AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe (TNA 9/11/2005

This is the most famous TNA match of all time. I dont think it is their best match but this should be nominated because of its notoriety and it is excellent.

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.

[May need a rewatch but I do hate triple threats. I am thinking around ****]


Second watch: Re-watched this one my phone this morning and I liked it a lot better than my recollection. One of the best spotfests of all time and maybe the best triple threat of all time (Cena vs Lesnar vs Rollins) may have something to say about that. I really liked the opening with Joe & AJ one upping each other on the heel Daniels. I liked Daniels being treated as a strong heel. We know Joe & AJ hit hard as fuck but Daniels was just as stiff as them. The highspots were really HIGH! The AJ Shooting Star Press, Spiral Tap into the Kokina Clutch and Joe's insane dive were all BADASS like the greatest spots ever. Finish was incredible. I like how the undefeated Joe eliminated himself by missing a dive. I liked AJ reversing the Angels Wings into a pinning predictament of his own for the win. My complaints as always with a spotfest is things comes too easy no struggle. I also thought they peaked mid-match with the unconventional highspots so when come time for everyone to hit their stock highspots it was not as hot. Still never a dull moment and just absolute mayhem, maybe the best spotfest ever. ****1/4

Man, I just re-read my review and gotta say chill out, bro. What an angry young man. I popped for Saying Daniels turns off heeling. I Think overall I was too hard on Daniels in my first review except the heeling. Definitely needed more heeling. But yeah I needed to take a chill pill.