In the wrestling business, careers often run parallel to one another. Men who got into the business around the same time don’t always have the same success that the other does, even when both men are each others equals within the squared circled. Perception paints a picture of either grandeur or incredibility based on the cards one draws in his career.
This comparison is perhaps most appropriate for AJ Styles and Jay Lethal.
These are two men who are far from unfamiliar with each other. They have shared lockerrooms for years, shared memories and tours, been embroiled in the fiercest of feuds and found themselves the best of friends. Their careers are similar in length and location, but couldn’t be more opposite in terms of success and fan ovation.
On Friday night, these two step into the ring one more time, in a delight for Ring Of Honor wrestling fans and fans of their careers in general. The history, however, is an interesting crossing of career paths that, surprisingly, hasn’t brought upon as many matches together as one would expect. It’s a history that dates back twelve years, and this Friday it all culminates in a match that is set in the history of both men’s careers.
The Early Years
For both men, early success in their careers was defined by one now defunct title: The ROH Pure Championship.
In its early years, the Pure title was a stipulation belt that signified its holder as one of the best technical machines and ring general of the times, often going through long matches with specific rules such as a limit on the number of allowed rope breaks and an flat-out ban on closed fist attacks. As it evolved, however, it turned into a title that ran parallel with the Ring Of Honor World Championship as the promotions second most important title in the company that would eventually be unified with the Ring Of Honor World Championship in a title versus title match between Nigel McGuiness and Bryan Danielson.
AJ Styles joined Ring Of Honor within its inaugural year of 2002, and was immediately praised for his ability to fly and his technical prowess from the onset. By the time two years had past and Styles had established himself as a player, not just within Ring Of Honor but also its rival, and also partner, Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling. Thus Styles was put into a program with CM Punk, another man who was praised for his technical expertise, to crown the first ever ROH Pure Champion. In a terrific match that was refereed by Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, AJ Styles gained the title and became the companies first Pure Champion. He held the championship for sixty-nine days before being forced to vacate it due to contractual problems between ROH and TNA.
Jay Lethal appeared in Ring Of Honor in 2003, sporting a character by the name of “Hydro” as a way in the door. After a year as Hydro, however, he became the protégé of career-rival and ally Samoa Joe, who advised him to drop the name altogether. Thus Jay Lethal was reborn once again, and this rebirth and his connection too ROH World Champion Joe lead him to a successful career, eventually giving him the opportunity too wrestle for the ROH Pure Championship in 2005 as he battled the stable known as the Embassy. With the opportunity in hand, Lethal had to contend twice due to John Walter’s attempts to use the match as a blowoff after already scheduled competition, but managed to win it and go on to hold it for sixty-three days, before dropping the title too his mentor Samoa Joe.
While in Ring Of Honor, neither Lethal nor Styles met face-to-face within the ring, a missed opportunity many longtime ROH fans point out with disappointment. It was the relationship between TNA and ROH and the eventual drop-out, however, that lead to their first inevitable meeting.
The Inevitable Meeting
AJ Styles built TNA into a global enterprise. From the very first show, to the first ever X-Division Champion, straight through multiple tag team titles, his run as the NWA’s World Heavyweight Champion, and as TNA World Heavyweight Champion, his career need not be recounted. It is the stuff of legends, it is what TNA was built upon and set the company into a position where they have met the success they still thrive on today.
Jay Lethal was a huge success in TNA’s X-Division, holding the title an impressive six times, and having one tag team title run with Consequences Creed. He went through several different stables and gimmicks, including wrestling simply as himself, as the Macho Man Randy Savage impersonator known as Black Machismo, and being a major part of the X-Divisions angle with Kevin Nash. He even was the first man to face Ric Flair after his high-profile retirement at the hands of Shawn Michaels.
Oddly, however, AJ Styles and Jay Lethal didn’t often clash with each other. There were a few instances of them being related to one another within stables and even locking up with occasional tag matches or X-Division gauntlet style matches, but their one-on-one matches were rare and restricted, even on television. It was, however, Lethal’s feud with Flair that lead to their one true and afforded match at Slammiversary VIII.
Styles played the heel entering to face Lethal both for the respect of Flair and to avenge his three-way loss. Jay Lethal, the face who insulted a legend without meaning any harm upon his namesake or legacy. This was the match that was presented that put both men on the same path that clashed with one-another in a big-time match. It was however, the odd finish of Styles knee giving out and a northern lights suplex that was the finish to the match that assured this wasn’t the clash of two men’s careers, but instead a footnote that would inevitably have to be settled.
Two Different Career Paths
As Styles continued his tenure with within TNA, Jay Lethal found himself on the outside looking in for the first time in six years. Of course, in his mind, this was an opportunity to return to the company that had given him the ability to go to TNA, Ring Of Honor. Lethal came in hot off of the momentum of his release and captured the Television Title off of El Generico on October 1st, 2011′s episode of ROH television. He would go on too hold the title for two-hundred and thirty one days, eventually dropping it too Roderick Strong. Since then, Lethal has been a consistent contender for multiple championships within the company and managed to fall into a talent enhancement role to help give new and rising talent the rub he’d once received from men such as Samoa Joe, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and Ric Flair.
Styles stayed with TNA for three years following the match with Lethal, however his role seemed to diminish the further along he went. In 2013 he managed to gain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship one last time, but an unexpected release left him jobless for the first time in twelve years. Ring Of Honor seemed a natural fit to return to, with hopes of legitimizing it in the face of fans that haven’t warmed up too it over the years and bring over viewers.
With both men suddenly back in the company for the first time in three years, a clash was an inevitability.
Careers Collide
Jay Lethal and AJ Styles is a match that should have been given a solid amount of time and a clean finish years ago, but it was never quite in the cards. Now, with Styles return to Ring Of Honor, these two clashing in an epic match at the Twelfth anniversary show is an inevitability that will no-doubt prove to send the fans into a flurry of excitement and connect to men’s careers that have run parallel for the majority of this decade into one, fluid moment.
Lethal put forth the challenge and the code of honor will likely be highly adhered to as these two veterans put on a clinic of professional wrestling at their own pace and bring a bit of a different yet familiar style to what Ring Of Honor presents. This is a blank canvas both men can paint with whatever colors they want and create their own masterpiece, and as Styles second official match inside Ring Of Honor since his return on the eve of this year, he’ll have a point to prove that I’m sure will become fully realized.
At an anniversary of what Ring Of Honor has presented at its best, technical wrestling with a mesh of styles from all around the world, these two bring a match full of nostalgia for the early days of Ring Of Honor and allows new fans to see and accept what ROH was back before anything but tape trading and word-by-mouth was a normal occurrence. Two careers clash with two polished wrestlers, and the man who walks out earns the bragging rights for the accomplishments they have mounted upon their résumé.
AJ Styles, at the end of the night, is entering with all the hype and expectations in the world, and that will allow this unique and game day player to deliver in a cinch and etch out the win over Jay Lethal in what is sure to be a classic that will be remembered for years to come.
Winner: AJ Styles
