Elix Skipper
Ring name(s)	Dark Guerrera[1][2] Elix Skipper[1][2] Extreme Blade[1][2] Skip Over[1][2]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight	225 lb (102 kg)[1]
Born	(1967-12-15) December 15, 1967 (age 44)[1][2]
Resides	Atlanta, Georgia[1]
Billed from	Long Island, New York Atlanta, Georgia
Trained by	Pez Whatley[1] WCW Power Plant[1][2]
Debut	1999[1][2]

Elix Skipper (born December 15, 1967) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a four-time NWA World Tag Team Champion.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Before becoming a wrestler, Skipper participated in kickboxing.^[2] Upon deciding to become a wrestler, he resigned from his job as a BINDRA Shoes supervisor in Model Town, Ambala City and travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to audition at the WCW Power Plant, the professional wrestling school operated by World Championship Wrestling.^[3]

World Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)[link]

Upon being accepted by the Power Plant, Skipper began his training, debuting in 1999 at an independent show. After training for eight months, Skipper made his television debut on an episode of Saturday Night. Seven months later, Skipper began wrestling on Thunder and Nitro under the ring name Skip Over, facing members of the cruiserweight division and fellow Power Plant graduates.

In August 2000, Skipper began performing under his real name while also adopting the nickname "Primetime". After interfering on behalf of Lance Storm in a bout between Storm and Mike Awesome on the August 14, 2000 episode of Nitro, Skipper was inducted into Storm's newly formed Team Canada faction, with Storm awarding him the "100 Kilos and Under Championship". Despite his American nationality and his self-professed lack of knowledge about Canada, Skipper was billed as being a Canadian and a former Canadian Football League player, complete with a Grey Cup ring. Skipper retained the 100 Kilos and Under Championship until October 2, 2000, when Mike Sanders defeated him for the title and subsequently renamed it back to the Cruiserweight Championship. Throughout late 2000, Team Canada feuded with the Misfits In Action and Filthy Animals factions.^[4]

In early 2001, Skipper left Team Canada and began competing principally in the cruiserweight division. Throughout February and March 2001, Skipper teamed with Kid Romeo in an eight-team tournament to determine the first holders of the newly created Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship. Skipper and Romeo won the tournament by defeating Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio, Jr. in the tournament finals on March 18, 2001 at Greed, the final WCW pay-per-view event. On the March 26, 2001 episode of Nitro, Skipper and Romeo lost the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship to Kidman and Mysterio.

In late March 2001, World Championship Wrestling was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, with a number of wrestlers, including Skipper, being signed to developmental contracts.

World Wrestling Federation (2001)[link]

Elix Skipper made his debut early into the Invasion as a member of the The Alliance. The WWF later assigned Skipper to the Heartland Wrestling Association, a WWF developmental territory. He trained in the HWA for nine months before being released in December 2001.^[4]

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2002)[link]

Upon being released from the WWF, Skipper contacted The Great Muta, a veteran Japanese wrestler who had previously invited Skipper to wrestle in Japan. Skipper subsequently travelled to Japan, wrestling under his real name, as Dark Guerrera and as the masked Extreme Blade for the All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion.^[4]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2008)[link]

Skipper joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling upon its formation in June 2002, debuting under his real name on the third weekly TNA pay-per-view. Skipper competed in the X Division throughout 2002, at the same time continuing to wrestle in Japan. On the December 18, 2002 TNA pay-per-view, Skipper formed a three-man tag team known as Triple X with Low Ki and Christopher Daniels. On the same evening, Triple X joined Sports Entertainment Xtreme, a large villainous faction headed by Vince Russo.

Throughout the first half of 2003, Triple X feuded with America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm), winning the NWA World Tag Team Championship on three occasions. In the course of their reigns, all three members of Triple X were recognised as champions and any two members of the team were eligible to defend the titles, similar to the Fabulous Freebirds. Triple X disbanded in mid-2003 when Low Ki left TNA to wrestle in Japan, and on June 25, 2003, America's Most Wanted defeated Skipper and Daniels in the first TNA steel cage match to conclude their feud.

Skipper left TNA in July 2003 as a result of a pay dispute, and performed in Japan until December 2003, when TNA offered him a new, more lucrative contract. Upon returning to TNA, Skipper took part in the America's X Cup Tournament and the World X Cup Tournament as a member of Team USA. Team USA won the World X Cup, but were defeated in the finals of the America's X Cup by Team Mexico.^[5]

Skipper in 2005

In July 2004, Skipper and Daniels reformed Triple X and began feuding with America's Most Wanted once more. In the course of the feud, Skipper and Chris Harris were paired together against NWA World Tag Team Champions The Naturals after their respective partners became unavailable. Despite struggling to cooperate with one another, Skipper and Harris defeated The Naturals. They held the titles for several weeks before losing them to Christopher Daniels and James Storm. After Daniels and Storm lost the titles to Team Canada, the feud between Triple X and America's Most Wanted resumed. America's Most Wanted went on to defeat Triple X in a last team standing match on November 7, 2004 at Victory Road, with Skipper suffering a concussion in the course of the match. The feud culminated in a steel cage match on December 5, 2004 at Turning Point, with the stipulation that the losing team be forced to disband. America's Most Wanted won the match.^[5] During the course of this match, Skipper delivered his finishing move, the New School (a ropewalk frankensteiner), from the top of the cage to Harris.

After separating, Skipper and Daniels began feuding with one another, with Skipper unsuccessfully challenging Daniels for the TNA X Division Championship at Lockdown on April 24, 2005. Skipper went on to compete in the X Division until joining Simon Diamond's "Diamonds in the Rough" faction in August 2005, forming a tag team with David Young. The Diamonds in the Rough competed in the tag team division throughout 2005. In December 2005, the Diamonds in the Rough exchanged heated words with Major League Baseball catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski gained his revenge on the Diamonds in the Rough by costing them a six-man tag team match at Turning Point on December 11, 2005.

The Diamonds in the Rough competed in the TNA tag team division throughout 2006, but received few high profile matches. In February 2007, both Skipper and Young left TNA after requesting their releases.^[6]

On July 15, 2007 at Victory Road, Skipper returned to TNA, competing in an Ultimate X match and reforming Triple X with Daniels and Senshi (the former Low Ki). On the July 19 episode of Impact!, Triple X won its return match against Serotonin. On the following Impact!, Daniels and Senshi won a match against Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt with some outside interference from Skipper. Triple X would go on to lose to The Latin American Xchange during Bound For Glory in an Ultimate X Match.

After Christopher Daniels was, in storyline, fired because of his briefcase from the "feast or fired" match containing a pink slip, Skipper started tagging with Senshi. Senshi requested his release in January and was granted it. After that, Skipper appeared very rarely in TNA mostly jobbing in singles matches. He appeared sporadically and wrestled his last televised match in TNA in April, in a losing effort. He was released from his contract in May 2008.

Personal life[link]

Skipper is married with children. He has three children from an ex-wife (two daughters and one son). His 22-year-old son was killed on April 29, 2009 by a gunman who was in his home.^[3][5][7]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Play of the Day^[1] (WCW / TNA) / Edge of the Blade^[1] (AJPW) (Overdrive)^[8][9]
  • Sudden Death^[10] (Over the shoulder back to belly piledriver)

• Signature moves
  • Arm drag^[11][12]
  • Instant Replay^[1] (Thrust spinebuster)^[13]
  • Matrix evasion^[1][8][14]
  • Multiple kick variations
    • Crescent^[1]
    • Diving spinning heel^[15]
    • Missile^[1][11][12]
    • Spin^[16]
    • Super^[10]
  • Multiple leg drop variations
    • Diving^[16]
    • Head stand corkscrew^[1][17]
    • Springboard^[14]
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Belly to back^[17][18]
    • Double underhook,^[1][19] sometimes from the second rope^[20]
    • Dragon^[1][19][21]
    • German^[22]
    • Northern Lights^[11]
    • Overhead / Side belly to belly^[19][23][24]
  • New School^[1] (Ropewalk frankensteiner)^[21]
  • Plancha,^[21] sometimes while performing a corkscrew^[23][25]
  • Primetime Submission^[1] (Modified octopus stretch)
  • Springboard hurricanrana^[14]
  • Sunset flip powerbomb^[16]
  • Ura-nage^[12]

• Managers
  • Simon Diamond^[26]
  • Daffney^[27]
  • Major Gunns^[26]
  • Col. Robert Parker^[28]

• Nicknames
  • "Primetime"^[1][2]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Elite Championship Wrestling
  • ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[29]

• Georgia Championship Wrestling / Great Championship Wrestling
  • GCW National Television Championship (1 time)^[30]
  • GCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with John Bogie (1) and David Young (1)^1[31]
  • GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[32]

• NWA Shockwave
  • NWA Shockwave Cruiser X Championship (1 time)^[33]

• NWA Wildside
  • NWA Wildside Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[34]

• NWA Wrestle Birmingham
  • NWA Alabama Tag Team Championship (1 time)¹ – with Sonny Siaki / David Young (1)^[35]

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Low Ki and Christopher Daniels (3)² and "Wildcat" Chris Harris (1)^[36]
  • TNA World Cup X (2004) – with Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels and Jerry Lynn
  • Match of the Year (2004) with Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Harris and James Storm at Turning Point, December 5, 2004^[37]
  • Memorable Moment of the Year (2004) Primetime walks the Six Sides of Steel at Turning Point^[37]

• USA Xtreme Wrestling
  • UXW X-treme Championship (1 time)^[38]

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[39]
  • WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kid Romeo^[40]

¹ After Siaki signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, Skipper chose Young as a replacement without interrupting the championship reign.
² Skipper defended the title with either Ki or Daniels as Triple X under the Freebird Rule.

