more fannish five
I'll do the rest in one post, but this one deserves its own entry goddammit.
evilgmbethy asks for top five AJ/Daniels matches. I'm gonna make two lists. One for singles AJ v. Daniels matches, and one for everything else (tag, threeway, etc).
Top Five Singles AJ/Daniels Matches
1. PWG, Jason Takes PWG, 60 minute draw
Yeah, it's an hour long, and it's fucking awesome. I'll be honest, I'll probably find it boring if it were any two other guys. I imagine most people would find this one boring, too, if they've been bred on WWE-style wrestling, or just new to pro wrestling in general. This was low impact grappling, rather old school in a lot of ways. This one speaks to their chemistry, on their ability to make shit up for an hour. There's a lot of comedy in this one, too, with Daniels being his classic prick self. There's rock-paper-scissors! Some great audience interaction stuff.
2. 3PW
AJ & Daniels had three singles 3PW matches. They were all, like, 25+ minutes long. I wouldn't say they're interchangeable per se, just that I can't really pick one of them out. These ones are awesome, because you see all their classic spots. Like, their TNA stuff came after they've wrestled each other 239472893423 times on the indy circuit. They even talked about how their TNA matches are basically the best-of from their indy matches. And you REALLY see it here.
3. TNA, Against All Odds '05, 30 minute Iron Man
It was either this Iron Man or the Bound For Glory one. Each has its merits. The first one had great set-up, but the second one was more heated. The second is built on the first, but you had to have a good first for the second to climb from, so. They're more like two pieces of a greater whole.
4. ROH, Scramble Madness, #1 Contender's Trophy
One of their earliest matches, which I love because it's technically awesome, but also great on a storyline level. This was in the heydays of The Prophecy, with Daniels being a total cult leader. He wanted the #1 Contender's Trophy because Xavier, part of his posse, was the champion. It was such a lovely piece of storytelling there, because Daniels wanted to control the path to the title. If he had the #1 Contender's Trophy, nobody else can gain access to Xavier. Daniels can be the power behind the throne, which is so deliciously evil. Then you've got plucky AJ, who represents goodness and honor and everything ROH is supposed to be. Fantastic good versus evil stuff.
5. NWA 53rd Anniversary Show
Annnnnnnnnnnd of course, you CANNOT have this list without this match. Their very first match. Not ROH, thank you very much. :D It's the beginning of everything. *____________*
Top Five Non-Singles
1. TNA, Unbreakable '05, AJ v. Daniels v. Samoa Joe
Pure. Fucking. Awesomeness. Just. GAH. The set-up was INCREDIBLE. I still get shivers whenever I think of the promo Daniels cut. Then the actual match itself. NGH. This is one of those matches where I almost kinda judge people on. Like, if you thought this was boring and not fucking awesome, I question whether you're really a wrestling fan. And I love that this was an actual threeway, and that is what they wanted to do. AJ and Daniels talked about this on their shoot. Most threeways is basically just one on one with one guy out for the count. But this one had all three interacting at the same time.
I really love the follow-up threeway as well, especially since it built on the first one. There was this one spot omg. It was like, Joe throws AJ off him, and AJ mid-air catches Daniels into a hurricarana. In the follow-up, this happened again, but this time, Daniels got out of the way. How fucking AWESOME is that?!
2. TNA, Slammiversary '06, AJ/Daniels v. America's Most Wanted, tag titles match
I was there live for this one, and it's HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I mean, it was a really good match, too, but you know it's because of the hug at the end, where Daniels grabbed AJ and had him practically over one shoulder, like he was gonna carry AJ off as his prize. XDDDDDD!
3. IWA Mid-South, AJ v. Daniels v. Petey Williams v. Chris Sabin, with CM Punk on commentary
Punk was hilarious on commentary. The match is obviously really fucking good, considering the four guys involved. I have MAD LOVE for this one, because of this AMAZING sequence at the end where they all hit each other's finishers. It makes me squeak like crazy.
4. PWG, 2nd Annual Bicentennial Birthday Extravaganza Night 2, AJ v. Daniels v. James Gibson
Daniels does the Curry Man butt wiggle before he gives Gibson the Spicy Drop. THE SPICY DROP. And then he does the Curry Man dance. And then AJ MOCKS HIM by doing the same. L:FSJFL:DSJFKLDSJL:FJ XDDDDDDD!
