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[2017-12-17-WWE-Clash of the Champions] A.J. Styles vs Jinder Mahal


Superstar Sleeze

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At the show live in Boston, OH MY FUCKING GOD! AJ STYLES IS THE MAN! He is the King of Traditional pro wrestling.

 

Jinder established power game so AJ goes for legs. Then AJ gets hung out to dry on the ropes in a great transition to heat. EVERYTHING is directed at the midsection. AJ puts on a selling clinic and takes like 8 million belly flop bumps! Could have peppered in some more hope spots but best Jinder heat segment ever! great extended comeback. AJ's offense is so good. The Colossal was a nail biter for me. I'm such an AJ fan and being live total mark transformation for me wanting AJ to kick out. I popped huge. Loved the submission finish! Great call!

 

AJ is a miracle maker getting a fucking great match out of Jinder Mahal. Pope Francis canonize this man! ****1/4

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I wanted to give this a rewatch since some of the people I am really aligned with usually were much higher on it live than me. Early portion starts with Jinder having the power advantage. AJ goes after the leg making Jinder bail. I appreciated AJ chasing after him and delivering more punishment. Jinder is looking to outpower AJ and he catches him in a throw across the ropes to injure the ribs. Outside, Jinder tosses AJ ribs first into the guardrail and over into the timekeeper area. Back inside we get a few kicks from Jinder still showing effects of the early leg work AJ did in a nice touch. AJ then takes that gnarly bump on the outside to the table and the ribs are now going to be the focal point of attack for Jinder. Jinder hits a chinlock but does put the knee into the back for added emphasis. JInder does a good job of utilizing the crosshooks when thing start to wonder a bit. Bodyscissors are applied next and it was not a strong point of the match. Nothing really interesting dealing with the hold and the escape from AJ was an afterthought. AJ goes after the leg a bit more and Jinder sends him abdomen first into the corner and then locks on the ab stretch. Jinder then hits the karate chop, which I think is awful. No impact on the move and it makes Jinder look foolish putting that much torque on his worked over leg. He goes for the move again and AJ is able to hit a dropkick. AJ’s strikes are much more impactful than Jinders as he is making his comeback. Jinder thwarts phenomial Forearm and once again, Styles crashes ribs first against the ropes. Gutbuster by Jinder, which is a good impact move for him to use given the strategy. Crowd is not electric during this sequence with Jinder gaining confidence. Again JInder gets caught going above his head and AJ hits an Electric Chair to give him some moments to breathe. AJ has a flurry of strikes but in a nice move, he fails to lift Jinder up on the first attempt to show the damage. JInder gets another nearfall just sending AJ up in the air and crashing ribs first to the mat. JInder’s character work is weaker here with him kind of alternating frantically between selling, frustration and him gaining confidence throughout the match. The counter on the forearm with the legs of Jinder looked pretty weak and he hits a fisherman buster which looked good mechanically for a nearfall. JInder is back frustrated now but it is brief as he is psyching himself back up. Styles hits the Pele kick but Jinder is right back and shrugs AJ off of a tornado DDT. Big kick from Jinder gets a nearfall that the crowd doesn’t bite on even though it was Jinders best strike of the match. Jinder goes for the Khallas on the ropes which again sees him going to the well for a big move too often. AJ again regains the advantage and the match has built to the springboard 450 on the ribs that AJ hits. After some hesitation, the cover is applied but the Singh Brothers break up the pin. Styles Clash on the outside neturalizes the Singh Brothers. Knee to the back after the Phenomenal Forearm doesn’t look great but Jinder this the Kallas. In a great move for both, AJ starts rolling to the ropes and I was ready for a leg on the rope to break the count. Jinder rolls him back to the inside and he gets a 2.9 count that was timed wonderfully by AJ and did have the crowd and myself buying that it could have been the finish. JInder for the last time goes for a flashy move in a Styles Clash and we get a roll through on the Calf Slicer. Jinder gives up a battle but ends up tapping. Good callback to that early leg work although there could have been some more teases in the back half of the match. Overall, I liked this better on second watch but maintain that it is carried on the back of a smart structure and AJ’s performance. This would have been a great match with a more compelling component but settles for being a good match for now. ***1/4

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I will say I went to this show with three cousins, my brother, my mom and my Dad, and none of them liked this match as much as me. There were a good amount of AJ Styles chants, but I agree overall there was not much heat on this match. It is twofold: 1. Jinder is not over in the slightest and 2. traditional wrestling is only over if both men are wicked over. However, the structure of this match was beautiful for a traditional pro wrestling fan. I was very happy throughout this match.

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Fair play to Jinder, he worked soooo fucking hard in this match, be it by the story, working on the midsection, be it by trying new things. Of course AJ Styles is the guy to make you look good, but it's not like Jinder wasn't giving his all.

 

Very enjoyable match by one of the all time greats, and someone that had something to prove.

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I agree Jinder worked really hard and stuck to the script with laser focus. Someone on twitter said AJ could have had that match with Shelton Benjamin totally disagree I don't think Benjamin would have been that focused.

 

That's a fair point. I don't think Jinder's offense really added anything at all and AJ would've put together the same performance bumping & selling his ribs along the way, but perhaps some others would've gone off script to the match's detriment.

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Thought this match was laid out beautifully. You have AJ working the legs early on to put some money in the bank but once Jinder tosses him over the barricade, the match goes into overdrive. Easily Jinder's career best performance tossing AJ around and putting some variety into his offense for once. Of course best in the world Styles comes in to bump like crazy and sell like a nut as well as have some really fun spots along the way. I mean, Jinder knocking AJ off the top rope and AJ landing ribs-first? That's just good pro wrestling right there. Hot finish but yes the crowd wasn't buying into Jinder. Still, the guy worked hard and put in the match of his life so props there. There's no escaping the fact, though, that he was in there with the absolute best in the world today.

 

****

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I agree Jinder worked really hard and stuck to the script with laser focus. Someone on twitter said AJ could have had that match with Shelton Benjamin totally disagree I don't think Benjamin would have been that focused.

 

I don't think I understand that twitter person's point. Benjamin is really not that comparable to Jinder in moveset or gimmick or size or anything.

 

A more apt comparison, to me at least, would be Rusev and I think if you put Rusev in that same match and build it around AJ's damaged ribs and the threat of the Accolade and you have a Match of the Year candidate.

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  • GSR changed the title to [2017-12-17-WWE-Clash of the Champions] A.J. Styles vs Jinder Mahal

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