[2002-10-30-NWA TNA] A.J. Styles vs Amazing Red

[Superstar Sleeze]

X Division Champion AJ Styles vs Amazing Red - NWA TNA 10/30/02

 

AJ Styles was at his early 2000s goon best. If there is a God in Heaven, let bangs for men never ever come back!

 

2002 TNA is great for awesome Nitro cruiserweight matches. For the most part it has been debunked that Nitro was home to all these **** cruiserweight matches. Of course, they exist, but due to time constraints they are not as plentiful as one would be led to believe. TNA continued the lineage of Nitro cruiserweight matches but I think with better presentation (this is very shocking, the commentary is god fucking awful though) and some more time actually enhanced these matches. I think the better presentation is that company in 2002 was built around AJ Styles, which is crazy to think about since he had just started wrestling. He was at the forefront of the X & Tag Division scene and his feud with Ki & Lynn was the biggest feud of the year. The X Division Championship feels like a big deal and it is no small wonder why he was promoted to World Heavyweight Champion the following year.

 

It is not often we get to see AJ against a smaller opponent so I relish these opportunities. He did not bully Red as much as I like, but he was a great cocky prick and there was some good examples of power. Red could have been the heir to Rey Mysterio (weird to say as Rey Rey was active and had at least 10 great years left in him), but he was cut from a similar cloth, undersized, good seller and cool highspots. Watching him back here, there is something about him that has him falling show of Rey. For a lack of better term, he just does not feel like he has "it".

 

The beginning of the match establishes that both men are quicker than a hiccup and equals for the most part. Red dropkicks Styles over the top. What follows is just a masterful way to set up a highspot. They took the extra 30-60 seconds to do proper transition work to make Red's spectacular dive make sense rather than just have AJ stand around looking like a fool. AJ powers Red up and drops him down. I thought this was an effective power-based, slow it down heat segment from Styles where Red got to sell. Red was really effective with hope spots like Code Red and Red Star Press. I am not in love with the moves, but in terms of timing of the hope spots and AJ's heel work it was really well done. AJ was really smart to come up with the Styles Clash given the prevalence of hurricanaranas as it was easy counter to them. Loved the wicked powerbomb counter to a rana by Red. Red did hit a great spike Rana, which was of course all Styles making it look like a million bucks and even getting a Holy Shit chant out of it. Some dude named Mortimer Plumtree in pleated khakis and a sweater vest trips up Red. The righteous indignation from Tenay and West is so hokey. AJ wants Spiral Tap, but blocks and wants a rana and hits a beautiful one only for AJ to roll through.

 

They were putting this over as Red's first title shot and that is such a perfect finish for the first title shot. Red looked great with his hope spots and looked like he was right there with Styles, but due to a roll through lost the match just came up short. Red looked great and definitely protects him for future title shots. While AJ simultaneously looked strong kicking ass but also vulnerable enough to lose. Very strong heel champion vs babyface underdog match with some cool spots thrown in. ****