[2006-06-18-TNA-Slammiversary] America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) vs A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels

[Superstar Sleeze]

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~!

 

[Sounds like ****]

[Migs]

Yeah, this was a pretty solid southern tag. AMW strike a nice balance here - they show ass but also maintain enough credibility that you buy it when they go on offense and it feels like Styles and Daniels have a real mountain to climb. Not sure why whoever the neutralizer lady was had to be nameless - wonder if that led anywhere. Liked the finishing stretch the beer bottle and then the tandem flying finishers from Styles and Daniels. Well worth seeing.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This is a fantastic match that is a hybrid of the best elements of old school tag wrestling, with the early 2000s all action Indie style. We know AJ and Daniels are great opponents, and that chemistry makes them great partners as well and they mesh fantastically with AMW, who are great early on as stooging heals before building lots of heat on the babyfaces. Because Chris Harris became a punchline, people forget how good they were as a team.

The timing on the spots in this match is spot on, getting the crowd biting on nearfalls and bringing them along for the ride. AJ is so smooth, but also impactful, while Daniels is more wily and cerebral, recognising when to step aside to let AJ get the pops with his big moves. At this point in 2006 AMW were like a classic 80s team transplanted into the 21^st Century but who can still go. This is also, before TNA started their Knockouts Division where Gail Kim was the hot evil valet on the outside, and she was also super underrated in that role – she’s great here with the timing of her interventions and interference. Yes, there’s lots of gaga – ref bumps, false finishes, beer bottles – but that all makes sense in terms of the storyline and that AMW had been escaping with their titles through cheap endings for months before this. Just a great match and a great moment when the faces finally get the win and the titles. (**** ¼)