ROH Hell Freezes Over: AJ Styles vs. Matt Sydal
Definitely one of the top matches that Matt Sydal has ever had. They tell a great underdog story throughout, and as they do that, they even play up to the size difference in some nice, subtle ways. Styles is just wonderfully NASTY all the way through, and Sydal sure knows how to take a beating in compelling fashion. Love the finish too -- it in some ways perfectly sums the match up imo; at first Sydal looks to do something BIG from the top, but AJ easily counters that into the Styles Clash set-up, which Sydal counters w/ that ultimate rana, from which Styles rolls through to get the pin. Sydal busted out some fantastic counters throughout, but just like in that finish, Styles was one step ahead the entire time. ****
ROH All Star Extravaganza VI: AJ Styles vs. Adam Cole
Cole controlling things isn't very interesting at first (what a surprise), but when the focus of his attack goes to AJ's knee, his work gets more compelling to watch -- mostly thanks to AJ being his wonderful & fantastic self, selling his ass off & all. By the end, it's a good match. That top rope Bloody Sunday as the finish RULED. ***
ROH Final Battle 2015: AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal
AJ's coming into this with some well known back problems, and that ends up being the big story of the match. Lethal first goes to it as he drops AJ on the apron, and after that the target is clear. Lethal's work over the back is really good, and AJ's selling is just faaantastic. During this time period, this was a very different type of a match for Styles, with him being the Bullet Club leader & top heel in NJPW; but here he was the babyface who was forced to fight from underneath because the champ took an advantage of his injury. It created for such a great struggle for AJ throughout; he was so good at gaining that sympathy from everyone, selling that damn back like the legend that he is. Really can't praise it enough. He got some really great counter hope-spots too, some examples of those would be the forearm smash to Lethal as he went for that 3rd dive, evading Lethal Injection & giving Lethal a good ol' Pele Kick, etc, etc. AJ's performance was just absolutely top tier in every way, I thought. I also love how just when it looked like he created somewhat of a 2nd gear flurry for himself & he went for the Clash, Lethal just DUMPS him outside the ring through that table. What a brilliant spot, and what a brilliant match. ****1/4
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