[2010-02-14-TNA-Against All Odds] A.J. Styles vs Samoa Joe

[Superstar Sleeze]

TNA World Champion AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe - Against All Odds 2010

 

These two are such a joy to watch together. Unfortunately there were 5 minutes from the middle missing in the version I was watching but they were well on their way to get a great match.

 

-AJ is so versatile. Here he is rocking it as a chickenshit heel. It gives this great matchup a fresh new dynamic. Pin balling off of Joe on shoulder tackles.

 

-Joe usually plays the subtle heel, stoic badass. Here he is playing to the crowd getting them rocking with punches and kicks that look great.

 

-AJ gets the dragon leg whip and begins working the leg. Joe kicks him out on a Figure-4

 

-Joe overcomes the pain. FLYING JOE! Wipes out AJ!

 

-Joe still favoring the leg. AJ pokes him in the eye. AJ is such a good striker. He is good at beating the shit out of his opponent. He is smaller than Joe but he hits him so hard. At one point Joe chops him so hard that AJ falls on his ass. God, I love these two.

 

-AJ falls off the top and that's where the cut is.

 

-We rejoin during Joe's comeback solid lariats. Big kicks. AJ starts mixing in his big spots like Springboard Elbow and Quebrada into Inverted DDT. Joe hits a Sleeper Suplex when AJ won't go down to the Kokina Clutch. Love it.

 

-Joe hits Musclebuster. Flair pulls Bischoff out. Oh yeah Bischoff is a babyface and the ref to prevent Flair's interference. He decks Flair now that's weird Face/Heel dynamic.

 

-Bischoff misses the cover. Pele->Styles Clash->Wicked Slow Three makes Joe look like a chump.

 

Great match! New interesting dynamic and hard hitting execution. It was exciting watching Joe roar back against AJ. Finish stretch was the usual hot meld of these two. Could have done without the Bischoff BS. Missing 5 minutes ~****

[Migs]

Totally agree on this one, it's a terrific match. Really interesting to see Styles play leg working heel - it's not his best incarnation, but it's a real tribute to his versatility. I think Flair is pretty good in his manager role here, too, especially with the interference to do some of the initial damage to Joe's knee. The BS with Bischoff isn't my favorite thing, but I don't think it overwhelms the match like in other TNA main events. 

Loved the moment where AJ screams something to the effect of "Die Samoan!" and charges and gets caught flying by a Joe uranage - cool sequence. 

Feels like this 2010-12 stretch is really underrated for Styles, Joe, and Daniels - yes they're going to the well against each other again, but they're really showing how much they've grown, playing with different dynamics than the more famous 2005 matches and just really killing it consistently.