly or bump as well as AJ and he cant be as violent as Joe. Instead of differentiating himself in an obvious fashion by cheating like a muthafucker doing anything it takes to keep his belt, he just wrestles this poor man's AJ/Joe hybrid style that does nobody any favors. He gets a heat segment that should have been Joe's. Daniels looked way too strong in this match and it was a detriment to the story. Some people turn off selling, well Daniels turns off heeling. Of course, there were some incredible sequences. The opening was pitch perfect and set up for Daniels to play a bitch boy that has to cheat (ala Flair) to keep his title, but he dropped that. I LOVE AJ's quick rollups it was a perfect way to show how AJ could be a threat to Joe. The springboard Shooting Star by AJ was sublime. The All Japan sequence from Joe/AJ ending with an amazing German by Joe was the best sequence in the match. Pretty much everything from Joe/AJ was fucking amazing. Joe had some pretty fun combinations back in the day. I miss Joe. I would say the first 20 minutes or so, I would said this was an easy Top 5 match for TNA, but the last 5 or so kinda soured me when Daniels took over the match. Why was Joe doing desperation cover? Ugh that should have been Daniels. The finish was booked so fuckin weird. I would still say it has an outside shot at Top 5 right now because how well the action was packed. AJ has the prettiest right hand of someone who debuted post-Attitude Era. Why the guy uses shivers at all is beyond me because his right hand looks great! What I liked was even though they didnt really use a heat segment in a conventional sense, it never felt like "your turn, my turn", which irks me to end when I see that. What I meant by a product of the time period is that it was very en vogue to have shades of grey wrestling matches where everyone looks good and everyone is kept strong usually at the expense of the babyface (though in this case it was Joe). I think it was the best possible match of that type and was really well-executed. Bound For Glory 2005 - X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels I like how they knew they werent going to top their previous efforts so they tried to do a totally different match by using the classic build with the side-headlocks to start. I liked how Styles kiboshed Daniels on his Stampede roll-through on an armdrag back into the headlock and how Styles punted Daniels in the ribs on a drop down. However, things never really got off the ground floor even though the first ten minutes were well-worked. The next ten or so really felt like "Let me hit my modified slam, now you hit your modified slam" there was no sense of struggle and thus zero heat. The best sequence of this period of a great fired-up AJ and Daniels' selling of it. Daniels is wrestling 8 million times better in this match and makes AJ look a lot better. I actually think this was an off night for AJ as he wasnt showing his usual level of charisma. In the last ten minutes, they start hitting their dives and everyone wakes up. They go through a nice exchange of rollups and AJ even does an All Japan no-sell off a German into a wicked lariat to really get the place rocking. The finish is a tame one as it is just the Styles Clash at the buzzer. No sense of struggle or urgency throughout this match killed the heat for me. I thought the beginning was going to go somewhere interesting, but nada. This was AJ's weakest performance all year by far. Daniels worked hard in this match, but it was not enough to get this match over the hump, a good match, but in a lot ways disappointing. Turning Point 2005 - X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe Greatest AJ Styles Performance Ever? I am willing to hear arguments against, but I dont think I can be convinced. When Styles does a float-over off a Joe suplex attempt onto the apron instead of doing it fluidly he lands on the ropes to sell the exhaustion. I was in awe. Consequently instead of immediately following his forearm on the apron he sold more exhaustion before finally to trying to hit a springboard and ate a Joe powerbomb. Sublime. What I think stands out the most about this match compared to so many X-Division matches is the physicality. My biggest issue with a lot of the flippy guys is how light they work (Kofi, Morrison). This match was a fuckin war and AJ got a nice busted up lip for it. AJ did that sick bump off the apron onto the floor again and took Joe's offense like a champ. Unlike the previous match, AJ seemed game throughout the match and still made Joe work for all his moves. I loved the transition to AJ's comeback as it was Joe being overzealous and AJ having the presence of mind to back body drop outside the ring. Then he capitalized with a beautiful shooting star press dive. I love how after each move AJ was going after pins because he knew he was weak and this was his shot. It really sold the urgency, you could feel that his time was fleeting and if he didnt capitalize now everything was lost. I loved the cat and mouse game they did late in the match with AJ duckin and diving before Joe caught him in the corner with a couple bear paws. The busted lip happens here and it really had a big fight feel and that moment epitomized it. AJ follows that up with early kicks out off a wicked lariat and wicked Tiger Driver. FIGHTING SPIRIT~! The one flaw is the fact that AJ tried twice to setup Joe for moves on the top turnbuckle. The second time it led to an awkward sequence and a lame AJ powerbomb, which only existed to give AJ a way to hit the Styles Clash. It was a minor flaw. AJ goes for a victory roll, but Joe traps him in the clutch and it is Goodnight Irene for AJ. After the match, Joe beats up AJ and tries to give him a musclebuster on a chair, but Daniels saves. I liked this match a whole lot, but I think I liked AJ/Abyss a hair more, but both are neck and neck for Best TNA match ever at this point. I have no idea why the Unbreakable match is the more famous match. This match blows that match outta the water. Tremendous effort by both men, this is definitely one to watch. Elite AJ Matches of 2005: 1. AJ Styles vs Abyss -Steel Cage No. 1 Contender's Match - Lockdown 2005 2. X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe - Turning Point 2005

Routinely a week behind RAW, but I would be remiss not to mention that Fandango's outfit last week for the dance-off is best thing the WWE has done this year.

