It still amazes that AJ Styles wrestled on the final televised shows for World Championship Wrestling.
Throughout “the Phenomenal One’s” incredible twenty-plus year career, he became a cornerstone of Total Nonstop Action, legendary with the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and an icon in the WWE.
However, it all starts somewhere.
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In 2000, WCW hired NWA Wildside as their own developmental territory. Similar to how WWF worked together with Ohio Valley Wrestling, WCW sent some of their talent from the Power Plant to perform on their events around Georgia and gain experience in front of live crowds.
Once Eric Bischoff and Fusient Media Ventures began their process of purchasing WCW in January 2001, the promotion began its rebuild of its Cruiserweight division. In turn, the promotion began looking towards Wildside to help along the process.
WCW management went to Wildside and scouted two of their hottest prospects. At the time, AJ Styles and Air Paris were embroiled in a heated rivalry over the NWA Wildside Television Championship, which was getting rave reviews locally and on the internet. WCW took notice.
On the February 14, 2001 edition of Thunder, AJ Styles and Air Paris made their WCW debut as a tag team, wrestling valiantly in a losing effort to Evan Karagias and Jamie Noble. One of the major highlights of the match was Styles doing a “phenomenal” springboard Shooting Star Press to the floor, surprisingly landing on his partner instead of Karagias and Noble.
That one move made instant buzz with WCW fans. It also inspired the company to bring them back.
The next week on February 21, Thunder put Styles and Paris in another opportunity to make an impact. Their opponents would be WCW veterans Disco Inferno and Alex Wright, the Boogie Knights.
This time, they wouldn’t miss.
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Alex Wright had recently returned to WCW in October 2000 after some time away from the promotion. Beginning in 1994, the eighteen-year old “Das Wunderkind” quickly broke out as a can’t-miss prospect. By 1997, Wright was a former Cruiserweight and Television Champion. After finding himself lost in the shuffle by the Summer of 1999, Wright created the character BERLYN and attempted to reinvent himself as a vile, dark villain. Sadly, his muscle, the Wall, turned on him in short fashion and Wright found himself on the outside looking in again.
Meanwhile, Disco Inferno was a popular figure for the company since the beginning of the Nitro era in 1995. By the Summer of 2000, Disco was also a former Cruiserweight and Television Champion twice-over. Earning his respect the hard way from the WCW fans, he was entertaining in any role given to him, from learning how to put on his own submission hold, to being the gopher of the nWo Wolfpac, and even being the sidekick of both the Mamalukes and the Filthy Animals.
Initially, Wright and Disco were rivals in the company, feuding over who had the better dance moves. In fact, Disco beat “Das Wunderkind” for the Television Championship on September 22, 1997 in a stunning upset. However, the pair made peace, and, for six months in 1998, formed a tag team called The Dancing Fools. Sadly, they were primarily unsuccessful, getting beaten by the likes of Kevin Nash & Lex Luger, Public Enemy, Jim Neidhart & the British Bulldog, and, on the house show loops, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero.
On October 2, 2000, on Nitro, Disco, now ex-communicated from the Animals, surprised everyone by bringing back Wright, now bald, as his partner once again, this time known as The Boogie Knights. For the next few months, the duo could not steady themselves to success, in spite of Wright actually winning the World Tag Team Championships on November 16 at Millennium Final in Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany without Disco, due to a serious back injury suffered days before this impending match.
Finally, after frustrations with one another, the duo tried one last time to unify and pick up a win on the 2/21/01 Thunder against the young rookies Paris and Styles.
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This match was a prime example of youth and inexperience facing two veterans desperate for success. All throughout, DI and Wright controlled the pace. Whenever Paris or Styles attempted to gain any offense, they were cut off at the pass. For example, when Styles whipped Alex Wright into the buckle, he was drilled with a belly-to-belly in the corner as he ran in.
When the Knights were focused, they were on point. Once their dancing began to take over, Styles and Paris chipped away.
AJ, the proverbial house of fire once tagged in, displayed his innovation, landing on his feet after a headscissors attempt and catching Disco with an O’Connor Roll. Then, AJ rocked Disco’s pompadour's cranium with a running tornado DDT!
After sending both Knights to the floor, Styles looked for his springboard Shooting Star Press. AJ slipped and couldn’t rotate. Instead, he laid them both out with a front dropkick!
Good save for a possible dangerous situation.
Once DI and Paris entered the ring, Inferno caught him with a reverse DDT into a backbreaker. Disco started dancing again towards the crowd, forgetting who the real legal man was. As he turned around, Styles flew through the air and nailed a Steamboat-esque Cross Body.
Three slaps on the mat later, and Styles & Paris picked up a huge upset win!
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This match was very significant for a multitude of reasons.
For starters, it was the last ever tag team match for Disco and Alex Wright. After this match, both men went their separate ways. Coincidentally, both men’s final WCW matches in singles competition were losses to young upstart Jason Jett.
As for AJ Styles and Air Paris, this win lended them some serious credibility. They were entered into the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship tournament, where they fell to eventual champions “PrimeTime” Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo. Then, on the final episode of Thunder on March 21, the duo wrestled a hard-fought match in defeat against the Yung Dragons. That match was also the lone appearance of the “Top Gun” flight suits, which looked badass.
Needless to say, I always find it impressive that AJ Styles had his one win in WCW during its final days. There is a select few that can say they have picked up victories in WCW, TNA, ROH, New Japan, and WWE. AJ is one of the rare that can. I truly forget how long “the Phenomenal” has been wrestling.
And yet, he’s still as sharp as ever. He just doesn’t age.
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