Notes[link]

• Elix Skipper at Bodyslamming.com
• Solie's title histories

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• Interview with Insane Wrestling

Abismo Negro
Abismo Negro with his signature flamethrower display.
Ring name(s)	Alex Dinamo Pequeño Samurai Furor The Winner/Winners Abismo Negro[1]
Billed height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Billed weight	96 kg (210 lb)[2]
Born	01971-07-01July 1, 1971[3] Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico[2]
Died	02009-03-22March 22, 2009 (aged 37,[4]264 days) [5] El Rosario, Sinaloa, Mexico[5]
Billed from	Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico[1]
Trained by	El Noruego (Don Nerio Soto)[1] Delio Soto[1] Diablo Velasco[1][6] Ray Mendoza[1]
Debut	1987[7]

Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González^[1] (July 1, 1971 – March 22, 2009) was a Mexican Luchador (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"). He is best known for appearing under the stage name Abismo Negro, which is Spanish for "Black Abyss" or "black hole", in the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion. Before appearing under the ring name Abismo Negro, Palomeque worked for five years under the alias "[the] Winners" and before that also wrestled as the characters "Alex Dinamo", "Pequeño Samurai", and "Furor" for short periods. Palomeque owned and operated the Gimnasio Abismo Negro, a wrestling school where individuals were trained to become professional wrestlers.

In his professional wrestling career, Palomeque worked for the two most prominent professional wrestling promotions in Mexico: Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and AAA. He also worked for the North American–based promotions the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) due to talent exchange programs between AAA and WWF in 1997 and TNA in 2004, as well as making appearances for the Michinoku Pro and Pro Wrestling Noah promotions in Japan

On March 22, 2009, Palomeque was found dead in a river near El Rosario, Sinaloa; the official cause of death was listed as drowning. On the night before, a wrestler using the Abismo Negro outfit worked an AAA show pretending to be Palomeque; this incident caused the promoter to be barred from promoting shows for two years.

Early life[link]

Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González was born July 1, 1971 in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. Palomeque started to get interested in professional wrestling at the age of nine when his father, Juan Francisco Palomeque Torres, took him to his first wrestling event. Later the Palomeque Family moved to Poza Rica where a young Palomeque took up Pentathlon (long jump, high jump, 110 metres hurdles run, shot put, 1500 metres run) in school.^[3][7] He and his brother, César Palomeque, had an interest in Martial Arts and trained together for years.^[8] When Palomeque was thirteen years old he began working in a gymnasium where professional wrestlers were trained, initially he paid for the use of the gymnasium by cleaning it after hours. When the family moved back to the Tabasco region he began training under Don Nerio Soto, who worked under the ring name El Noruego (the Norwegian), and his brother Delio Soto to become a luchador, or professional wrestler. Professional wrestlers perform in a non-competitive sport based on simulated fighting with storylines written by creative teams and matches with predetermined results. Don Soto later recollects how he and his family took the young man in and made him part of their family, practically adopting him while he was enrolled in Soto's wrestling school and later as he worked on the local wrestling circuit.^[3][7] Palomeque made his professional wrestling debut in 1987, at the age of 16, under the ring name "Alex Dinamo".^[7]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Palomeque received further training from famous Mexican wrestling coaches Diablo Velasco and Ray Mendoza before changing his character and ring name to "Pequeño Samurai"—a masked persona patterned after the Japanese Samurai tradition. In 1991, Palomeque began working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; Spanish for "World Wrestling Council"), the biggest wrestling promotion in Mexico at that time. In CMLL, he worked as Furor, another masked ring persona.^[3][9] While working as Furor, Palomeque won his first Luchas de apuestas, or "bet match" when he defeated his mentor El Noruego in a match where Noruego's hair and Palomeque's mask was at stake.^[6]

Winners[link]

In 1992 CMLL head writer Antonio Peña left the company to create his own wrestling promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA; Spanish for "Assistance, Consulting and Administration") promotion; Palomeque was one of the many young wrestlers who left CMLL to work for the newly formed AAA.^[3] In AAA, his ring personal was changed and he became "Winners" (sometimes written Winner's), a fan favorite character (known as a Técnico in Lucha Libre) who wore a silver bodysuit and mask.^[9] Palomeques work as "Winners" earned him a match on the very first TripleMania where he teamed with Super Caló and El Salsero to defeat the team of May Flowers, Rudy Reyna, and Baby Sharon in a Six Man Tag Team match.^[10] The following year at TripleMania II-A he teamed up with Rey Misterio and Rey Misterio, Jr. to defeat the team known as Los Destructores (Tony Arce, Vulcano, and Rocco Valente).^[11] In 1995, Winners participated in a Relevos Suicidas Tag Team match, in which the losing team members have a match of their own, with the loser of that encounter being forced to unmask. Winners team won the match, keeping him from having to defend his mask in a match. Eight days later at TripleMania III-B, Winners' mask was on the line in a match against Marabunta; Winners defeated Marabunta in a Luchas de Apuestas, Mask vs. Mask match.^[12] On June 30, 1995 at TripleMania III-C, Winners participated in another "mask vs. mask" match, his third in three weeks. This time, Winners was not successful, as he lost to Super Caló and was forced to unmask.^[9][13] The loss of the mask did not hurt Winners' popularity, on the contrary it intensified as the hansome Palomeque became even more popular with the female fans.^[3] Despite losing his mask to Super Caló the two continued to work together as a team.^[9] On June 15, 1996, Winners and Caló teamed up with Rey Misterio, Jr. and Oro Jr. to defeat the team of Perro Silva, Halloween, Kraken, and Mosco de la Merced at TripleMania IV-B.^[14] A month later, Winners, Caló, La Parka and El Mexicano defeated Jerry Estrada, Fishman, Villano IV, and May Flowers in one of the featured matches of TripleMania IV-C.^[15]

Abismo Negro[link]

In January 1997, Palomeque's character was changed from that of the quintessential heroic ladies' man known as "Winners", to that of a cheating villain (referred to as a Rudo) known as "Abismo Negro". Part of his new routine as Abismo Negro was a flamethrower display, created by using a lighter and an Aerosol spray can.^[3] Palomeque would regularly use this during his entrance and on occasion during a match as when he worked as "Abismo Negro" character. As part of his Rudo act Palomeque began using the Marinete — a wrestling move known as a Piledriver where he simulates driving the top of his opponents' head into the mat — the Marinete is "banned" Mexican wrestling, which means that it can lead to a disqualification if used during the match. The Marinete became such a signature move for the Abismo Negro character that he earned the nickname El Rey del Martinete (The King of the Piledriver).^[1] He made his debut as Abismo Negro on January 10, 1997 in an Eight Man Tag Team match.^[16] Shortly after his debut as Abismo Negro, he made his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut on the January 19, 1997 episode of the WWF Free For All pay-per-view event pre–show before the 1997 Royal Rumble. On the telecast, Negro teamed with Heavy Metal and Histeria in a losing effort against the team of Octagón, Blue Demon, Jr., and Tinieblas Jr in a Six Man Tag Team match.^[4][17][18] This match was one of the early results of a working relationship between the WWF and AAA that had been created in late 1996.^[9] The relationship saw Negro make an appearance in January against Perro Aguayo, Jr. and two appearances on the WWF's primary television program Monday Night Raw in March 1997.^[3] During his appearances in March, Negro was announced as being part of Los Vipers, a recently created alliance of wrestlers.^[3] After March, Negro did not make any more appearances for the WWF.

In AAA, Cibernético formed Los Vipers with Negro along with Psicosis (II), Mosco De La Merced, Maniaco and Histeria. Histeria was replaced a few weeks later by Histeria II. In 1998, Negro acquired a "mascot": a midget wrestler called Mini Abismo Negro.^[3] Abismo, Mini Abismo, and new Vipers member Electroshock were defeated by Octagón, his mascot Octagóncito, and Pentagón in a Six man Tag Team match at TripleMania VI.^[19] Los Vipers engaged in several scripted rivalries with other AAA groups, such as the group of masked wrestlers dressed as clowns known as Los Payasos. They also had a long-running rivalry with Los Vatos Locos—consisting of Espiritu, Picudo, Nygma, May Flowers, and Silver Cat during the rivalry—over the Mexican National Atómicos Championship. Los Vipers won the Atómicos titles from Los Vatos on several occasions, but Negro was not part of the teams that won. Palomeque wrestling as Abismo Negro did capture a title of his own when he defeated Pentagón on May 19, 1998 to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, a title he held until January 1999.^[20]

In 1999, Los Vipers split into two factions, with Abismo Negro leading a splinter group called Los Vipers Extreme consisting of Electroshock, Pentagón, Shiiba, El Cuervo and Mini Abismo Negro while Cibernético created a group called Los Vipers Primera Clase (First Class Vipers). After less than two months, the angle was dropped and Los Vipers reunited. Not long after Los Vipers reunited, Cibernético formed a group called Lucha Libre Latina (LLL), a group intent on taking over AAA that was inspired by World Championship Wrestling's New World Order.^[3] Los Vipers became a subgroup within LLL, and Negro assumed leadership of Los Vipers.^[3] On May 2, 1999, Negro and Electroshock teamed up to defeat Perro Aguayo and Perro Aguayo, Jr. to win the Mexican National Tag Team Championship. Los Vipers held the tag team title for four months before losing it to the team of Haytor and the Panther.^[21]

In 2000, Palomeque participated in a AAA tour of Japan and competed at TripleMania VIII, where he was on the losing side of an eight-man tag team match main event; Negro teamed with Cibernetico, Shiima Nobunaga and Electro Shock against Octagón, Jushin Liger, Latin Lover and Cuije.^[22] While touring with AAA, Palomeuqe also made an appearance at Michinoku Pro's April 9 Sumo Hall card, where he defeated El Oriental.^[23] On May 7, Abismo Negro and Electroshock regained the Mexican National Tag Team title by defeating Haytor and the Panther but only held on to the title for two months before losing it to Héctor Garza and Perro Aguayo, Jr.

