WCW Region, Boston Subregion, Second Round: (5) Mick Foley vs. (12) AJ Styles

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round match in the WCW Region, Boston Subregion. It is a standard one on one match held under WCW Rules. It will be held at the TD Garden Arena in Boston, Massachusetts.

#5. Mick Foley

Vs.

#12. AJ Styles

​

Polls will be open for four days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.

Assume that all wrestlers are at full strength after their first round matches.

Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.

 

[Nate DaMac]

AJ's great, Mick is better. I know Mick is known for putting guys over and I'm 100% certain he'd love to put AJ over, but neither of these guys are likely to make it past the next round so putting him over here accomplishes nothing. In this case, you go to the bigger star and that is, without question, Mick Foley.

 

[Blade]

I'm not a TNA fan, but I'd find it hard to believe if Mick Foley didn't cross paths with AJ during his stint in TNA. Did it happen?

Either way, Mick Foley, in his prime, between 1997 and 1999, would've connected with the audience and just been better all-round than AJ Stlyes in any era of AJ's career. I know there's a lot of AJ fans out there. But, the fact is, Foley reached levels of excellence that AJ could only dream of.

It'd be a great match. Particularly if it was a hardcore match. But Foley goes over here.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Seems a pity not to dip in when I actually do know both competitors very well.

The problem with Mick Foley in this tournament isn't that he's not a fantastic wrestler - he is - or that he's not an all-time great - he is - it's that he didn't, well, win a whole lot. Foley's greatest skill was drawing empathy from the audience, which doesn't exactly correlate with running through any opposition thrown in front of you. The Rock beat him, Triple H beat him, Edge beat him, Randy Orton beat him, and The Undertaker-- we all remember The Undertaker damn near killing him, don't we?

So it's not unfeasible for Foley to lose to anybody - anybody - let alone someone with as much talent as AJ Styles.

AJ Styles is, without any doubt, the greatest wrestler that TNA has produced in its entire existence. As far as I'm concerned, he's the only wrestler from TNA that can be mentioned with, say, John Cena or Randy Orton or Daniel Bryan as far as the whole "best wrestlers of the last ten years" discussion goes. But Mick Foley's still better, even if he'd be happy to lay down.

Basically, vote for whomever you like more.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Becca does make a good point.

When Foley was in the WWE, the only wrestler he was on even par with (more or less) in terms of wins and losses was Undertaker. Even then, he only managed to pin Taker once with the help of Paul Bearer.

Mick Foley did go to TNA and win the world title but given the situation, Styles could have went to WWE and win a world title there. I'm just able to see A.J. beating Foley more than vice versa.

 

[a0161613]

Going to have to post something for my number one seed and favourite wrestler ever.

My vote goes to AJ based on the fact that Foley was at his best when he put great talent over. Whether he was a punching bag for Triple H or Stone Cold or a landing pad for HBK, Foley made people look great. He made the greats look better.

AJ is the best wrestler still working today never to work permanently for WWE. And one of the best full stop. This is exactly the kind of guy that Foley would put over.

I have to respect Foley's record of getting contenders spots etc but his championship win / loss record isnt great, even worse in his prime whereas AJ regularly won titles and had great, substantial reigns. AJ is much more decorated. Also I feel that AJ was a good record against guys of Foley's size, as he has beaten the likes of Samoa Joe, Bully Ray and Abyss. He matches up well and I dont think Foley does as well.

I'm a huge Foley fan but I feel AJ is just better. It's a shame we never saw him on a worldwide stage, have to respect a guy for sticking to his decisions like that. The WWE Universe would have lapped it up.

 

[The Brain]

I'm voting for AJ here. I can hardly believe it myself. Foley does a great job of putting over the right guys at the right time and I'm sure Foley would love to put over AJ in this tournament. I'm not a TNA guy and I like Foley more but I just see him very willing and able to make AJ look great and push him to the next round.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that when people talk about Mick Foley losing a lot, they talk about his famous matches. Arguably, his most famous matches are the HIAC match with Taker and his two part series with HHH in 2000 and on all three occasions, he ended up losing. People might also remember him putting over the likes of Orton and Edge as proof of him losing a lot. While all that is true, what is also true is the fact that he had a pretty even win loss record. Also most of his losses came under questionable circumstances. I don't need to remind any Attitude Era fan of the number of times Rock screwed him over just because he could not defeat Foley in the conventional way.

