Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles Champion vs. Champion
Survivor Series 11/19
The renewed Brand Extension brought a slough of positives and negatives to the table that more than anything felt like they canceled each other out. So many ideas taking advantage of the split were executed, but perhaps didn't feel as special as they should have. One such venture is the transformation of Survivor Series into a RAW vs Smackdown ordeal. The idea makes sense in practice, and while the Champion vs. Champion concept doesn't always hit the mark, they struck gold when pitting Universal Champion Brock Lesnar against WWE Champion AJ Styles. The irony is that we were on course for what could have been a surprising, yet no more than average affair with Jinder Mahal taking AJ's place. But at the last second, AJ snatched the title away and made his bid for glory, claiming to be the one that will finally conquer The Beast. And whether or not you believed him before the match, he certainly made a convincing case for it at Survivor Series.
It didn't start out convincing, though. Seconds into the match, Lesnar unleashes a full brunt assault that clearly takes Styles by surprise. No matter how much he must have prepared for Brock Lesnar, there is nothing like weathering that storm in reality. And while AJ seems to squeak in a shot here and there, the first few minutes consist of Lesnar absolutely dismantling him. Brock brutalizes AJ more than anyone before, perhaps even more viciously than he did with John Cena. And AJ certainly bumps harder than anyone in recent times has, making the simplest of tosses look devastating. And with his ability to sell Lesnar's attacks like gunshot wounds, AJ looks to be decisively outmatched. That said, Styles also looks incredibly strong absorbing all of the punishment and eventually coming close to actually pinning The Beast. Unlike Lesnar's destruction of Cena, AJ actually manages to mount a sufficient comeback.
For a while, it seems Styles can't break through, to the point Lesnar goads him and intentionally leaves himself open for attacks that he easily dispels. But this seems to light a fire in AJ, as he gets back up quickly and starts landing some shots to the face that actually push Brock into the corner. And this is the window AJ was looking for, because from this point on, each hit has more effect. Each stretch of offense gets longer than the last. Lesnar now has to make an opening to stop AJ's momentum, something that comes in the form of a Tornado DDT counter that was probably a botch(but looked kind of better because of it). And while it gave Lesnar reprieve, he had already been beaten down enough to fall victim to another onslaught of that trademark AJ Styles momentum. And that is one of this match's greatest strengths. It captures the truest essence of AJ's in-ring persona: his ridiculous adaptability. It often feels like AJ is coming up with things on the fly, making the best of each scenario to maxmize his openeing. Whether this is striking when the time is right or utilizing the ring environment to his advantage. While AJ is versatile and tends to wrestle more like a heavyweight, in this complete underdog situation, he fights more like a cruiserweight, relying more on his aerial abilities and speed.
Lesnar's will is relentless, though, and throughout all the work AJ put in to whittle away at Lesnar's lifeforce, he remains powerful as ever. AJ has to stay on top, because whenever he loses grip on control, he comes dreadfully close to eating an F5. And ultimately, despite throwing everything but the Styles Clash at Lesnar, including an attempt at a second Phenomenal Forearm, it's not enough to carry him to victory. That specific attempt proved to be a lapse in judgment, as Lesnar catches AJ on his shoulders, crippling the Phenomenal One with an F5 fueled by more malice and frustration than anything since his battle with Goldberg.
AJ lost, but Lesnar came out looking live he survived a car wreck. He favored his leg from the Calf-Crusher, his entire body was red from trying to keep up with the WWE Champion, and he got rocked harder than he would ever expect someone of that size to do to him. The rough transitions and unpolished execution of everything helped make this feel like more of a combat, boosting both Lesnar's credibility in match presentation as well as AJ's for the way that Brock put it over. The Beast reigns supreme again, but he knows another battle with AJ might not return the same results.
Points: 213 Highest Rank: #1(Ringo, Tainted Eclipse) 11 lists total
The 4 botches in the match really took me out of it. It was still good, but had it been cleaner, it could have been amazing. This is what happens when Brock wrestles nothing but Hoss matches.