Negro became one of the driving forces in LLL's feud with AAA owner Antonio Peña and his AAA loyalists. Over the years, Negro feuded with the top Técnicos of AAA such as La Parka (AAA version), Octagón and Latin Lover. Negro's position as one of AAA's top workers was cemented on March 5, 2000 when he competed in AAA's annual Rey de Reyes tournament. In the opening round, he defeated Dos Caras, Killer and Psicosis II and in the finals, he defeated El Alebrije, Charly Manson and Cibernético to win the 2000 Rey de Reyes tournament.^[24] Negro's status as a main eventer caused storyline problems between LLL's leader Cibernético and Abismo Negro, leading to a series of matches between the two to see who should lead Los Vipers. On September 29, 2000, Negro defeated Cibernético in a one on one match at Verano de Escandalo (2000).^[25] When the two faced off in a steel cage match at Guerra de Titanes (2000), the match ended without a winner, after which the rivalry between the leader and the deputy leader was put on the back burner.^[26] In 2001, Negro almost won Rey de Reyes again, but La Parka, Jr. defeated him in the finals.^[27] His string of losses continued at TripleMania IX, where the LLL team of Abismo Negro, Cibernético, Electroshock and Mascara Maligna lost to Mascara Sagrada, El Alebrije, Octagón and La Parka, Jr. when Negro was forced to submit.^[28]

In 2000 Abismo Negro won the hair of the Panther in Lucha del reves match, a contenst where two masked wrestlers put their hair on the line instead of their mask.^[3] On September 7, 2001 Abismo Negro won another Lucha del reves match, defeating El Alebrije.^[3] In December 2002, Negro and Mini Abismo Negro made it to the finals of a tournament to crown the first ever AAA Mascot Tag Team Champions but lost to Mascara Sagrada and Mascarita Sagrada.^[29] Negro qualified for the Rey de Reyes (2003) final, but La Parka, Jr. once again defeated him.^[30] In 2004, LLL was phased out in favor of a new super group known as La Legión Extranjera or the Foreign Legion in English, which meant that Los Vipers now regularly teamed with foreign wrestlers, especially NWA-TNA performers such as Abyss.^[31]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]

In 2004, TNA and AAA began a working relationship that saw TNA wrestlers work in Mexico and AAA wrestlers make several appearances on TNA's weekly pay-per-views. Managed by AAA owner Antonio Peña, Palomeque, working as Abismo Negro, along with Héctor Garza, Juventud Guerrera, Mr. Águila, and later Heavy Metal, worked for TNA as Team AAA in the TNA 2004 America's X Cup Tournament. The team made their debut on January 28, 2004 at TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #78, defeating the team of Eric Young, Shark Boy, Matt Stryker and Chad Collyer.^[32] In the following weeks, Negro and Team AAA won against Elix Skipper, the team of Jerry Lynn and Sonjay Dutt and finally all of Team USA in a 4 on 4 match to claim the Americas X Cup.^[33] Four weeks later Team AAA successfully defended the X Cup against Team Canada, as Abismo Negro and Juventud Guerrera defeated the team of Teddy Hart and Jack Evans to tied the score between the two teams, allowing for a final four on four elimination match that Team AAA won.^[34]

Abismo Negro and the rest of Team AAA returned for the 2004 World X Cup Tournament where they now competed as "Team Mexico". Abismo Negro remained undefeated until April 7, 2004 where his team lost to James Mason and Jason Allgood in one of the first matches of the World X Cup Tournament. Later in the night, Team Mexico defeated Team UK to even the score.^[35] The World Cup saw Team Mexico lose to Team USA,^[36] Team Canada (Eric Young and Bobby Roode),^[37] and Team Japan (Ryuji Hijikata and Mitsu Hirai, Jr.).^[38] Team Mexico tied in points with Team USA and Team Canada, which meant that a representative of each team met in an Ultimate X match to determine the winner of the tournament. Héctor Garza represented Mexico, but in the end Team USA's Chris Sabin won the match and the tournament.^[39]

Return to AAA[link]

After the World X Cup tournament ended, Negro returned to AAA full time taking full charge of Los Vipers.^[3] In early 2005, he was once again involved in the final match of that year's Rey de Reyes, but La Parka, Jr. defeated him for the third time.^[40] AAA hinted at a possible Técnico turn when Negro, along with Psicosis and Mini Psicosis, attacked Cibernético. The two faced off in a cage match, won by Cibernético, but they eventually reconciled their differences once more. At some point after 2005 Abismo Negro won the hair of Stuka, Jr. in a Lucha del reves match.^[6] Despite rumors that he was jumping to CMLL, Negro remained in AAA and was sent on a tour with Pro Wrestling Noah in the spring of 2006.^[9] Later in the year, he finally turned Técnico and began a sustained storyline with Cibernético and his group La Secta Cibernetica.^[41] The on again, off again storyline with Cibernético was put on hold when Cibernético suffered a severe knee injury in late 2006.^[3] At some point during 2006, Los Vipers left La Legión due to their "Anti-Mexican" philosophy and began fighting La Legión and La Legión's imported wrestlers. At Verano de Escandalo (2006), Negro, Charly Manson, Electroshock and Histeria lost to Team TNA (Homicide, Low-Ki, Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles).^[42]

Black Abyss[link]

In late 2007, AAA created a ring persona for a new wrestler called Black Abyss; the gimmick featured the same mask and attire as Negro and used a similar wrestling style to Negro as well. Initially, it was believed that this was done because there were rumors of him jumping to CMLL or to cover several no-shows.^[3] In 2008, Negro's "almost winning" streak at Rey de Reyes continued as he lost in the final to El Zorro. Black Abyss made sure Negro did not win but interfering on Zorro's behalf during the match, furthering the storyline between the two.^[43] During the fall of 2008, AAA pushed the storyline further by having Black Abyss "injure" Negro with his own trademark move the "Martinete".^[3] Abismo Negro was scheduled to take part in TripleMania XVI in a match where he would face Los Vipers (Psicosis, Histeria, Black Abyss and Mr. Niebla) in a cage match, but in the weeks leading up to the show Abismo Negro suffered an injury and the match had to be cancelled, AAA used the attack at Rey de Reyes as a storyline explanation of why the match did not take place.^[13] At the 2008 Guerra de Titanes, Negro returned to challenge Los Vipers' Revolution and specifically Black Abyss.^[44] Subsequently, the storyline between Negro and Black Abyss seemed to be building to a Luchas de Apuestas fight between the two, with their masks on the line.^[45][46] Both Abismo and Black Abyss were booked in the same four-way elimination match qualifier at the Rey de Reyes (2009) event. Negro was able to eliminate Black Abyss from the match but was in turn eliminated by Latin Lover.^[47] Black Abyss still competes under the Black Abyss name, even after Palomeque's death.^[48]

Abismo Negro II[link]

On September 27, 2011, AAA announced the start of a competition to find a new Abismo Negro.^[49]

Personal life[link]

Palomeque was married to a woman named Martha for 15 years and the couple had four children, two girls and two boys. Palomeque's wife has been suffering from breast cancer for a number of years.^[50][51]

He often appeared on the morning television program Vida TV, in full wrestling gear and persona, billed as Abismo Negro. He usually appeared as a kind of judge for talent contests on the show earning him the nickname Fiscal De Hierro de la Televisión (the Iron Judge of Television).^[9] Palomeque owned and operated "Gimnasio Abismo Negro" where he taught both professional wrestling and physical fitness. Graduates of Abismo Negro's wrestling school include Independent wrestling workers El Intocable, Extassis and Mini Cibernético as well as AAA workers Sexy Star and Aero Star.^[3][9] Abismo Negro is a playable character in AAA's first ever video game, AAA El Videojuego.^[52] The Abismo Negro character was one of the first characters used to promote the game and show the quality of the graphic rendering.^[53]

Death[link]

Palomeque was found dead on March 22, 2009. His body was found in a river near the town of El Rosario, Sinaloa. According to a bus driver who was transporting Palomeque and other passengers to Mexico City on Friday night March 20, Palomeque became agitated, panicked and demanded to be let off the bus despite it being 1:30 in the morning. A text message he sent to his wife after leaving the bus confirms that Palomeque found himself lost on the dark hillside. After receiving the text message, his wife contacted local wrestling promoter Vicente Martinez, who organized a search party. On the morning of March 22, Palomeque was found floating face down in the river. Afterwards, medical expert Jesús Enrique Castro López stated that such an anxiety attack could be steroid related, but Palomeque's alleged steroid abuse has not been confirmed.^[5] An autopsy was carried out on March 23, which determined that the cause of death was drowning, and no further investigation into the death is planned.^[54] A memorial was held in Mexico City on March 24 for friends and family of Palomeque, many of whom showed up without their masks on, to keep the focus of the event on Palomeque.^[50] His body was subsequently cremated, with the ashes taken to Villahermosa to be buried.^[3]

On Saturday March 21, while Palomeque was either lost in the hills or already dead, someone worked as Abismo Negro on an AAA show in Cancun. In the past, the wrestler known as Black Abyss had worked as Abismo Negro when Palomeque failed to show, but this time Black Abyss was not the man behind the mask, as he was on the opposing team that night. Following the discovery of Palomeque's body, the deception in Cancun received national coverage in Mexico and the local promoter responsible for the show, Renán Martínez, was suspended for two years by the Benito Júarez Boxing and Wrestling commission.^[55][56]