AJ is great and quite easily the best wrestler to have come out of TNA, but as Nate says, Foley is the bigger star. Being the second biggest face behind Austin in the Attitude Era is a bigger feat than being the top dog in TNA, in my opinion. Also, from what I remember AJ loses his fair share of matches as well. Sure, he is the most respected wrestler to have emerged out of TNA, but that is mostly due to his phenomenal in ring skills rather than his dominance. In fact, I can never really remember him totally dominating the title scene in TNA.

So, in my opinion, Foley takes this.

 

[a0161613]

I think that when people talk about Mick Foley losing a lot, they talk about his famous matches. Arguably, his most famous matches are the HIAC match with Taker and his two part series with HHH in 2000 and on all three occasions, he ended up losing. People might also remember him putting over the likes of Orton and Edge as proof of him losing a lot. While all that is true, what is also true is the fact that he had a pretty even win loss record. Also most of his losses came under questionable circumstances. I don't need to remind any Attitude Era fan of the number of times Rock screwed him over just because he could not defeat Foley in the conventional way.

AJ is great and quite easily the best wrestler to have come out of TNA, but as Nate says, Foley is the bigger star. Being the second biggest face behind Austin in the Attitude Era is a bigger feat than being the top dog in TNA, in my opinion. Also, from what I remember AJ loses his fair share of matches as well. Sure, he is the most respected wrestler to have emerged out of TNA, but that is mostly due to his phenomenal in ring skills rather than his dominance. In fact, I can never really remember him totally dominating the title scene in TNA.

So, in my opinion, Foley takes this.

Yeah most of this is wrong. Foley wasn't the #2 face of his era, Rock & Austin argued over the top spot. AJ won most of his feuds, most of his PPV matches including the 2013 BFG Series. AJ was trusted with TNA's biggest match of 2013 even when his contract status was far from solidified. Foley was trusted to put over the guys around the main event.

AJ deserves to be a lot closer than 20 votes from this, have to believe that most cant look past the TNA bias.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Many could argue that Styles - at one time - was the face of TNA. Not Jarrett or Angle, but Styles. He had amazing matches with great talent and as has been mentioned, he won most of his rivalries. Sure it's the second tier company, but Styles carried the ball proudly for that company for many years.

Foley on the other hand, was in the right place at the right time. His matches were only as good as his opponents. Not to mention that many big matches Foley had resulted in losses, including one with his career on the line, in a match made to his liking. He lost it to HHH. I contend Foley, Jeff Hardy, and RVD may be the most overrated wrestlers on these forums, but Styles is very underrated.

This match should be closer than it is... but I understand why it's not.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

A lot of the arguments in this tournament are about drawing power, pop culture influence, length of title reigns, class of opponents and all that dry tedious stuff. Foley and Styles were great to watch in their pomp but whereas Foley's matches were unbelieveable in the "oh shit, that chair shot/fall/hit with a barb-wired foreign object/landing on the tacks was unreal (I hope he doesn't die)" kind of way, Styles' matches frequently had moments of unbelievably great athleticism and crispness. Back in the early years of TNA, it was Styles who kept me coming back to check out this WWE alternative and his eventual big title win was one of the best feel-good moments I've witnessed.

Foley had one of those too in a boom time for wrestling in general which is probably playing a large part in the voting and I'm fine with that, but why settle for fine when Phenomenal is on the table.

 

[HBsam31]

I instinctively voted Foley. Maybe because I loved The Attitude Era or maybe because I have seen more of Foley (I missed probably the first 5 years of TNA..Not really sure). After thinking and reading what everyone has had to say I realized that the right vote should be for AJ. Is it possible to change?

 

[klunderbunker]

I instinctively voted Foley. Maybe because I loved The Attitude Era or maybe because I have seen more of Foley (I missed probably the first 5 years of TNA..Not really sure). After thinking and reading what everyone has had to say I realized that the right vote should be for AJ. Is it possible to change?

No it isn't.

 

[Tastycles]

Styles was a big fish in a very small pond in TNA. He was a great wrestler and he did well, don't get me wrong, but ultimately what kind of impact was he having on wrestling as a whole? Very little. The fact that Foley came into that company a decade after he retired and became its world champion speaks volumes. Foley is a fantastic competitor and he must go through here.

 

[Thriller Ant]

AJ has had a bunch of success in TNA, but quite a bit of his run there was spent in the midcard. Foley wasn't always in the title picture in WWF, but he was always a major player in the company and had one of the best moments in WWF/E history when he won the title. Plus, like Tasty said, Foley walked into TNA and became champ years after he "retired" while AJ went years between reigns.