[2002-12-15-FWA-Season's Beatings] A.J. Styles vs Jody Fleisch

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This is AJ’s second FWA appearance after he got over hugely in his defeat to Jonny Storm at British Uprising. At this stage none of the UK guys were heels in the company, meaning AJ takes on that role in the tournament, showcasing the cocky persona he had in TNA at this point. It also works well in this match as AJ is able to use his striking and the wide variety of signature moves he has that all look really vicious. Jody’s flexibility means he is the ideal guy to take the punishment that AJ is doling out and elicit a lot of sympathy.

 

This is the best match of the tournament with some amazing exchanges between the two. Everything AJ does is with great intensity, and in storyline terms he is coming off the loss against Storm two months before when he’d tried to be more respectful and which hadn’t been successful. You can sense he’s coming in with more of a mean streak. AJ works really well when in there with other cruiserweight guys as he’s able to really throw them around despite not being much bigger than them and he rarely lets Fleisch build up significant momentum. Despite AJ being on top for most of the match, Fleisch gets some great hope spots in to keep the crowd invested, including a version of his 720 DDT while Styles is sitting on the ropes. In the end Styles has just too much intensity planting Jody with a powerbomb when he is coming off the ropes and then instantly hitting the styles clash. (*** ¾)