On May 26, 2009 AAA held the Torneo Abismo Negro in honor of Palomeque, the tournament was a 7 man gauntlet-style match and included a mix of five AAA veterans and two Abismo Negro students. The participants were Cuervo, Black Abyss, Gato Eveready, Kemp Dragon, Joe Lider, Extreme Tiger and Relámpargo. Relámpargo, Abismo Negro's last student to turn professional, won the match after 48 minutes. The event was not televised and it has not been announced if this is an annual event or not.^[57] During Triplemania XVII there was a moment of silence in memory of Abismo Negro, Antonio Peña and Mitsuharu Misawa (Misawa had died the night before).^[58]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Frog splash^[59]
  • Martinete (Kneeling belly to belly piledriver)^[1]
  • Martinete Especial (Double underhook piledriver)^[1]

• Signature moves
  • Diving senton^[59]
  • Hurricanrana^[59]
  • La magistral^[59]

• Nicknames
  • "El Rey del Martinete" (Spanish for "The King of the Piledriver")
  • "El juez de Hierro de La Televisión" (Spanish for "The Iron Judge of Television")

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
  • AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mini Abismo Negro^[29]
  • Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[6][20]
  • Mexican National Tag Team Championship (2 time) – with Electroshock (2)^[6][21]
  • AAA Rey de Reyes (2000)^[1]
  • AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2010)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #91 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2004^[60]
• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • America's X Cup (2004) – with Mr. Águila, Juventud Guerrera, Héctor Garza and Heavy Metal^[1]

Luchas de apuestas record[link]

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Further reading[link]

• Boutwell, Josh (2009-03-29). "Viva la Raza! # Diecinueve". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1238131291.php. Retrieved 2009-04-02. 
• Martinez, Juan F. (2009-03-30). "Abismo de Dudas" (in Spanish). El Periódico (Mexico, D.F.): pp. 14–15. 

A.J. Styles
Jones in April 2005.
Ring name(s)	Mr. Olympia[1] Air Styles[2] A.J. Styles[3]
Billed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Billed weight	215 lb (98 kg)[3]
Born	(1977-06-02) June 2, 1977 (age 35)[4][5] Camp Lejeune, North Carolina[6]
Billed from	Gainesville, Georgia[3]
Trained by	Rick Michaels[7] NCW Wrestling School[7]
Debut	1998[7]

Allen Neal Jones^[4][7] (born June 2, 1977),^[5] better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).^[3] He, James Storm, Jeff Jarrett and Abyss (who wrestled under the name Justice) are the only wrestlers to perform on the inaugural NWA-TNA pay-per-view event on June 19, 2002, and still be employed by the company in a wrestling role today. Since he joined TNA, Styles has been a four-time World Heavyweight Champion, having held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once, the very first TNA X Division Champion, while also sharing the record for most reigns (six) with Jay Lethal, a five-time World Tag Team Champion (4 NWA and 1 TNA), and a two-time Television Champion. With having won the TNA X Division, NWA World Tag Team, and NWA World Heavyweight Championships, Styles was the first to complete the TNA Triple Crown Championship. Styles would later complete the Triple Crown three more times, making him the only man to complete it more than once. His victory over Booker T for the TNA Legends (now Television) Championship made him the first man to have ever won the TNA Grand Slam Championship, which he has done twice. Also, he is the only wrestler in TNA to have held every male championship owned and sanctioned by TNA at any point during the company's history. All totaled, he has won 17 championships in TNA. In 2010 he became the first TNA contracted wrestler to rank in at #1 on Pro Wrestling Illustrated annual PWI 500 list.

Early life[link]

Jones discussed his harsh childhood in the DVD Phenomenal: The Best of A.J. Styles: Volume 2, where he talks about growing up in poverty with an abusive and alcoholic father. He entered wrestling school because his friends were doing it, to find out that he was a natural at the sport.^[6]

Jones attended college in Anderson, South Carolina, on a partial wrestling scholarship after graduating from Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia, class of 1996.

During the early years of his professional wrestling career, Jones worked an assortment of jobs on the weekends to supplement his income, including delivering water and driving.

Professional wrestling career[link]

NWA Wildside (1999–2001)[link]

Jones was trained by Rick Michaels and debuted in 1998.^[7] In the Georgia-based National Championship Wrestling promotion he wrestled as Mr Olympia, a masked wrestler, losing to Michael Brooks in his first match.^[7] By August 1999, he had won the Television Championship.^[7] In December 1999, NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside, and Jones was renamed A.J. Styles. Styles won his second Television Championship on January 8, 2000, defeating K-Krush.^[7] He lost the title to Eddie Golden on April 1 and regained it for a third time on January 6, 2001, defeating Air Paris during his run as a villain in NWA Wildside as a member of attorney Jeff G. Bailey's NWA Elite stable, an alliance of wrestlers. His final reign ended on February 21 when he lost to Robbie Rage in Athens, Georgia.

WCW and WWA (2001–2002)[link]

World Championship Wrestling, a global promotion, observed the feud between Styles (renamed Air Styles) and Paris, and both men were offered contracts in early-2001. Styles and Paris were placed in a tag team named "Air Raid",^[7] and their gimmick required both men to dress in G-suits. Air Raid made appearances on WCW Thunder, and on the March 5, 2001, episode of WCW Monday Nitro they were entered in a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship.^[7] They were eliminated from the tournament in the first round by the eventual winners, Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo.^[7]

After WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, Styles was left without a job. He returned to NWA Wildside, where he competed for the Wildside Heavyweight Championship and wrestled several matches for the WWF on WWF Jakked. Styles was offered a developmental deal by the WWF in April 2002. The offered contract was for US$500 per week and required Styles to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Heartland Wrestling Association developmental territory was located.^[7] He declined to sign because moving would interfere with his wife's college plans.^[7][8]

Styles toured Australia with the short-lived World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) promotion in April 2002. He made his pay-per-view debut at WWA: The Eruption on April 13 in Melbourne, defeating Nova and Jerry Lynn in the same night to become the WWA International Cruiserweight Champion.^[7] He later vacated the title.

Return to NWA Wildside (2001–2005)[link]

Following his stint in World Championship Wrestling, Styles returned to Wildside and began pursuing the NWA Georgia Championship, then held by Rick Michaels. He defeated Michaels for the title on December 22, 2001, at Christmas Chaos.^[7] While champion, Styles engaged in a rivalry with former manager Jeff G. Bailey's copycat version of Styles, "The Role Model" Jason Cross, who debuted as a total clone of Styles, all the way down to his in-ring attire and finishing move (this angle was later partially reused on a larger scale by Ring of Honor, with Jimmy Rave acting as Styles's doppelgänger). Styles lost the NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship to David Young in a 3-Way Dance that also included Rick Michaels on March 23, 2002 at Hardcore Hell. Shortly thereafter, Styles signed a contract with NWA:TNA and only returned to Wildside for sporadic special appearances due to an increase in his higher profile bookings. These special appearances reached an apex at Freedom Fight in July 2002, where Styles was the final man entered into the "Holy Wars" steel cage match for the Wildside Championship. The then-TNA X Division Champion, Styles was pinned by long-time rival "All That" Adam Jacobs. He made several more appearances throughout 2002, defeating Sonny Siaki, Jorge Estrada, and Jacey North in various one on one encounters.

In March 2003, Styles defeated former rival Ron Killings at Hardcore Hell. In October 2003, he headlined another Wildside card, facing "The Soul Assassin" Rainman. Styles had been the NWA World Heavyweight Champion at the time of booking, and this was scheduled to be a title match, but Jeff Jarrett defeated Styles for the title just three days prior to the scheduled bout. As a result, Jarrett agreed to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a three way match. Jarrett, however, withdrew from the event at the last minute, leaving Styles and Rainman to fight one another in a non-title match which was won by Rainman following interference from Jeff G. Bailey. Styles defeated David Young at Christmas Chaos in December 2003. On March 26, 2004 at the two-night Hardcore Hell event he defeated his protégé, "Kool" Seth Delay in an impromptu match, then teamed with Gabriel and Altar Boy Luke (with Dusty Rhodes in their corner) to defeat Rainman, Azrael and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels in a six man tag team main event on the following night.

After an absence of almost one year, Styles returned to Wildside on March 25, 2005, losing to Wildside mainstay David Young in a match that received a standing ovation from fans in attendance. After this match, Styles presented an award to Wildside Promoter Bill Behrens, along with David Young and Rick Michaels. This was his final Wildside appearance.

Ring of Honor[link]

2002–2004[link]

Styles with Matt Sydal at an ROH event in 2006.