I don't know if this has already been posted as it might have been buried in this very thread, but Bob Caudle is producing a documentary about Mid-Atlantic Wrestling from the 60s, 70s and 80s. I know so little of JCP/Mid-Atlantic pre-1983 that this could be a really cool film if done properly for me to watch. They are in the fundraising portion of the venture. For more information go to http://www.nwalegends.com/

Cena is a really good wrestler and sometime I think he is a really great wrestler. But holy shit can he be an absolutely fucking awful promo. When he can cut that promo on Ryback this past week, I wanted Ryback to pummel into submission. Ryback, on the other hand, is a shockingly great promo. He gets boring chants for time to time because wrestling fans suck and they want a joke every other line, but I think Ryback Rules on the stick. Sheamus & Del Rio also suffer from Cena syndrome from time to time on the mic. The WWE has no idea how to market a babyface in this current climate.

My brother and I usually watch RAW on the weekends. During the Ryback/Kane match, we could not stop laughing at a point in the match where Ryback and Kane ran past each other and ducked at the same time. It was like straight out of a wrestling video game when you both are running the ropes and each person hist reverse and you bot duck at the same time. Easily the funniest moment of the year and almost as funny as Scotty Steiner's sell of a phantom punch on a random Impact years back.

Watched the whole thing this morning. Pretty disappointing, but I will say Flair looked awesome here. He looked wicked energetic and was definitely supplying the most energy of the 4. I agree with everybody that Flair lost a step somehwree in 1990. But up until his shoulder injury in 1996, I still think Flair was a very, very good worker. It is after his return in 1997 that I feel I see a precipitous decline in his work. I like the battle of the hip swivels early, but I feel like I watched a whole different match than some of you. Rude looked tired and I remember he badly botched one back body drop and I think he botched something else. Rude looked awful to me out there and then he just slapped on the reverse chinlock. It was sad because you know Rude wanted to be better, but his body wouldnt let him. I like Sting using the splash a finisher I didnt know he used it as frequently.

I have no idea what the criticisms are towards this match because of my sheltered internet existence until I found this forum. I have always liked this match a lot rating this as the best match in Starrcade history as WWE did for their DVD set is overkill, but I agree with Loss' assessment that this is best US Match of '93 behind the Sting/Vader strap match. Ric Flair is such a great heel, you forget how amazing he is as a babyface in his matches against Funk, Eaton and Vader he really shows how well he can adjust. There is not babyface shine, which feels a bit unusual, but it is Vader, so it makes sense just have him start overpowering Flair. The usual Vader misses a move gives opponent opportunity follows, which is always great. I love Vader chest first bump onto rails. Vader fucks up Flair's mouth and Flair is not happy. This is a match pits the two best corner workers and verbal sellers in history in my opinion. They work Flair's first knockdown of Vader awesomely. Flair's barrage of punches during the home stretch is incredibly moving. It is something that gets me everytime as you cant help but root for him. The chair stuff and punches on the outside look so vicious. You know you are over like rover when you merely pick up someone's ankle and the place goes batshit. Vader does not submit to the Figure-4, which part of me thinks it should have been the finish because Flair is the babyface. Vader/Harley work their stock spot of missed Vadersault and Harley headbutt onto Vader that always pops the crowd. I agree the tabletop looked fucked up. Only one pinfall attempt in the whole match and yet there was so much drama throughout. It is pretty much everything I would expect from Flair/Vader and they delivered in spades.

My current choice for great wrestling match of all time. I watched it again due to Kobashi's retirement over the weekend. It is such brilliant work and a compelling story. The Underdog Kobashi lives and dies by his big bombs as he tries to overwhelm the unstoppable force known as Stan Hansen. Kobashi was relentless in the first ten minutes just an excellent display of urgency by never letting Hansen breathe. Hansen was fucking great both on offense and defense, his deadweighting on the pinfall attempt off the top rope legdrop was so awesome. I have always loved this match and love it more each time.

Sabu in 1993 was pretty wicked and I can definitely see how he became a huge star on the indy scene. Did he ever actually get a hold of anybody with those leg dives? What did he do? They look great, but I am curious. This entire match is worth for Funk's selljob of Sabu's piledriver. Funk is pretty good on offense himself busting out the piledriver and dropkick on the floor. I liked the crowd brawling it was short and crisp, which is how it should be. The table spot is wicked and works on multiple levels because Sabu hits his leg on the table. Naturally, Funk followed up with the Spinning Toe Hold. I agree stuff like the Spinning Toe Hold in ECW looked stupid, but when it is such a logical progression it is just bitchin. This along with Vader/Tamura has been my favorite match of the day. I liked it so much I looked up some 94 Funk/Sabu and am looking forward to seeing it.