5. 1PW, Know Your Enemy Night 2, AJ/Daniels v. Colt Cabana/Darren Burridge
I'm totally so-so about this match in terms of actual wrestling, but this is the match with the dance-off. My heart belongs to this one just for that.
evilgmbethy asks for top five AJ/Daniels matches. I'm gonna make two lists. One for singles AJ v. Daniels matches, and one for everything else (tag, threeway, etc).
Top Five Singles AJ/Daniels Matches
1. PWG, Jason Takes PWG, 60 minute draw
Yeah, it's an hour long, and it's fucking awesome. I'll be honest, I'll probably find it boring if it were any two other guys. I imagine most people would find this one boring, too, if they've been bred on WWE-style wrestling, or just new to pro wrestling in general. This was low impact grappling, rather old school in a lot of ways. This one speaks to their chemistry, on their ability to make shit up for an hour. There's a lot of comedy in this one, too, with Daniels being his classic prick self. There's rock-paper-scissors! Some great audience interaction stuff.
2. 3PW
AJ & Daniels had three singles 3PW matches. They were all, like, 25+ minutes long. I wouldn't say they're interchangeable per se, just that I can't really pick one of them out. These ones are awesome, because you see all their classic spots. Like, their TNA stuff came after they've wrestled each other 239472893423 times on the indy circuit. They even talked about how their TNA matches are basically the best-of from their indy matches. And you REALLY see it here.
3. TNA, Against All Odds '05, 30 minute Iron Man
It was either this Iron Man or the Bound For Glory one. Each has its merits. The first one had great set-up, but the second one was more heated. The second is built on the first, but you had to have a good first for the second to climb from, so. They're more like two pieces of a greater whole.
4. ROH, Scramble Madness, #1 Contender's Trophy
One of their earliest matches, which I love because it's technically awesome, but also great on a storyline level. This was in the heydays of The Prophecy, with Daniels being a total cult leader. He wanted the #1 Contender's Trophy because Xavier, part of his posse, was the champion. It was such a lovely piece of storytelling there, because Daniels wanted to control the path to the title. If he had the #1 Contender's Trophy, nobody else can gain access to Xavier. Daniels can be the power behind the throne, which is so deliciously evil. Then you've got plucky AJ, who represents goodness and honor and everything ROH is supposed to be. Fantastic good versus evil stuff.
5. NWA 53rd Anniversary Show
Annnnnnnnnnnd of course, you CANNOT have this list without this match. Their very first match. Not ROH, thank you very much. :D It's the beginning of everything. *____________*
Top Five Non-Singles
1. TNA, Unbreakable '05, AJ v. Daniels v. Samoa Joe
Pure. Fucking. Awesomeness. Just. GAH. The set-up was INCREDIBLE. I still get shivers whenever I think of the promo Daniels cut. Then the actual match itself. NGH. This is one of those matches where I almost kinda judge people on. Like, if you thought this was boring and not fucking awesome, I question whether you're really a wrestling fan. And I love that this was an actual threeway, and that is what they wanted to do. AJ and Daniels talked about this on their shoot. Most threeways is basically just one on one with one guy out for the count. But this one had all three interacting at the same time.
I really love the follow-up threeway as well, especially since it built on the first one. There was this one spot omg. It was like, Joe throws AJ off him, and AJ mid-air catches Daniels into a hurricarana. In the follow-up, this happened again, but this time, Daniels got out of the way. How fucking AWESOME is that?!
2. TNA, Slammiversary '06, AJ/Daniels v. America's Most Wanted, tag titles match
I was there live for this one, and it's HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I mean, it was a really good match, too, but you know it's because of the hug at the end, where Daniels grabbed AJ and had him practically over one shoulder, like he was gonna carry AJ off as his prize. XDDDDDD!
3. IWA Mid-South, AJ v. Daniels v. Petey Williams v. Chris Sabin, with CM Punk on commentary
Punk was hilarious on commentary. The match is obviously really fucking good, considering the four guys involved. I have MAD LOVE for this one, because of this AMAZING sequence at the end where they all hit each other's finishers. It makes me squeak like crazy.
4. PWG, 2nd Annual Bicentennial Birthday Extravaganza Night 2, AJ v. Daniels v. James Gibson
Daniels does the Curry Man butt wiggle before he gives Gibson the Spicy Drop. THE SPICY DROP. And then he does the Curry Man dance. And then AJ MOCKS HIM by doing the same. L:FSJFL:DSJFKLDSJL:FJ XDDDDDDD!
5. 1PW, Know Your Enemy Night 2, AJ/Daniels v. Colt Cabana/Darren Burridge
I'm totally so-so about this match in terms of actual wrestling, but this is the match with the dance-off. My heart belongs to this one just for that.