This a highly ranked match in TNA, often said as one of their best, if not THE best. And I haven’t ever seen it. I’ve been told to, but never got around to it. It’s probably a combination of I never watched TNA, and I really only know these guys from Ring of Honor. The X Division was thought of well at this point though, with these three leading the way. Dave Meltzer rated this match five stars, and usually, when he rates five stars, it’s not that debatable. My favorite from this match is Samoa Joe, because he was such a consistent worker in ROH, with his matches with CM Punk, or his match with Kenta Kobashi coming to mind first.
People usually say AJ Styles is the best worker in TNA, and I disagree. I think he’s a good worker, but he kind of falls in the same category as Rob Van Dam, though not as extreme (pun intended). He always seemed like he had the potential to be one of the best, but he lacked the psychology and know-how to string a match together logically. He has improved on that lately by working with Kurt Angle, and Samoa Joe in late 2009 though, and has greatly improved. He never impressed me much during his ROH stays, and that’s a shame, because his match with Austin Aries could have been fantastic if he would have brought his A game.
Chris Daniels is a very good worker. I have heard some say he’s boring, and relies too much on technical wrestling, but I’ve seen his matches with AJ and Joe in TNA, and various matches in Ring of Honor, and I know enough to say that is absolute crap. He is a great heel, and he plays to the crowd wonderfully, and that overall makes his matches better. The crowd is always into his matches, and that is just a testament to his ring psychology.
So what do you get when you throw two of the best American workers in the world at the time, and a seriously good one together? Well, you get the best match at TNA Unbreakable on September 11, 2005 at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe
Triple Threat Match for TNA X Division Championship
TNA Unbreakable, 9-11-2005
Daniel mouths off to start. Styles and Joe team up to beat him down. Daniels gets up and Joe and Styles give him chops and elbows. Joe with a snapmare then a kick to the back. Then Styles says “THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT” then kicks Daniels like Joe did. Another kick by Joe then Styles. Styles then Joe.
Styles tries a victory roll pin on Joe but only gets two. Then he tries a small package pin on him but only gets two. Then a school-boy rollup for two. Wow. Then after Samoa Joe kicks out he puts an armbar on AJ Styles. Here comes Daniels to break the hold up and he goes for Joe. He kicks him in the head. Then a right hand. Now Daniels goes for AJ. Daniels Irish whips styles into the ropes and gets a good dropkick. Then some right hands follow. Here comes Joe now attacking Daniels.
He hits some knife edge chops. Then a good-looking enziguri that knocks Daniels through the second rope. With Daniels lying on the outside, Joe now goes for Styles. He hits about four elbows and a HARD kick to the mid-section. Ow! Joe runs into the ropes, possibly looking for a kick to the head, but Daniels trips Joe just as he gets to the ropes. Styles runs at Daniels on the apron but Daniels gets a shoulder to the gut and whips himself into the ring
Daniels has three right hands for AJ and a forearm for Samoa Joe. A kick to Styles’ gut but Daniels and hits a bulldog. While in the air he kicked Samoa Joe. Looked pretty cool. Daniels covers Styles. 1, 2 and Styles kicks out while Joe tries to break it. Joe gets up and kicks Daniels in the gut and he hits a hard chop in the corner that sends Daniels on his ass. Then he runs Daniels head into another turnbuckle. Now he goes over to AJ and chops him once. Then he Irish whips him into Daniels but Daniels moves and Styles hits the turnbuckle. Daniels comes back at Joe with some chops and tries to Irish whip Joe into Styles but Joe holds up and hits Daniels with a right hand. Then Joe Irish whips Daniels into AJ. Now Joe tries to run into them both but Daniel puts his foot up just as Joe gets there to stop him.
Daniels tries to bulldog styles again but Styles pushes Daniels into Joe and Joe hits a hard side slam. Now Styles hits a head scissors on Joe. Two kicks to the chest of Joe. Then he puts Joe back into the corner and hits a forearm. Then he runs and to another corner and jumps and clotheslines Daniels in the corner. Tries the same thing for Joe but Joe catches him and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Kicks by Joe to Styles’ face. Joe runs off of the ropes looking to do something to Styles but Daniels comes and collides with Joe sending Joe out of the ring. Now Daniels runs off of the ropes and goes through the second rope to kick Joe. Then Daniels hits a nice springboard Moonsault onto Joe.
