The Overrated Index - Part 1: A.J. Styles

[Y 2 Jake]

A.J. Styles​

I can't think of many guys in the business today that mostly escape criticism from the true fans of wrestling, the Internet geeks. But A.J. Styles is one of them. Almost everybody would agree that it's a rare occurrence when Styles doesn't have a match that's at least good. But as somebody who spends endless hours reading random musings about the man, I often hear people describe his matches as ''great''. Personally I don't think A.J. Styles & Kurt Angle are capable of having a great match against each other, but I've often seen it written that their feuds and matches are so. Near falls and Ankle locks have a lot to answer for.

I heard similar about his matches at Turning Point & Final Resolution. Two examples of people getting carried away, those were simply good matches. And in the case of the three way it only highlights how good the 2005 version really is.

The Unbreakable 2005 match between Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels must surely go down as the only truly great TNA match and is, coincidentally, the last time A.J. Styles was involved in anything great.

It's not much of an issue, as I said Styles almost always reaches the lofty heights of being good. However he's somebody people claim to be one of the best things in wrestling, which surely makes him a prime candidate for the first inductee into the Overrated Index 2010.

Overrated: Yes or No?

 

[Ferbian]

I wouldn't exactly call him overrated, but I wouldn't call him underrated neither.

He does have some good matches, always have, and has been able to put on a great show when needed, even if I don't consider him the greatest wrestler alive today, I can't say that he's not a great talent.

A.J is very over with the crowd, or at least he were back when he weren't trying to act like the short haired second coming of Ric Flair, and even with that he's still considered a great talent.

So I would say no, A.J is not overrated, he's just fine.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

AJ Styles is one of my favorite wrestlers but I do think he is overrated much in the same fashion Samoa Joe is. Styles matches with Angle weren't all they were cracked up to be and certainly weren't better than what he was doing in 2005. He's much better in the ring as a face but can get bland at times. His heel turn has been less than stellar and he seems to be turning back into the comedy character he was a couple of years ago. You can tell what they think of him now since they are calling RVD "Mr. TNA" when he's only been there for a couple of months.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Never...I think he is amazing in the ring...a great talent..i never see any forums bashing Styles..he is a legend in TNA, been there since the start...he has a lot of feuds, and how many title reigns..not many...i mean he just had his first TNA world title run that lasted over 250 days i think...and that was great...

I wouldn't say he is overrated...nor would i say he is underrated..

 

[MWats]

AJ Styles is high flying so-and-so in the ring and such, so I would imagine that makes him good in the ring or something. But to me, in order to be a face of a company, you have to have some degree of charisma. RVD has strangely become a very interesting stoner character since his absence from wrestling. And since TNA's booking looks to be done on the high, I think he is an excellent face of TNA. However, Styles? There's nothing that sets him apart in terms of a character unless he's Ric Flair's fishwife. But as far as in-ring skills, nobody is as good as they are described unless you're The Great Khali.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

A.J is very over with the crowd,

Everybody is over in the iMPACT! Zone, I'd never use that as a way to guage somebodys popularity.

AJ Styles is one of my favorite wrestlers but I do think he is overrated much in the same fashion Samoa Joe is.

Nobody actually rates Joe these days, LJL.

Styles matches with Angle weren't all they were cracked up to be and certainly weren't better than what he was doing in 2005.

But when you think about it, Angle got a match out of Mr. Anderson that is about as so-close-but-not-quite-there great as you're ever likely to get in TNA. Nobody in their right mind would say that Anderson is as talented as Styles, yet somehow Kurt Angle had a better match with him than he ever has with Styles. Lame pun time, style clash. Or AJ ain't all he's cracked up to be.

i never see any forums bashing Styles

Well, there was that match with Frank Trigg.

he has a lot of feuds, and how many title reigns..not many...

How many great ones? Would be my question.

i mean he just had his first TNA world title run that lasted over 250 days i think...and that was great...

It wasn't though, was it!

A.J. Styles does not thank you for playing a part in his overrated-ness.

 

[Ferbian]

Everybody is over in the iMPACT! Zone, I'd never use that as a way to guage somebodys popularity.