Styles debuted in Ring of Honor (ROH) at their third show, A Night of Appreciation, in 2002.^[9] He quickly became a main event wrestler, competing against Low Ki for ROH Championship at Honor Invades Boston.^[9] After failing to win the title, he became the first holder of the "Number One Contender's Trophy", which was viewed as a second title at the time.^[9] At the One Year Anniversary Show in February 2003, Styles competed against Low Ki and Paul London in a three-way match, with the winner receiving a shot at the ROH Championship later that night. London won the match but failed to defeat Xavier for the championship. After the show, Styles and London agreed to form a tag team and compete for the ROH Tag Team Championship. Instead, Styles competed by himself and defeated The Backseat Boyz (Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid), The S.A.T. (Jose Maximo [Julio Ramirez] and Joel Maximo [Kelvin Ramirez]), and The Carnage Crew (HC Loc and Tony DeVito) to receive a title shot. He chose Amazing Red as his partner, and the two defeated The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels and Xavier) for the championship.^[9][10] When London returned, he was upset when Styles chose to remain a team with Red instead of forming one with him. The two wrestled against each other at Night of the Grudges, with the match ending in a draw.^[9] Styles and Red, as the ROH Tag Team Champions, defeated the Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) on three separate occasions. The duo, however, were not as successful against The Prophecy. At Wrath of the Racket, Jim Cornette made his first appearance in ROH and aligned himself with Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff. During intermission, he convinced the two to attack Amazing Red, who was already suffering from a knee injury, while he was signing autographs. With Red unable to compete, Styles chose Maff's former trainer Homicide as his partner, and the two defeated The Prophecy.^[9] Styles then had to vacate the title due to Red being sidelined with a knee injury.^[10]

After his reign as one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, Styles took on fellow Georgia wrestler Jimmy Rave as his protégé. While coaching Rave, who was competing in the "Field of Honor" tournament, Styles attempted to become the ROH World Champion. He defeated Bryan Danielson at Main Event Spectacles to become the number one contender for the title. At War of the Wire, Styles challenged Samoa Joe for the title, but was once again unable to win it.^[9] At the Second Anniversary Show, however, he competed in a one night tournament to become the first Pure Wrestling Champion. He defeated his protégé Jimmy Rave in the first round, Matt Stryker in the second, and CM Punk in the finals to become the first champion.^[9] His title reign, however, was short lived. Not long after the Second Anniversary Show, ROH's owner Rob Feinstein was caught by an internet sting trying to solicit sex from a minor,^[11] which caused tensions between ROH and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where Styles was under contract. Despite this, Styles returned to ROH at the following show, At Our Best, and defeated CM Punk in a rematch with Ricky Steamboat as the guest referee.^[9] The match turned out to be Styles final match in ROH for 2004, as TNA withdrew all their contracted wrestlers from ROH.^[12] Styles left the company and vacated the Pure Wrestling Championship.

2005–2006[link]

In the summer of 2004, Styles' protégé Jimmy Rave was "fired" by Ring of Honor due to not winning any matches. He was brought back to the company by Prince Nana and became known as "The Crown Jewel of The Embassy". He began to use the Rave Clash (better known as the "Styles Clash") as a finisher, claiming Styles stole it from him. Eventually, Styles had enough and returned to Ring of Honor for one night only, at the Third Anniversary Celebration: Part Two, to wrestle Rave. Styles was unsuccessful in defeating Rave, who won after he sprayed air freshener in Styles’ eyes.^[9] Several months later, Styles returned to wrestling for Ring of Honor full time. He made his return at Death Before Dishonor III defeating fellow TNA wrestler Petey Williams, who was brought in by Prince Nana to face Styles instead of having Jimmy Rave fight him.^[9] Styles got a match and a win, against Rave at the following show. Rave, however, after losing, he put a plastic bag over Styles and attempted to suffocate him.^[13] During his feud with Jimmy Rave and The Embassy, Styles formed an alliance with Generation Next, who were also feuding with The Embassy due to their former leader Alex Shelley joining them. Styles first defeated Generation Next member Roderick Strong at Fate of an Angel in mid-July. The following show, The Homecoming, Styles faced and lost to Jimmy Rave in a street fight when Alex Shelley attacked him and Rave hit the Rave Clash. Following the match, Styles was attacked by The Embassy, with Rave performing the Rave Clash on him. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong attempted to come to his aid, but they were fought off. At Glory by Honor IV, Styles once again faced off against Jimmy Rave, with this match having a special stipulation: the loser could no longer use the Rave/Styles Clash in Ring of Honor. With Mick Foley in his corner, Styles hit Rave with the Styles Clash off of the second rope, through a table to win the match.^[9] Styles then took a short break from ROH before returning at This Means War in late October. He defeated Generation Next leader Austin Aries, who was attacked by The Embassy following the show. The following show, Aries defeated the former Generation Next leader Alex Shelley. Following the match, he was attacked by The Embassy, until Generation Next member Matt Sydal came to his aid. Later that night, Styles and Sydal defeated Embassy members Jimmy Rave and Abyss in a tag match. At Vendetta, Styles had his final match against The Embassy when he, along with Austin Aries, Jack Evans and Matt Sydal were defeated by Rave, Shelley, Abyss and Prince Nana in an eight-man tag match.^[9]

Following his feud with The Embassy, Styles set his sights on winning a Ring of Honor title. At A Night of Tribute, Styles faced Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal in a Triple Threat match, with the winner receiving a shot at the ROH World Championship later that night. Daniels won the match, but was unable to defeat Bryan Danielson for the title. On the first show of 2006, Styles wrestled and defeated Matt Sydal. Following the match, the two agreed to form a tag team and challenge for the ROH Tag Team Championship, which were held by Sydal’s Generation Next teammates Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Before receiving a shot at the tag team title, Styles received a shot at the ROH World Championship when he was handpicked by Danielson. Despite having won both of his previous encounters against Danielson in ROH, Styles was unable to defeat him for the title.^[9] At the Fourth Anniversary Show, Styles and Sydal received their shot at the ROH Tag Team Championships, but were unable to defeat the champions.^[9] Following the match, Aries and Strong were attacked by the Briscoe Brothers, who had made their return to ROH for the first time since 2004. Styles and Sydal came to their aid and chased away the Briscoes.

Styles then appeared less and less in Ring of Honor. After an absence, Styles returned at Death Before Dishonor IV, defeating ROH up-and-comer Davey Richards. Styles returned to Ring of Honor at Time to Man Up, losing to Samoa Joe.^[9] In a pre-taped promo, Styles said he would be taking several months off from Ring of Honor following the match. ROH commentators, however, continually referred to the match as his final match and even played a special tribute to him after it.^[14] Since then, Styles has not returned to Ring of Honor.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]

Debut (2002)[link]

In May 2002, Styles was signed to a non-exclusive contract by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and dubbed "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles (originally coined by NWA Wildside commentator Dan "The Dragon" Wilson). He appeared on the first weekly TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Jerry Lynn and Low-Ki and losing to The Flying Elvises (Jorge Estrada, Sonny Siaki and Jimmy Yang).^[7] The following week, on June 26, Styles defeated Lynn, Low-Ki and Psicosis in a double elimination match to become the first ever TNA X Division Champion.^[7] He won a second title on the third TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Lynn and defeating Lenny Lane and Bruce in the finals of a tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship.^[2] Styles successfully defended both his titles in the following weeks, but began to bicker with the veteran Lynn during their matches together. On August 7 Styles lost the X Division title to Low-Ki in a three way dance also involving Lynn.^[2] The following week, he and Lynn fought Ron Killings and Jeff Jarrett to a no-contest, and the Tag Team titles were held-up as a result.^[2] The following week, he and Lynn fought one another in a Falls Count Anywhere match (which was won by Lynn), a No Disqualification match (which was won by Styles) and a ten-minute Iron Man match, which ended in a draw after both men scored three pinfalls.^[2] On August 28, Low-Ki defended the X Division Championship against Lynn and Styles in a ladder match and lost his title to Lynn.^[2] Recruiting Mortimer Plumtree and Sonny Siaki as allies, Styles continued to feud with Lynn in successive weeks.^[2] On October 23, he defeated Syxx-Pac for the X Division Championship, thus becoming a two-time champion.^[7] He lost the title to Lynn a second time on November 6 and tried unsuccessfully to regain it throughout the remainder of the year.^[7]

NWA World Heavyweight Champion (2003–2004)[link]

In 2003, Styles began focusing on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After defeating David Flair on January 15 to become the number one contender, Styles recruited the help of Larry Zbyszko and associated himself with Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction.^[2] Styles faced NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett on February 19 but was defeated.^[2] In the course of the match, Styles became a fan favorite, attacking S.E.X. as they tried to interfere on his behalf because he did not want to win in that manner.

Styles formed a new tag team with D'Lo Brown in April 2003.^[7] During their time together, Styles learned the frog splash (Art Barr version) from Brown, and Brown likewise picked up Styles' suicide plancha. The tag team amicably disbanded on May 28 so that both men could pursue the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once again.^[7] They fought one another on June 4 in a number one contendership match which was won by Styles, and on June 11, Styles faced Jarrett and Raven in a three-way match for the Heavyweight Championship.^[7] Styles won the match and the title (becoming the first TNA Triple Crown winner in the process) after Vince Russo entered the ring and struck Jarrett with a guitar, then celebrated with Russo following his victory, thus becoming a villain once again. Throughout July 2003, Styles successfully defended his title in matches against Brown. Throughout the remainder of his reign, he defeated a myriad selection of opponents before losing the title to Jarrett on October 22.^[7] Following his loss, Styles reverted to being a fan favorite, while Jarrett became a villain. Despite Jarrett's demand that Styles return to the X Division, Styles continued to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. On November 12, he teamed with Sting to defeat Jarrett and Lex Luger. Styles faced Jarrett for the Heavyweight Championship on December 3, but lost following interference from Kid Kash.^[2]

Styles feuded with Jeff Jarrett and Abyss throughout January, and on February 4, 2004 after Styles demanded a title shot, Jarrett's ally Don Callis forced him to team with Abyss in a match with the NWA World Tag Team Champions, Kevin Northcutt and Legend. Abyss hindered Styles's efforts before abandoning him completely. Styles, however, defeated both of his opponents, thus becoming a two-time NWA World Tag Team Champion with Abyss as his partner.^[7] The following week, Styles defeated Abyss in a match for both tag team titles by disqualification after Jarrett interfered. His victory was overturned by Callis, leading to another match the following week which was won by Abyss after Lex Luger interfered, thus granting Abyss control of both titles.^[7] Abyss and Styles continued to feud, and on March 17 Abyss defeated Styles to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.^[2]