Daniels hits a forearm to Joe’s back then STYLES HITS A CRAZY SPRINGBOARD STAR PRESS~!. Awesome spot! A small “Holy shit” chant starts up. The crowd cheers for Styles. Now Styles rolls Joe into the ring. Cover….1, 2, no he only gets two. Styles tries to Irish Whip Joe, but Joe holds onto the rope. Joe pushes Styles off then tries for a clothesline but Styles jumps right over him and he jumps over him again. He gets down, Joe jumps over him. Joe off of the ropes, eats a dropsault from Styles. Another cover gets only two.
Two and a half forearm shots for Styles until Daniels comes and attacks Styles. Daniels hits a chop then an Irish whip into the corner to Styles. Joe eats a forearm shot then an Irish whip from Daniels but Joe reverses it into an Irish whip of his own. But Daniels monkey flips Styles into Joe then Styles hits a hurricanrana in another awesome spot to see. Wow. That got a good pop. A “TNA” chant starts up. Styles goes for a clothesline but misses. Daniels tries for a roll-up but only gets two. AJ gets up and looks to send Daniels to the outside but Daniels ELEVATES him and AJ pretty much flies to the outside. Ouch!
Daniels measure Joe up, then hits a knee to his chest. Daniels now starts to slap Joe. Daniels hits two right hands until Joe reverses the third one into one of his own. Now Joe returns the favor by slapping Daniels. Then three knees to the face and he runs off the ropes and tries for a clothesline but Daniels ducks and rolls Joe up for a two count. Joe brings him down and locks in his finisher called the Coquina Clutch (which is simply a rear naked choke).
Then AJ comes in with an AWESOME SPIRAL TAP OFF THE TOP TO BOTH OF THEM!!!! It may not sound like much during a written play by play, but the landing AJ had on both of them looked stunning. Pin attempt by Styles on Joe only gets a two count. Then on Daniels, but that gets two as well. AJ gets up and Daniels grabs his tights and puts him out to the floor.
Daniels picks Joe up, and knees him in the gut twice. Then a nice reverse STO. Daniels goes for the BME (Best Moonsault Ever) but AJ stops it. Then AJ hangs Daniels on the Tree of Woe. Four kicks to the chest of Daniels but Joe comes and splashes both of them! Joe drives his foot into the throat of Daniels. (Who of which is still hanging from the turnbuckle). Then Joe runs and hits a painful looking dropkick. Ouch. Daniels looks knocked out cold!
Joe now goes over to Styles and hits two right hands. Then Joe tries an Irish whip but it’s reversed by AJ. Joe comes off the rope and hits AJ with a Manhattan Drop. Joe off of the ropes again this time he hits a HARD flying kick. Then he hits a running senton. He covers, 1, 2, and NO….what a near fall!! Daniels now crawls over and Joe gets two knees to the head before Daniels picks Joe up in fireman’s carry and hits a Samoan Drop. Daniels turns Joe over and tries to pin him but only gets two.
Styles chops Daniels and tries for a suplex but Daniels stops it. Daniels hits two right hands to the gut and lifts Styles up but Styles lands on the apron and Daniels elbows him. Daniels does a slingshot splash. AJ moved but he landed on his feet. Then Styles tried a springboard Moonsault but Daniels moved and Styles landed on his feet. They trade right hands until Samoa Joe AMAZINGLY flies over the top rope onto the both of them with a senton! That was fucking awesome! Another “HOLY SHIT” chant breaks out. I’ve seen plenty of Samoa Joe matches, mind you, and I still don’t know how a guy his size can do that. This match fucking rules.
Joe rolls Daniels into the ring and puts him on the top rope. Looks like he’s setting up for a muscle buster! Daniels rakes Joe’s eye to reverse, then does it some more until Joe backs off. All three guys are on the top rope now. Then Joe throws them BOTH off. Daniels sells it like he were a rag doll. Joe even looks fatigued by it. Joe and AJ trade right hands and forearm shot until AJ starts whooping some Joe ass with those punches. Joe comes back with some punches and he went for a spinning slap and AJ ducked it. AJ goes for a spinning kick but Joe counters it into a German suplex. Joe goes and puts AJ on the top rope for a Muscle Buster attempt. This time it hits. Joe signals for the Coquina Clutch until Christopher Daniels comes with the X-Division belt and tries to hit Joe with it but Joe turns that into a Powerslam. Joe grabs the belt but the ref tries to take it away but Joe snags it. Then Daniels hits an enziguri and he kicks the back of the belt so the gold hit JOE IN THE FACE!! OW!
