(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: AJ Styles vs. Abyss – TNA Lockdown 2005

AJ Styles has been called “the Shawn Michaels of his generation” which is about as high praise as one can get in wrestling. He has been active as a performer for almost thirty years and has been consistently across different promotions and in different settings. Yet for all the regular praise he was getting as early as 2003 he was initially dismissed as just a small indy guy by the bigger power players in wrestling. Much of the evidence for this ignorance was based on how he looked and how he was mostly relegated to wrestling similar-sized high-flyers or flippy guys that permeated the independent scene at the time. But like Michaels at many points in his career, Styles was also very, very good at creating exciting matches against much bigger and heavier monsters, as seen here.

The Story

I remember channel surfing around this time and randomly found TNA and Abyss was on. At first he came across as a cheap knockoff of Kane or Mankind, and later I read that this was kind of what he was going for in terms of look and gimmick. Anyways Abyss was involved long feud with AJ Styles that started over a year earlier. Since November 2003 they had traded wins over each other in both singles and tag settings and at one point won the NWA World Tag Team Titles together and then fought each other for control over both belts.

As the feud progressed both guys found themselves moving up the card as well. Eventually they found themselves in a #1 Contender’s match to determine the next challenger for Jeff Jarrett’s world title. And of course, with this taking place at Lockdown they had to face off in a cage.

This presented some additional drawbacks: not only was Styles a wrestler who stylistically needed space and freedom to execute his biggest spots but this was the eighth cage match in a row. How could they live up to the hype of their intense feud while also delivering a unique performance on a show in which pretty much everything that could be done in a cage was already shown on the undercard?

The Match

This took place on April 24, 2005. It was rated ****1/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This match is to determine the #1 Contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Styles pulls a Hayabusa at Super J Cup and dives onto Abyss from the ring while still wearing his ring jacket. Abyss blocks an initial Irish whip and reverses another. Styles ducks under part of the steel barricade and turns this into a springboard headscissor. We get some early back-and-forth ringside brawling and then Abyss tries throwing Styles into the crowd but Styles manages to jump over the crowd and then hits a flying Phenomenal Forearm back into the ringside area. Styles charges but this time Abyss dodges to Styles eats shit into the crowd.

The brawling continues well into the stands and up a flight of stairs. Styles winds up for a big punch but Abyss choke-tosses him into a section of fence. More crowd brawling and fighting at ringside. Styles proceeds to enter the caged ring but Abyss smashes the cell door into his shoulder. And then into his face.

Styles is busted open so of course Abyss targets the wound. Abyss tosses Styles into the ring and then makes sure to also introduce to the match a chair, the chain he carried during his entrance, and a bag containing thumbtacks. Abyss wraps the chain around Styles’ throat and chokes him until Styles frees himself, at which point Abyss lands a big boot. Abyss wraps the chain into on one turnbuckle but Styles blocks getting smashed into it. Then Styles charges but Abyss lifts him overhead and sends him falling face-first into that same chain.

Abyss continues with a military press into a face-first toss into the cage and then a second such move for a two-count. Styles fights out of a neck crank but runs into a big free fall drop. Abyss teases a move onto the chain setup on the canvas but Styles counters an overhead press into a DDT onto the chain. Styles fights back with punches, kicks, and a headscissor. Styles attempts a Phenomenal DDT but Abyss knocks him away. Abyss sets Styles up in a corner and charges but Styles dodges which causes Abyss to hit the steel chair he placed their earlier with his shoulder.

Styles lands a German suplex but Abyss kicks out. Abyss powers out of a Styles Clash and attempts a chokeslam. Styles counters into a victory roll for two. Styles lands a running clothesline and attempts another but Abyss counters with a Black Hole Slam. Two-count. Abyss pours the thumbtacks out and attempts a BHS onto them. Styles blocks and lands forearms to try and stagger Abyss. Abyss lands a kick and teases a powerbomb. Styles fights out…and lands a modified Styles Clash sending Abyss chest-first into the tacks. Styles covers but Abyss kicks out at 2.8.

Styles ascends the cage for some big dive. Abyss goozles the ref and throws him into the cage wall which causes Styles to lose his balance. Abyss takes his chain, climbs the cage, and wraps it around Styles’ neck once again. Abyss pulls Styles back over the top of the cell and goozles him. But then Styles bites Abyss’s hand. And then, somehow, Styles turns this into a super sunset flip powerbomb that sends Abyss crashing onto the thumbtacks. One, two, three! Styles beats Abyss!

Winner after 18:00: AJ Styles

You can watch the full match here.

Review

This was fantastic. It was like a gimmicked, 21^st century version of Vader vs. Ric Flair from Starrcade ’93 or Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel at IHY7 with the big guy-little guy dynamic. Styles was absolutely mind-boggling with the things he could do at 28 years old and only 7 years into his pro career. From sliding under the barricade so smoothly (seriously, how the fuck did he pull that off) to how he turned a top-of-the-cage goozle into a sunset bomb, the man’s “phenomenal” nickname wasn’t just a marketing tool. He was incredibly gifted as an athlete and a solid storyteller as well. When he wasn’t flying around or trying to find some way to take down this black leather-clad behemoth he was selling for Abyss and struggling to stay on target. Abyss played the token monster perfectly and never ventured his comfort zone. He manhandled Styles with big power moves like a traditional giant and also did some vicious brawling reminiscent of Mankind or Cactus Jack. Everything he did was exactly what a character like that should’ve been doing. While Styles was able to surprise Abyss here and the monster had no surefire way of hurting someone who stood about a foot taller and outweighed him by a good 100 pounds.

So Styles had to rely on his speed but when he closed the distance he struggled to do any consistent damage. Abyss took hits like a sponge and got pummeled in return. Once he smashed the cage door in Styles’ face Styles found himself in a state of peril that didn’t end until the very last moment. The only way he managed to get any sort of advantage was by using Abyss’s own power and momentum against him. When Abyss introduced the thumbtacks and the chair they were used against him. The finish was also incredible with Styles basically defying gravity and sunset bombing Abyss onto the tacks, causing Abyss’s plan to blow up in his face. And as all of this was going on the two wrestlers blended telling a story with a loop-de-loop rollercoaster pacing that included both flash and drama. So anyone looking for a wrestling story got their money’s worth and those that just wanted to see a crazy display of athletics got their fill as well.

Final Rating: ****1/2

Styles was a machine in 2005 and this match is proof that he could pull off outstanding matches with different opponents. Most people focus on his singles match with Samoa Joe at Turning Point and THAT three-way match at Unbreakable in September as proof of Styles being a GOAT contender but this one should be added to that list as well. It’s not as good as either of those – some of the brawling came across as stalling and there Abyss seemed hesitant at one or two points before charging for an attack – but for a #1 Contender’s match it was great, even under the gimmick-heavy setting of an all-cage PPV like Lockdown.

This is one of those matches that benefits from both hindsight and separation. If you were to watch this as part of the Lockdown PPV then it might be worsened by the show-long stipulation affecting the overall novelty and uniqueness of this contest. But as a standalone contest this match feels fresh and exciting with Styles and Abyss having solid chemistry and them delivering a wild and violent contest.

Though TNA was already turning into a mixed bag by 2005 with wild inconsistency between its highest highs and lowest lows, often on the same cards, this is one of those sleeper hits that proves that TNA had plenty of talent in its day that made it a worthwhile alternative to WWE at a time when such a thing was sorely needed.

Thanks for reading.