On April 21, Chris Harris, who was scheduled to face Jarrett in a title match that night, was attacked by Raven. As a result, Vince Russo, by now the TNA Director of Authority, selected Styles to face Jarrett in his place in a steel cage match. When Jarrett tried to hit Styles with his guitar, Russo tried to stop him through the cage, allowing Styles to get up and shatter the guitar mid-swing with a Pelé kick. Styles pinned Jarrett to become a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion.^[7] He successfully defended the title in matches with Ron Killings, Raven and Chris Harris, and on May 19 he defended against all three men in a four-way title match. Styles lost his title to Killings after Jarrett interfered in the match, hitting him with a guitar.^[2]

X Division (2004–2005)[link]

Styles returned to the X Division shortly thereafter, winning a four-way match to become the number one contender to the X Division Championship on the June 4 episode of TNA Impact!.^[7] On June 9, he defeated Frankie Kazarian to become a three-time X Division Champion.^[7] In the following weeks, Styles feuded with Kid Kash and Dallas,^[7] while successfully defending his title in matches with Kazarian and Mr. Águila. An additional match on June 23 with the debuting Jeff Hardy was interrupted by Kash and Dallas.^[15] On July 28, he defended the title against Kazarian and Michael Shane in an Ultimate X match.^[16] After Kash struck Styles with a crutch, Shane and Kazarian simultaneously retrieved the belt and became co-X Division Champions.^[16] After several abortive attempts to regain the title, Styles fought Kash in a number of matches, culminating on September 8 in a tables match which was won by Styles.^[17] In October he began feuding with Petey Williams, by now the TNA X Division Champion, and on November 7 at Victory Road, the first monthly pay-per-view held by TNA, Styles challenged Williams for the X Division Championship.^[18] During the weeks preceding the match, Styles even went as far as to use Williams' own finisher, the Canadian Destroyer, after Williams himself performed the Styles Clash on others. Williams retained his title with the help of his manager, Scott D'Amore. Later that night, Jeff Jarrett retained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match with Jeff Hardy after Scott Hall and Kevin Nash interfered in the match.^[18] Following the bout, the trio proclaimed themselves to be the "Kings of Wrestling" and issued an open challenge to the rest of the TNA roster. Several wrestlers charged the ring in response to the challenge, including the 3Live Kru (Ron Killings, Konnan, and B.G. James), Randy Savage, and Styles.^[18]

At Final Resolution on January 16, 2005 Styles won the X Division Championship for a fourth time in an Ultimate X match, defeating Chris Sabin and the reigning champion, Petey Williams.^[19] On the January 21 episode of Impact!, Christopher Daniels accused Styles of "ducking him" (Styles and Daniels had never fought one another in a singles match in TNA).^[20] After Daniels challenged Styles to a match at the next monthly TNA pay-per-view, TNA Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes announced that Styles and Daniels would fight that day, with Daniels receiving a title shot if Styles could not defeat him within ten minutes.^[20] Daniels lasted ten minutes and subsequently faced Styles in a thirty-minute Iron Man match for the X Division Championship at Against All Odds in which ended in a draw with both men having scored a single pinfall.^[20][21] Rhodes restarted the match with "sudden death" rules, and Styles defeated Daniels to retain his title.^[21] The feud between Styles and Daniels continued, and at Destination X on March 13, Styles lost his title in an Ultimate X Challenge against Daniels, Ron Killings and Elix Skipper.^[22] Skipper eliminated Killings and Daniels eliminated Skipper, thus reducing the match to a singles contest.^[22] With the referee unconscious, Styles was able to retrieve the belt, but Daniels knocked him out with the Angel's Wings and then embraced the title belt.^[22] When the referee recovered shortly thereafter, he saw both men prone—but Daniels with the title belt—and awarded the match and the X Division Championship to Daniels.^[22]

Having lost the X Division Championship, Styles began feuding with Abyss. At Lockdown, he defeated Abyss in a steel cage match to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.^[23] Styles went on to defeat the defending champion, Jeff Jarrett, at Hard Justice on May 15.^[24] After Jarrett pushed the special guest referee, cage fighter, Tito Ortiz, Ortiz knocked him down with a punch, enabling Styles to hit his Spiral Tap maneuver and pin Jarrett for his third NWA World Heavyweight Championship.^[24][25] Styles lost the title at Slammiversary to Raven in a King of the Mountain match.^[26] Styles then returned to his perennial pursuit of the X Division Championship, entering the TNA 2005 Super X Cup Tournament, which granted the winner a shot at the X Division Championship. Styles defeated Matt Bentley in the quarter-finals and Petey Williams in the semi-finals, but lost to Samoa Joe at Sacrifice.^[27] As Christopher Daniels (the reigning X Division champion) had interfered in the match, TNA Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko added Styles to the resultant title bout. On September 11 at Unbreakable, Styles defeated Samoa Joe and Daniels in a three-way match to become the TNA X Division Champion for a fifth time.^[28] In addition to being rated a 5 Star Match by Dave Meltzer, this match also finished as the first runner up for Pro Wrestling Illustrated Match of the Year honors.^[29]

Teaming with Christopher Daniels (2005–2006)[link]

A.J. Styles at a TNA house show

The following month at Bound for Glory, Styles successfully defended the title against Christopher Daniels in the second thirty-minute Iron Man match between the two.^[30] The following month at Genesis, Styles successfully defended the title against Petey Williams. At the same event, Samoa Joe brutally beat on Christopher Daniels with a chair and put him out of action indefinitely.^[31] Styles then started a feud with Joe, claiming that he had broken the unwritten "code of the X Division".^[31] On December 11 at Turning Point, Styles lost the X Division Championship to Joe. After the match, Joe tried to take out Styles, until Christopher Daniels made his return and saved him.^[32] On February 12, 2006, at Against All Odds, Styles and Daniels challenged Samoa Joe for the X Division Championship in a rematch of Unbreakable. Styles lost the bout when he was given a Muscle Buster by Joe, who then pinned him to retain.^[33] Samoa Joe defended the X Division Championship against Styles and Daniels in an Ultimate X match at Destination X and lost the belt to Daniels.^[34] After Daniels lost the belt back to Samoa Joe, Styles went on to join forces with Daniels and challenge America's Most Wanted for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. After losing to America's Most Wanted in title matches on two occasions, Styles and Daniels won the NWA World Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary.^[35]

On an episode of Impact!, Styles and Daniels introduced contracts for all tag teams on the TNA roster, which sparked a rivalry with The Latin American X-Change (Homicide and Hernandez) (LAX), who signed the contracts for a match at Hard Justice which Styles and Daniels won.^[36] On the August 24 episode of Impact!, Homicide and Hernandez defeated Styles and Daniels in a Border Brawl to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.^[37] At No Surrender Styles and Daniels defeated LAX in a Tag-Team Ultimate X match to regain the titles after Styles hit a Styles Clash on Homicide through a table allowing his tag partner Christopher Daniels to capture the hanging belts.^[38] They lost the titles back to LAX at Bound for Glory in a Six Sides of Steel match after Homicide hit the Gringo Killer on Styles as Daniels was tied up to the cage by Konnan with a coat hanger.^[39]

On the November 2 episode of Impact!, he pinned Chris Sabin to begin his sixth reign as the new X Division Champion.^[40] The match was also the quarter-finals of the Fight For The Right tournament for number one contendership to Sting's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 9 Impact!, Styles won the semi-final match but was pinned in the finals by Abyss after interference by Christian Cage (Jason Reso) and Sabin.^[41] On the November 16 episode of Impact!, the show's debut in primetime, Styles lost the TNA X Division Championship to Daniels in a 3-way match when Daniels scored the rollup pinfall on Sabin while Styles was outside of the ring dealing with Cage.^[42] At Genesis, Styles lost to Cage.^[43] During the match, Daniels attempted to stop Cage from using a steel chair in the match, which led to Styles rolling up Cage, which Cage reversed for a rollup of his own and the 3 count.^[43] After the match, Styles and Daniels shared harsh words, which led to Rhino coming to the ring to settle things.^[43] Styles refused to shake Daniels' hand and walked away.^[43] Styles and Daniels teamed up for the last time on the Thanksgiving Day episode of Impact!, defeating The Naturals.^[44] After the match, Rhino came out to the ring to raise both of their hands. Styles pulled his arm away, and left the ring, saying that he was tired of Rhino getting into his business.^[44] He yelled at Rhino again during an interview on Impact! to once again becoming a heel. At Turning Point Styles beat Rhino after faking a knee injury and rolling him up for the pin.^[45]

Christian's Coalition (2006–2008)[link]

Styles at a TNA show in 2007.

On the December 22 episode of Impact!, Styles teamed up with Samoa Joe for the first time to go against Rhino and Kurt Angle.^[46] Styles and Joe won after a roll up pin on Rhino by Styles, but Kurt Angle and Rhino continued to beat down Styles and Joe.^[46] At Final Resolution, Styles faced Rhino in a Last Man Standing match.^[47] After a Gore by Rhino, Styles decided to let Rhino win the match despite the fact that he was almost to his feet at one point.^[47] This was due to the fact that Styles saw that Rhino was setting up a table to use on him and did not want to continue.^[47] At Destination X, Styles participated in the first ever Elevation X match against Rhino.^[48] The match consisted of a 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) steel structure of an X that they used to fight each other. Styles took the fall off the Elevation X structure. On the following episode of Impact!, he tried to assault Rhino, but was unsuccessful.

Styles making his entrance at Lockdown.

