[2005-10-23-TNA-Bound For Glory] A.J. Styles vs Christopher Daniels (Iron Man)

[kewf1988]

This is the second of two ironman matches between these two in 2005, and this one, while not quite as good as the first one, is almost as good. The first one was more of a war, while this one was more of a wrestling clinic, as this match put over both Styles and Daniels as equals, as there were no falls at all until a few seconds left, when AJ hit the Styles Clash. Despite only one fall, this match never dragged, and was slightly faster paced than their AAO match.

 

****1/4 (Great match that put over both competitors as equals and the right person went over as AJ won the belt last month and Joe was clearly next in line for a run)

[Superstar Sleeze]

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.

[Sounds like I liked the first one more and I really dont have much of a recollection of this one. ***1/2]

[ohtani's jacket]

This wasn't a bad match, but I don't think anybody really wants to see an Iron Man match where there are no pinfalls or submissions until the last moment. They could have just as easily worked with a 30 minute time limit. AJ getting a pin as the clock run out was too cutesy for my liking. The likelihood of being able to pull that off seems miniscule to say the least. They worked hard, but I think they would have been better served by better booking.