Introduction

AJ Styles is widely considered the greatest TNA wrestler ever, He is one of the most influential and innovative wrestlers ever, his career with impact spanned for 11 years during that time he would put the company on his back on multiple occasions, but today I will be talking about when he did so in 2002, when the company first started as an associate of the NWA.

TNA was founded as an alternative to WWE when Jeff Jarrett, Bob Ryder & Jerry Jarrett discussed their futures in wrestling while on a fishing trip. Ryder suggested the idea of a company that was not reliant on TV but rather a company that was on weekly PPV. So on June 19th the first NWA-TNA PPV was broadcasted, and the rest was history

The Birth of the X Division

On the first episode of TNA AJ Styles was introduced to the TNA fans in a 6 minute, 6 man tag where he tagged with Jerry Lynn & Lo-Ki. This match only went 6 minutes, but it may have been the best 6 minute match of all time, it was the definition of get your shit in, just a bunch of fun spots in a sprint. The next week AJ was slated to be in a 4 way double elimination match vs Lo-Ki, Jerry Lynn and Psicosis, this match was absolutely fantastic, going 25 minutes this match was such chaotic fun, this match hit a whole new level when Lo-Ki and Psicosis got eliminated and Jerry Lynn and AJ who were both clearly exhausted put on some of the best wrestling you can find. I think this match can absolutely be argued as the best X Division championship match of all time. In the 1st episode AJ took the pin in the 6-man tag and in the 2nd episode AJ ended the show with his hand raised and being crowned the inaugural X Division Champion.

Importance of having good dance partners

AJ Styles was clearly the face of the X Division and by far the best wrestler in there, but he didn’t have exactly zero help, thanks to Jerry Lynn and Lo-Ki. These three faced off in multi man action, three times in 2002 and way more times in matches that featured just 2/3 of these men, this helped the division greatly because anytime these men worked together it was magic, a showcase of styles not that different but at the same time each man had their own special kind of twist on the way they wrestled. Jerry and AJ faced off in eight matches in TNA in 2002, but every match just felt different, the intensity increased every match, especially since they were crowned tag champs together, this story was easily the best thing on TNA at the time and really made you want to see these two wrestle each other as much as they did, they didn’t even really technically lose the belts, but this set the duo off on a crash course causing them to feud for most of the year.

Matches involving the two I recommend you check out:

AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Lo-Ki vs Psicocis 6/26/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Lo-Ki 8/07/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Lo-Ki 8/28/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn 11/06/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn 10/02/02

Carrying The Product

The Overall TNA product at this time was honestly horrible, stupid storylines, horrible promos, slurs were said regularly and there wasn’t anything worth tuning for other than AJ Styles, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen such a carry job. AJ was the only consistently good thing on the show, AJ Styles had the BEST match on every show he was on, and he’s wrestling two matches a night because TNA pretaped 2 episodes at a time. Sure you had great talent on the show who through no fault of their own had to deal with horrible storylines and matches but no one turned chicken shit into gold like AJ did. This was also the fans view on the program because even though coming into TNA, AJ was nowhere near the top of the list in terms of star power, by the end of 2002, TNA was his show, he may not have been marketed as the face of TNA, but the fans knew this and anyone who sat down and watched 2002 TNA knows this.

Unreal Workrate

There were multiple times, possible every time I watched a match he was featured in where I thought and wholeheartedly believed that I was watching the highest quality of weekly wrestling by a wrestler I’ve seen, every time he stepped foot in that ring, it was magic. AJ around this time was known for his unreal athletic ability, but he was nearly just as good at everything else too, he was vicious and hard hitting, with bone chilling kicks and lariats, he was also very good on the mat, going hold for hold with everyone on the roster and the best transitions and counters on the program. AJ’s bumping and selling was also very good, again may be the best on the program along with Lo-Ki. But obviously his athletic ability was just too unreal, this man was hitting stuff on a weekly basis two times a night that would get a holy shit chant in 2023.

Matches I recommend you watch

AJ Styles vs Amazing Red 12/11/02
AJ Styles vs Syxx Pac 10/23/02
Free For All Ladder Match 10/09/02
AJ Styles vs Kid Kash 9/18/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn 2/3 Falls 8/21/02
AJ Styles vs Elix Skipper 7/31/02
AJ Styles vs Loki 7/17/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Lo-Ki vs Psicocis 6/26/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Lo-Ki 8/07/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn vs Lo-Ki 8/28/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn 11/06/02
AJ Styles vs Jerry Lynn 10/02/02

Closing Thoughts

I’ve watched every TNA match AJ had in 02 except for two lost tapes and my final thought is I’ve never seen anyone like AJ Styles, while some may have not been too far off from an athleticism standpoint, no one was able to piece everything together like AJ, just an all around wrestler who never really had any holes in his game and even at an early stage of his career in 2002 he was still levels above anyone on the same show as him, if someone told me that they believe AJ Styles is the best wrestler ever, I wouldn’t argue against it even if I don’t have him as the best ever.