It was later revealed that he was the first member of Christian Cage's team at Lockdown.^[49] At Lockdown, Team Cage was unsuccessful against Team Angle.^[50] On the May 31 episode of Impact! he defeated Tomko in a King of the Mountain qualifying match.^[51] Styles teamed up with Tomko to face Sting and Abyss at Victory Road but were defeated.^[52] At No Surrender, Styles and Tomko won a 10-tag team gauntlet match to earn a tag team title match at Bound for Glory against Team Pacman (Ron Killings and Adam "Pacman" Jones).^[53] At Bound for Glory, Styles and Tomko defeated Team Pacman for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.^[54] Styles and Tomko defeated LAX on the November 1 episode of Impact! to retain the TNA Tag Team titles.^[55] Then Styles challenged Scott Steiner to a takedown challenge, which he lost by disqualification. At Genesis, they retained against The Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick Steiner) after hitting Rick with a low blow and then a chair shot.^[56] Later that night, Styles and Tomko cost Christian his number one contender's shot by arguing and distracting him, and they helped Kurt Angle retain his championship.^[56]

After Christian Cage accepted Angle's invitation to The Angle Alliance on the circumstance that Cage be the leader, Angle and the rest of the alliance attacked Cage, with the exception of Styles (who made an attempt to save Cage) and Tomko (who walked away up the ramp). On December 28, Styles and Tomko lost to the Motor City Machineguns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) in a tag team match due to Eric Young's attempt to help Styles with his decision problems in the middle of the match.^[57] Later on the show, Styles came down to the ring to watch Booker T and Christian Cage take on Kurt Angle and Robert Roode; he was pressured to choose between Christian's or Angle's team, but could not decide before the show went off the air.^[57] At Final Resolution, he turned on Christian Cage by siding with Angle.^[58] The next week on Impact!, Styles was crowned the "Prince of Phenomenal" by Angle, which has since been incorporated into his ring introductions.

TNA Frontline (2008–2009)[link]

On the February 14 episode of Impact! Styles, in storyline, was married to Karen Angle.^[59] The next several weeks showed videos of Karen Angle and Styles on their honeymoon, talking, getting close, and acting like a married couple. The following week, Styles came to Karen's rescue when she hit her head (she was pushed by Kurt when she came out to check on him).^[60] Karen later revealed that she wanted a separation from Kurt. Meanwhile, Styles and Tomko lost the TNA World tag Team titles to Kaz and Super Eric.^[61] With Kurt constantly accusing Styles and Karen of seeing each other despite both vehemently denying anything beyond friendship, Styles snapped and quit the Alliance. In retaliation, Tomko (after Styles teamed with Super Eric while he was out in Japan) cost Styles his King of the Mountain qualifying match against Booker T.^[62] Styles turned into a face again on the May 29 episode of Impact! after being assaulted backstage before his entrance.^[63] He then ran to the ring several minutes later to help Karen, only to be beat down by Team 3D and Kurt for the second week in a row.^[63] At Slammiversary, Styles defeated Kurt but was beat-down by Kurt and his former tag team partner Tomko after the match.^[64] The feud continued through Hard Justice, with Styles and Angle trading wins. The episode after Hard Justice, he defeated Angle for his Olympic gold medal.^[65] Styles also won the rematch ladder match the following week, thus ending the feud. Later he was asked to give Kurt back his gold medal by Jeff Jarrett, in an effort to try to mend things with Kurt.^[66]

Styles at a TNA show in 2008.

At Bound for Glory IV, Styles faced Christian Cage and Booker T in a 3-way dance in which Booker T won after performing the axe kick from the middle rope on Cage.^[67] Shortly after that, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash and Sting (who had turned heel) formed the team now known as The Main Event Mafia. On the October 23 episode of Impact! Styles teamed up with Samoa Joe against Sting and Nash but came up short after Nash hit Joe with Sting's TNA World Heavyweight Championship belt.^[68] Following this, Styles and Joe were both attacked by the Main Event Mafia.^[68] On the October 30 episode of Impact!, Styles and Joe formed a faction of younger wrestlers also featuring Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Petey Williams, Eric Young, ODB and The Motor City Machineguns, which later would be collectively known as TNA Frontline.^[69] Later that night they were once again assaulted by the Main Event Mafia when Scott Steiner returned and joined them.^[69]

He challenged Sting at Turning Point for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but lost thanks to a distraction from Kurt Angle and Booker T.^[70] At the Final Resolution PPV, Styles was once again unsuccessful in capturing the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, losing in an eight-man tag team match to the Main Event Mafia.^[71]

Since then, The TNA Frontline recruited Rhino and Team 3-D into their ranks. The Frontline also had to deal with problems with The Motor City Machineguns, who showed little respect to the other members, and gang style attacks on members, such as Petey Williams, Brother Ray, and Samoa Joe, from the Mafia. On the January 22, 2009 episode of Impact! Kurt Angle vowed to end Styles' career and later that night beat Styles in a tables match, where Styles was (kayfabe) injured.^[72]

At Against All Odds, Styles returned and attacked Booker T after his defense of the TNA Legends Championship.^[73] After doing so, he stole Booker T's Legends belt, then went on a rampage of weekly consecutive backstage sneak attacks on Booker T, which ended once Booker (with Scott Steiner) goaded him into trying the same in the ring in order to get him (kayfabe) arrested. At Destination X 2009, Styles defeated Booker T to become the new TNA Legends Champion and the first TNA Grand Slam Champion.^[73] Styles defeated Booker T in an "I Quit" match for the TNA Legends Championship at Sacrifice when Jenna Morasca threw in the towel on Booker's behalf.^[74] At Slammiversary, Styles competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was unsuccessful after Samoa Joe turned his back on Styles, helping Kurt Angle win, and in the process, Joe turned heel.^[75] At the Victory Road pay-per-view, Styles lost the Legends Championship to Nash via pinfall.^[76] Following the loss, Styles began a "Best of Three Series" against Matt Morgan for entry into the Heavyweight Championship match with Sting and Kurt Angle at Hard Justice. He won the first match, but lost the following two, resulting in Morgan advancing to Hard Justice.^[77][78][79]

TNA World Heavyweight Champion (2009–2010)[link]

Styles as TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

On the August 20 episode of Impact! Styles came to the ring to announce his retirement because of his recent setbacks, but ended up being talked out of it by Sting, who said he had chosen Styles to carry the torch after him. Styles then went on to gain his place in the No Surrender main event in a tournament on the August 27 episode of Impact! defeating Chris Sabin and Doug Williams in singles matches. On September 20, 2009, at No Surrender, Styles won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a five-way match against Matt Morgan, Sting, Hernandez (who was cashing in his Feast or Fired briefcase), and defending champion Kurt Angle.^[80] One month later at Bound for Glory, Styles retained his title against Sting, ending his undefeated streak at Bound for Glory in the process.^[81] in a match that was later voted the match of the year by the fans of TNA.^[82] Styles was mysteriously attacked by an anonymous assailant backstage leading him to believe it was Samoa Joe or Daniels, both of whom he faced the following month at Turning Point to retain his World Heavyweight Title in what was heavily hyped as the rematch from the Unbreakable main event, four years earlier.^[83] On the December 10 episode of Impact!, Styles successfully defended the world title against Desmond Wolfe.^[84] Later that month at Final Resolution, Styles defeated Daniels to retain the World Heavyweight Title.^[85] On the January 4, 2010, live three hour Monday night episode of Impact!, by order of Eric Bischoff now running TNA with Hulk Hogan, Styles was forced to defend his title against Angle before Genesis; he defeated Angle in the main event, despite further interference from the unknown attacker.^[86] Styles' mystery attacker was revealed on the January 14, 2010 episode of Impact! as his former tag team partner Tomko. Later during that episode, Styles defeated Tomko in a match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, he was assaulted by Tomko; Angle came to his rescue and offered a handshake, but Styles looked to Ric Flair at the commentary table and instead just exited the ring, hinting at a possible heel turn.^[87] At Genesis, Styles turned heel and defeated Angle in a Last Chance match after hitting him with the title belt, while Ric Flair was distracting the referee.^[88] On the January 21, 2010 episode of Impact!, Flair announced that he had aligned himself with Styles and would make Styles "the New Nature Boy". On the same episode, Hulk Hogan announced that due to Ric Flair's interference in the Genesis match, Kurt Angle would get a rematch that same night, and if Flair were to interfere, Styles would be stripped of the title and awarded to Angle. During the match, Angle applied his signature move, the Ankle Lock, on Styles. Styles reversed it and applied the same move to Angle, when suddenly referee Earl Hebner, paid off by Flair, called for the bell although Angle did not submit, essentially repeating the Montreal Screwjob.^[89] At Against All Odds Styles retained his title against Samoa Joe, with help from Flair, in a match refereed by Eric Bischoff.^[90] On the March 8 Monday night episode of Impact! Styles teamed up with Ric Flair in a tag team match, where they faced Abyss and Hulk Hogan. During this time, Styles began wearing Flair's signature style of robe to the ring and reverted to his old short trunks ring gear. Abyss won the match for his team by pinning Styles.^[91] Afterwards, the returning Jeff Hardy saved Abyss and Hogan from a beatdown at the hands of Styles, Flair and Desmond Wolfe.^[91] The following week Styles was defeated by Hardy in a non-title match.^[92] At Destination X Styles defended his title against Abyss in a match that went to No Contest, after Abyss chokeslammed Styles through the ring.^[93] On March 29, 2010, Styles became the longest reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion in history by beating Sting's reign of 189 days as champion. The following month at Lockdown, Styles successfully defended his title against D'Angelo Dinero in a steel cage match.^[94] The following day on Impact! Styles dropped the World Heavyweight Championship to Rob Van Dam, ending his reign at 211 days.^[95]

Fortune (2010–2012)[link]

Fourtune hopefuls: (from left to right) Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, Styles, and James Storm.