Good God, is that match still going on? I thought that AA face in peril segment was never going to end. The opening was so good with Vader doing his chest bump onto the guardrail and Flair going after him with the chair. I was wicked amped for this match. Once everything settled down, it was still very good as Flair was supplying energy for four. Then they decided to do a 15 minute AA FIP segment. I marked for when Austin did the AA bump by taking AA's knees to gut during the knucklelock. Everything else was really good until the last 7 minutes or so when they ran out of things to do. Could have been a great one. Also, I will say Austin with that look, gimmick and mechanics just reeked midcarder to me. He is one of the few wrestlers whose match quality improved in the WWF. I actually don't blame WCW for not thinking he was not main event material.

I have been digging babyface Ric Flair for a while now and this was a pretty good match. Vader worked on top really well and Flair's verbal selling was top notch. I liked the construct of all the openings Flair took advantage of. Every chance, he pounced on like the first time he got Vader on his back (Vader missed an elbow) he went right to the Figure-4. It showed he wasn't fucking around. I have always dug the superplex. Flair wins so we think off a missed Vadersault. This really put over Flair's underdog spirit and that the only way he could fell the monster is if the monster made a mistake, which is a great to put over guys. I think after you hear that crowd reaction, WCW was not too worried about putting the belt on Flair again. I know that Starrcade match has been polarizing. Historically, I have fallen on the positive side and a MOTYC for WCW. After the the Saturday Night tag match, I will get to it.

The look on Vader's face when he traps Tamura in the corner twice just says: DEAD MEAT. Each time Tamura comes out kicking and Vader is left screaming in agony. Eventually Vader gets a hold of Tamura and you know it is just a matter of time. Tamura shows a lot of moxie, but Vader is just too much man for Tamura too handle.

I agree that Vader brought the best out of Sting, but I think Vader had plenty of great matches in Japan and in WCW with a variety of opponents. Vader vs Sting - Vacant WCW World International Heavyweight Championship Slamboree 1994 I will give WCW credit at least they came up with a bogus committee to recognize this championship. Who recognizes the World Heavyweight Championship in WWE as the championship now that the brand split is dead? It is silly. This is the definitely the least of their PPV matches, but still really good and if lets say Bam Bam Bigelow had this match it would pointed to how good Bam Bam is. Vader & Sting had just raised the bar that high for themselves. They start off very cautious almost as if this is their first encounter. Now, maybe you could see this as Sting thinking he was going to fight Rude and Vader was a last minute substitute so both combatants are apprehensive because it is strange. It is very methodical for a Sting/Vader match, but at least it makes it different. "Sting Must Die" - the crowd lets us know we are in Philly. Vader's chest bump thing he does is just an awesome move and that the transition to the Vader Bomb and then some focused mat work on Sting's leg. They go into the usual Sting hope spots with Vader dominating most of the match before a ref bump. Vader delivers a nasty chokeslam, but eats a chair from Harley. Harley definitely had a hard time letting go just like Flair is now. Harley needs to mentor Flair on how to get old. Vader catches Sting on the Stinger Splash and throws him down. Spot of the match as it looked great. Vadersault misses, which is an awesome sight. Harley headbutts Vader and flying splash by Sting (always liked how out of control he looked on it.) At 14 minutes, I think this is the shortest Vader/Sting match. They did not wrestle a sprint, but it was still a good match, but below Zbyszko/Regal and the Cactus&Sullivan/Nasties brawl. I'd put it on par with the Dustin/Buck match from this card. Just a solid outing from two guys with ridiculous chemistry.

Who's da man? You da man, Vader, you da man!

Hall only mentioned Savage & Sting, who were the two main babyfaces on the show at this point. Luger was a tweener. Giant and Flair were the top heels. Hogan was on vacation. So it only made sense that Hall mentioned only Sting & Savage. This match didn't do much for me. It was just kinda there. Steiner threw out a bunch of cool shit, but he didnt string it together in an entertaining fashion. I hate when people just give up on submissions like Steiner did with the STF and Cross-Armbreaker. Sting was pretty decent. Solid match, but ultimately forgettable. What surprised me was how not bad Bischoff was on commentary. He was really putting over the current storyline between the two teams and getting over the athleticism and sporting contest of wrestling. He was easily way better than the horrid commentary provided on the current product.

Super. Overhead. Belly-To-Belly. There is a new convert to the Church of Barbarian and I am sorry to have ever doubted his awesomeness. This was a really good Nitro match that I have never seen. Good use of all those involved makes you wish they had a PPV match. I have always really dug the Sting-Luger angle from early 1996.

Good match that was a bit too one-sided for my liking. It felt like Regal was gobbling up Smith, who has some pretty cool offense in his own right that being said Bulldog was on his way out so maybe that is why. The beginning felt like an exhibition, but it was pretty funny and good bullshit. Regal's offense was good, but dragged a bit and the finish was short, but decent. I preferred the Fall Brawl match against Steamboat.