I honestly must admit I'm not too much aware of that, I'm a casual TNA watcher, watching small clips of it that may interest me,

And even considering the iMPACT! Zone has everybody over in some manner AJ still gets a good reaction from the crowd, he is definitely one of their top dogs and I believe he would even be very over with the WWE crowd if making a transaction.

 

[Kenny Powers]

AJ never really gets a huge reaction when he is outside the Impact zone. I don't think you can call him overrated since the majority of wrestling fans outside the internet don't know who AJ Styles is. Its not like he is a household name. I know no one really has a bad thing to say about AJ on the internet except his new gimmick and his mic skills. I'm sure there are plenty of wrestlers around the world that are more talented then AJ, but I don't think AJ is overrated.

I also don't think AJ is God's gift to wrestling or the greatest talent ever, but he is a great athlete. Most of his matches now have been less then phenomenal because of his gimmick and people he has worked with. There have been greater talents that come and gone, but AJ's name isn't big enough yet to put him into the overrated category. Maybe he is overrated on the internet, but not in the wrestling world.

 

[shattered dreams]

I can't think of many guys in the business today that mostly escape criticism from the true fans of wrestling, the Internet geeks. But A.J. Styles is one of them. Almost everybody would agree that it's a rare occurrence when Styles doesn't have a match that's at least good. But as somebody who spends endless hours reading random musings about the man, I often hear people describe his matches as ''great''. Personally I don't think A.J. Styles & Kurt Angle are capable of having a great match against each other, but I've often seen it written that their feuds and matches are so. Near falls and Ankle locks have a lot to answer for.

I heard similar about his matches at Turning Point & Final Resolution. Two examples of people getting carried away, those were simply good matches. And in the case of the three way it only highlights how good the 2005 version really is.

The Unbreakable 2005 match between Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels must surely go down as the only truly great TNA match and is, coincidentally, the last time A.J. Styles was involved in anything great.

It's not much of an issue, as I said Styles almost always reaches the lofty heights of being good. However he's somebody people claim to be one of the best things in wrestling, which surely makes him a prime candidate for the first inductee into the Overrated Index 2010.

Overrated: Yes or No?

No. I think you are underrating the amount of criticism Styles receives. He is far from immune from talk about his mic skills/accent/size-look. If you are only talking about his in-ring ability then I could at least see the question. However, I am not really buying into your logic. The first fail I see is that you are equating your definition of great with how other people use the word. You seem to define great as those amazing matches that are few and far between. While many people use great like you appear to use good. That does not mean many are overrating him it simply means that some people define the same opinion of what happened with a different word. Furthermore, simply what type of match he had with Angle in your opinion vs what type of match one other wrestler had with Angle in your opinion is hardly evidence. Such wrestler A, B and thus C comparisons are often beyond faulty because you can basically make anything you want true or false in such a way.

It seems like you have a little bit of an agenda against styles with the way you say you do not think styles and angle are capable of having a "great" match against one another. Why? You seem to be implying Angle has made many "close to great" and said styles is almost always "at least good." So how would those superlatives not be at least capable of combining into something great? Does not quite add up to me. More than a clashing of styles I think you simply do not quite enjoy the style(s) as much as others. So maybe some people overrate him but I think you underrate him. Generally, when there are people on both sides someone is not either.

 

[The Scarred One]

Styles is a great talent, there's no question about that, but I don't believe he's God's gift to wrestling either. Even when he was TNA Champion, he couldn't get over without Ric Flair's help. Many have come and gone that have proven to be more well-rounded than Styles. Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, Triple H, Chris Jericho, CM Punk and Randy Orton are just some examples I can think of.

Like someone previously mentioned, Styles is said to be over with the TNA crowd. But then again, who isn't? Even the never-will-bes, Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore, are somewhat over. What does that say about the credibility of TNA fans?

 

[Remix]

I'm going to say yes. Not because of how good (or bad) he is. Because he is good. Very, infact. However, he is simply not as good as he is cracked up to be. Listening to some of him (admittedly more insane) fans, you'd think he was the greatest thing to happen to wrestling since Hulk Hogan first uttered the word "brother" and thought "Hmmm this is a good word. I think I'll use it more often". He's good, but not that good, therefore he's overrated.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It seems like you have a little bit of an agenda against styles with the way you say you do not think styles and angle are capable of having a "great" match against one another. Why? You seem to be implying Angle has made many "close to great" and said styles is almost always "at least good." So how would those superlatives not be at least capable of combining into something great? Does not quite add up to me. More than a clashing of styles I think you simply do not quite enjoy the style(s) as much as others. So maybe some people overrate him but I think you underrate him. Generally, when there are people on both sides someone is not either.

Just because Jake doesn't buy into all the hype that Styles gets, and yes there is a lot of it, doesn't necessarily mean he has some sort of agenda. I don't see what's so unbelievable that someone just isn't as fond of AJ as many among the internet masses are. While I personally think Styles has had some great matches, I do think that his greatness does get a little blown out of proportion sometimes.

 

[shattered dreams]

Just because Jake doesn't buy into all the hype that Styles gets, and yes there is a lot of it, doesn't necessarily mean he has some sort of agenda. I don't see what's so unbelievable that someone just isn't as fond of AJ as many among the internet masses are. While I personally think Styles has had some great matches, I do think that his greatness does get a little blown out of proportion sometimes.

There is nothing unbelievable about someone not liking styles as much as others. What I said did not seem to make sense was the way he talked about angle and styles and then declared that it was impossible for them to have a great match. Then drew most of his argument for being overrated from this assertion that seemed odd to me. Is Hogan underrated because many internet geeks hate him? It is silly to take such a small sample and use such an all-inclusive term. Are there some internet fans that specifically overrate Styles wrestling ability in some matches. Likely, but that is quite different than the topic is presented. When I think about present workers and overrated working ability styles is way way down the list. Styles is only overrated to people who do not enjoy the indy side of his character/wrestling. These people make there opinion known just like those who love that do so styles is not overrated. Just because someone has internet marks does not make them overrated. If that was the case every half-decent wrestler ever would be overrated.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I think you are underrating the amount of criticism Styles receives. He is far from immune from talk about his mic skills/accent/size-look.

Nobody is immune from criticism, but there's no denying that A.J. Styles is hugely popular amongst the masses. Very little criticism is probably the best that you can can expect over the internet. I'd say there are only about 3-5 active wrestlers who are generally well liked by almost everybody.

The first fail I see is that you are equating your definition of great with how other people use the word. You seem to define great as those amazing matches that are few and far between. While many people use great like you appear to use good. That does not mean many are overrating him it simply means that some people define the same opinion of what happened with a different word.

I think great matches and moment are few and far between. That probably means I have higher standards than most people when it comes to certain things, but I also think that other people have very low standards when it comes to greatness.

I don't usually give matches star ratings, but I'd consider a 5 star match to be great and a 4 star match to be very good. I also think 5 star matches are infrequent, but they do happen.

Furthermore, simply what type of match he had with Angle in your opinion vs what type of match one other wrestler had with Angle in your opinion is hardly evidence. Such wrestler A, B and thus C comparisons are often beyond faulty because you can basically make anything you want true or false in such a way.

I agree, to rephrase Kurt Angle is one of those 3-5 current active wrestlers who appears to receive very little criticism, just like Styles. I used him as an example because Kurt Angle has the ability to get very good matches out of even the most limited of wrestlers. A.J. Styles doesn't have that same ability, in my opinion.

It seems like you have a little bit of an agenda against styles

I think I'm fairly complimentary towards him.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

No, because in order to be overrated, he would to be – at least for a period of time – rated highly in the wrestling world, which AJ really wasn't. He was rated well – don't get me wrong – but he wasn't rated high, and because of that it's not possible for him to be overrated, especially since where he was rated highest was exactly where he belonged being rated highest – in TNA.

Were this AJ Styles a WWE roster member of some fashion, I'd be inclined to believe the idea that he might be overrated, because in all likelihood he wouldn't be contending for anything major, but because he is where he is, it's short-sighted to call him overrated seeing as he's exactly where the company needs/wants him to be.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

The Unbreakable 2005 match between Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels must surely go down as the only truly great TNA match.

I was with you till then, they've had another match i consider to be great and it was Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Aj Styles in a ladder match.

Overrated: Yes or No?.

Definitley, not to say he isnt phenomanal, but people act like he is the greatest high flyer in the world just cause they cant find anything else, his matches are always good, but like you said only a few can be considered great. Great thread and great points all around.