TNA Hartford, Round 1, Match 7: #12 AJ Styles vs. #53 Fritz Von Erich

[Shocky]

The following match takes place in the TNA Region inside of the six sided ring, from Hartford, CT.

#12. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles

vs.

#53. Fritz Von Erich

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Geez, another nu skool / old school match up.

I am going solidly with AJ here. Fritz is big for a handful of reasons - Stu Hart booked him as a nazi, he got huge in upstate New York, and he was the patriarch of pro wrestling's cursed family. WCCW was big for him because he owned it.

AJ Styles is a amazingly gifted athlete and worker who has built TNA partially on his shoulers. When TNA management made the call to go in a direction of hiring and featuring ex-WWE / WCW stars, AJ, was one of the few who remained a top star as a TNA original, even as guys like Chris Daniels and the MCMG have taken a back seat.

Styles FTW.

 

[klunderbunker]

AJ for sure. He's as naturally talented as anyone I've seen in a long time and has the success to back it up. A simple reason I'll go with him: in Fritz's last match he won his promotion's equivelent of the IC title in his 50s from one of the companies top young guys so he could retire wiht a title. A new title was made so that one could be his. Just rubs me the wrong way. I'll go with AJ in a walk.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I'll go with AJ. He's one of the mainstays of TNA since it started and he's one of the best cruiserweights out there and achieved numerous accomplishments. He can use his aerial style and use mat wrestling if he needs to to beat Von Erich.

 

[Tastycles]

AJ. Even outside of a TNA ring I think his natural talent and ability would get him over. To be honest, with the exception of Kerry, I find the Von Erichs to be horrendously overrated.

Inside a TNA ring, AJ would dominate. He has consistently been one of the top performers in the company, being a multiple champion, triple crown winner, and most recently grand slam winner. There is no man who can use the TNA ring like Styles, so he has to go over the partriarch of team overrated-young death here.

 

[Slyfox696]

I went AJ. It might be a little unfair as I don't have a good comparison to Fritz's work, but AJ is the sole reason I started watching TNA, and is basically the only guy, other than Sting, that I really like in TNA. He's a phenomenal worker, is great to watch, and his heel comedy had me rolling.

 

[Shocky]

Pretty much what Sly said. All this rumblings of this TNA product, and you need to watch AJ styles, and you know what, those people were right. People like to shit on TNA, some justified, some not, but AJ Styles is no one to be shat upon. The guy is what his name says, phenomenal in every way shape and form in that ring. The guy gets universal praise from almost everyone that I've read that's worked with him in the ring.

Fritz on the other hand essentially is recognizable because of his name. The tragedy surrounding the Von Erich family is pretty much what keeps their name in history. They had to be good at some point, but their deaths have made their name value rise unfairly.

 

[NSL]

Tastycles got it right in his first sentence. AJ wins this, and it doesn't matter what kind of ring it is. He made his name in TNA, and did it in their original, more traditional, four sided ring. He can wrestle any styles, and will just be too much for Fritz to handle.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Everyone has pretty much said what I intended to say. AJ Styles, as a cruiserweight, has the rare ability to take on an opponent of any size and have a great match. Like Slyfox696 said, I don't have much to compare with when it comes to Fritz Von Erich, but, from what I've read in wrestling autobiographies/biographies, it seems to me that Von Erich is known only for his Nazi gimmick and for being the patriarch of a fabled wrestling family. If he were any good, I'm pretty his praises would have been sung to the high heavens.

Pick: Styles