Joe is dazed while Daniels goes over to work on Styles. They trade forearm shots until Daniels goes for a German suplex but AJ reverses that and goes off of the ropes but Daniels hits a nice looking spiral bomb! But only a two count on the pin attempt. A side slam by Daniels. It looks like he might try for a BME! And he hits it! He barely gets a two count because Joe broke the pin up. Joe hits a hard kick to Daniels’ chest. Then another kick. Joe tries for a third one but Daniels blocks it with his arms. Daniels hits a jawbreaker, a snapmare, then a rolling cutter on Joe. Cool move combo. Joe rolls out of the ring so now it’s only AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels in the ring.
Duel “Fallen Angel” and “Let’s go AJ” chants erupt. They trade forearm shots again this time in the corner. An Irish whip by Daniels on AJ and Daniels bends down and AJ kicks him in his face. Styles hits a springboard moonsault turned into a reverse DDT. He covers him for a near fall. Styles goes up top but Daniels spoils it with a forearm. Then Daniels hits a nice superplex. Joe comes back in the ring and tries to pin them both but he only gets two on each. Samoa Joe gets a release powerbomb pin on Daniels but only gets two. And now Joe has an STF locked in. John Cena, this is how you do it. The crowd is trying to motivate Daniels to get out of it. Daniels gets to the ropes instead. Joe hits a headbutt, a right hand, and a chop that sends Daniels down.
Samoa Joe now goes over to AJ Styles and hits about three European uppercuts but then Styles, out of nowhere, hits a Pele Kick. Then he picks Joe up for an awesome torture rack that gets a good pop from the crowd. Then Styles slams Joe down and covers him. 1, 2, and NO!!! Daniels hits a headbutt on AJ. Then he scoop slams AJ onto Joe. Daniels tries a suplex but Styles goes behind and Daniels elbows AJ. Daniels goes off the ropes, but Styles floats over and gets a sunset flip then he turns it into a Styles Clash. Joe breaks up the pin at 2.99. Joe throws AJ through the second rope.
A right hand by Joe then an Irish whip. Daniels holds onto the ropes and Joe runs but Daniels pulls down the ropes and Joe goes out of the ring. Right hands are traded between AJ and Christopher. After a few trades, Styles starts unloading a can of whoop ass on Daniels. Then Daniels pokes AJ in the eye. Daniels goes for the Angel’s Wings but he can’t pull it off. AJ turns it into a pin. 1…2…3!! That’s it after 23 minutes. We have a new X-Division champion in AJ Styles! Fucking amazing match here.
Analysis: ***** You see how much I wrote in this match? That’s almost two pages worth of action. And you know what? That’s how much action this match had. There’s a usual triple threat formula in these matches, but this abandoned it completely and that made for a high end MOTYC for 2005. TNA’s X Division seemed to be in top form with these three, and even after this match, they had some good matches against each other, with Styles-Joe from Final Resolution and the 30 minute Iron Man match between Styles and Daniels sticking out. It’s a damn shame TNA doesn’t have these kinds of matches these days, because all four of these guys are splendid workers, and have been involved in some of the best matches of the decade, as witnessed here. The match was top notch. The spots were sick, especially AJ’s shooting star press to the outside. All these three really had their working boots on, had the crowd on their feet almost the entire match, and entertained the hell out of me. As was said, the X Division really shined during late 2005, and this was probably the brightest bulb of all, due to it’s recognition as arguably the best match in TNA’s 9 year history. Do I think so? I wouldn’t be able to see. I’m not a loyal TNA fan, so I wouldn’t know, but I can tell you that this match sure as shit beats what wrestling offers today, even though I seem to be the only person enjoying the current product. Along with Benoit/HHH/HBK from Wrestlemania XX, this is one of the absolute best triple threats ever put on in wrestling. Just an amazing, beautiful match that has to be seen to be believed, and one of the best matches inside TNA’s hexagon.
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