On the May 3 episode of Impact! Styles defeated Abyss in a Monster's Ball match, and later in the night, attacked Rob Van Dam after his title match with Desmond Wolfe, and announced he was invoking his rematch clause for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Sacrifice.^[96] Styles invoked his rematch clause at Sacrifice, but was once again defeated by Van Dam.^[97] With Styles' recent shortcomings against Rob Van Dam, Flair adopted Kazarian as his newest protégé. Styles quickly grew jealous of Kazarian and in trying to impress his mentor, first ruined a beatdown of Flair's most recent enemy, Jay Lethal, and the following week was pinned by him in a three-way match also involving Kazarian, after which Flair ordered him to go home and think about his future.^[98][99] At Slammiversary VIII Styles attempted to win Flair back by defeating Lethal, but ended up on losing side again, this time in a singles match.^[100] On the following episode of Impact! Ric Flair, who had aligned himself with Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Kazarian, Robert Roode and James Storm, announced that he would reform the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune, stating that each of them would have to earn their spots in the group and that in order for Styles to earn his spot, he needed to become the Arn Anderson of the group.^[101][102] Flair, wanting peace between Styles and Kazarian, booked them in a tag team match against Samoa Joe and Rob Terry at Victory Road.^[103] The plan seemed to work as Styles and Kazarian were victorious due to outside interference from Desmond Wolfe and in the process earned themselves spots in Fourtune.^[104] On July 13 at the tapings of the July 22 episode of Impact! Styles defeated Terry to win the Global Championship, formerly known as the Legends Championship, for the second time, after some assistance from Kazarian.^[105][106] The following week Styles renamed the title the TNA Television Championship.^[107] That same night Fourtune's lineup was seemingly completed with the addition of Robert Roode and James Storm as the final two members of the group.^[107] However, on the August 12 episode of Impact! Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan were added to Fourtune, as the stable attacked EV 2.0, a stable consisting of former Extreme Championship Wrestling performers.^[108][109] The following month at No Surrender, Styles defeated EV 2.0 leader Tommy Dreamer in a non-title "I Quit" match.^[110] In the weeks leading to Bound for Glory, the stable's name was tweaked to Fortune to represent the expansion in the number of members in the group.^[111][112] At Bound for Glory Styles, Kazarian, Morgan, Roode and Storm were defeated in a Lethal Lockdown match by Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Sabu and Stevie Richards, when Styles was pinned by Dreamer.^[113] On the following episode of Impact! Fortune formed an alliance with Hulk Hogan's and Eric Bischoff's new stable, Immortal.^[114] At Turning Point Fortune defeated EV 2.0 in a ten man tag team match and, as a result, EV 2.0's Sabu was released from TNA.^[115] The following month at Final Resolution Styles lost the Television Championship to former stable mate Douglas Williams, who had turned on Fortune on the November 18 episode of Impact!.^[116] On the December 23 episode of Impact! Styles challenged Williams for the Television Championship in a 20 minute Iron Man match. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, setting up another match at Genesis, where Styles would put his spot in Fortune on the line against Williams' title.^[117] However, Styles was forced to pull out of the match, after suffering a legitimate hip injury, which was expected to sideline him for 6–8 weeks.^[118] Styles, who was replaced in the title match by Abyss, ended up interfering in the match and costing Williams the title.^[119] On January 31 at the tapings of the February 3 episode of Impact!, Fortune turned face by attacking Immortal, when they interfered in a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy.^[120][121] At the following day's tapings of the February 10 episode of Impact!, Styles made an in–ring return from his hip injury, teaming with Kurt Angle in a tag team match, where they defeated Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett.^[122] Ric Flair, who did not take part in Fortune's turn due to a torn rotator cuff, returned at the February 14 tapings of the February 17 episode of Impact!, turning on Fortune during a match between Styles and Matt Hardy and jumping to Immortal.^[123][124] On the March 10 episode of Impact!, Styles faced Flair and Hardy in a three–way street fight, which would turn out to become more of a two–on–one handicap match. Styles was pinned by his former mentor following a low blow from him and a Twist of Hate from Hardy.^[125] At Victory Road Styles defeated Hardy in a singles match, despite interference from Flair.^[126]

Styles facing Bully Ray at Slammiversary IX.

On the following episode of Impact!, Styles was sidelined with a storyline injury, after Flair helped Bully Ray powerbomb him off the entrance stage through a table.^[127][128] On the March 31 episode of Impact!, Christopher Daniels made his return to TNA by saving the three remaining members of Fortune from Immortal, vowing to avenge Styles.^[129] Styles made his return on April 17 at Lockdown, attacking Bully Ray and helping Daniels, Kazarian, Roode and Storm defeat Immortal representatives Abyss, Flair, Matt Hardy and Ray in a Lethal Lockdown match.^[130] On the May 5 episode of Impact!, Styles and Daniels defeated Bully Ray and Gunner via disqualification, when Tommy Dreamer turned heel and attacked Styles. It was later revealed that Immortal had forced Dreamer to join them in order to save his job.^[131] At Sacrifice, Ray cost Styles his No Disqualification match against Dreamer by hitting him with a chain.^[132] On the May 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Styles and Daniels defeated Ray and Dreamer in a No Disqualification Street Fight, with Styles pinning Dreamer to avenge his loss at Sacrifice.^[133] On June 12 at Slammiversary IX, Styles was defeated by Ray in a feud ending Last Man Standing match,^[134] after which Ray put over Styles' resilience.^[135] On July 10 at Destination X, TNA's first ever all X Division pay-per-view, Styles defeated fellow Fortune member Christopher Daniels in the main event of the evening.^[136] After weeks of asking for a rematch, Styles finally granted Daniels one on the September 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, where Daniels managed to pick up the win. After the match, Daniels refused to shake hands with Styles.^[137] On the September 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Daniels refused to return the favor and give Styles a rematch, which eventually led to a brawl between the two. When the two were finally separated from each other by Kazarian, Daniels kicked Styles in the groin, completing his heel turn.^[138] Two weeks later it was announced that, at Daniels' request, he and Styles would face each other at Bound for Glory in an "I Quit" match.^[139] On October 16 at Bound for Glory, Styles defeated Daniels in the "I Quit" match, but was after the match attacked by him.^[140] On the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Styles defeated Daniels in a singles match, after Rob Van Dam prevented Daniels from using a screwdriver. At the end of the evening, Styles confronted new TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode, who had turned on Fortune and won the title from James Storm the previous week, and challenged him to a match for the title.^[141] On November 13 at Turning Point, Styles failed in his attempt to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Roode.^[142] The following month at Final Resolution, Styles and Roode wrestled to a 3–3 draw in a 30 minute Iron Man match.^[143] Styles and Roode wrestled a sudden death overtime period on the following episode of Impact Wrestling, where Roode managed to retain his title.^[144]

During the following episodes of Impact Wrestling, Styles and Kazarian, the last two members of Fortune, made it to the finals of the Wild Card Tournament.^[145][146] During the final match against Magnus and Samoa Joe on the January 5, 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling, Kazarian abandoned Styles and aligned himself with Christopher Daniels, effectively ending Fortune.^[147]

Singles competition (2012)[link]

On the February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, Kazarian, now seemingly a reluctant associate of Daniels, helped him defeat Styles in a singles match.^[148] Three days later at Against All Odds, Styles was defeated by Kazarian in a singles match.^[149] On the February 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Styles was attacked by Kazarian during his Television Championship match with Robbie E, which allowed Robbie to retain the championship.^[150] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Kazarian defeated Styles in a gauntlet match; had Styles been successful, Kazarian would have to explain his alliance with Daniels.^[151] On the March 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, the returning Mr. Anderson aligned himself with Styles to help him in his rivalry with Daniels and Kazarian.^[152] On March 18 at Victory Road, Styles and Anderson defeated Daniels and Kazarian in a tag team match, with Styles pinning Kazarian for the win.^[153] The rivalry continued on April 15 at Lockdown, where the two duos were on opposing teams in the annual Lethal Lockdown match. Styles' and Anderson's team, led by Garett Bischoff, ended up defeating Daniels' and Kazarian's team, led by Eric Bischoff.^[154] On the May 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Kazarian revealed that he originally aligned himself with Daniels to keep him from revealing Styles' secret, but changed his mind after learning what the secret was. Daniels then revealed the secret, a series of photographs insinuating a relationship between Styles and TNA president Dixie Carter.^[155] Three days later at Sacrifice, Daniels and Kazarian, the new TNA World Tag Team Champions, cost Styles his match against Kurt Angle. However, after the match, Angle turned on Daniels and Kazarian, saving Styles from a beatdown.^[156] On the May 24 episode of Impact Wrestling, Hulk Hogan chose A.J. Styles as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode. Styles would go on to fail in his challenge against Roode, who, in the process, also broke his record for the longest reign as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.^[157] The following week, Styles defeated Daniels in the main event of a live episode of Impact Wrestling. After the match, Daniels and Kazarian attacked both Styles and Angle, who attempted to make the save, before rolling an audio of a phone conversation to prove an affair between Styles and Carter. The tape was abruptly cut short by Carter ending the show.^[158]

Other media[link]

Styles helped develop the first TNA wrestling video game known as TNA Impact! and was helping develop Pro Wrestling X with Wrestling Gamers United.^[159]

In 2004, TNA released Phenomenal: The Best of A.J. Styles, a DVD covering Styles' best matches. In 2007, TNA released a follow-up DVD, Phenomenal: The Best of A.J. Styles Volume 2. In addition, Ring of Honor has released two DVDs covering his early career with the company. Evolution of a Phenom: The Best of AJ Styles covers from his debut to mid-2003. The Phenomenon Continues: The Best of AJ Styles Vol. 2 picks up where the last one left off, covering from mid-2003 to his match with CM Punk at the ROH Second Anniversary Show in 2004 (his second to last match before leaving ROH in 2004). He also sat down for a shoot interview alongside Christopher Daniels for ROH's "Straight Shootin’" series.

He was also featured on MTV's Made trying to help a young high schooler become a professional wrestler alongside Taylor Wilde and The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky).