Rock Region, New York Subregion, Second Round: (8) AJ Styles vs. (9) Vader

Did Vader rip Ric Flair in half at Starrcade in 1993? Sure, it's three years after what you believe were Vader's best years, but it's still well within the era of Big Van Vader's reign of terror over WCW.

That match was yet another example of how easy it is to beat Vader if he's gassed. It didn't end with a big finishing move per se, it ended with a dead-on-his-feet Vader being rolled up and pinned. Flair didn't need to use power moves, he just needed to last long enough and out-finesse Vader the entire time. There's also the fact that Harley Race accidentally hit a head-butt off the top rope onto Vader, but that's just another move that AJ Styles could easily pull off.

Flair proved that all AJ would have to do is stomach some stiff beatings, and then move out of the way at just the right time to turn the tide of the match. Even after taking a tough offensive move from Vader, Flair only had to crawl into position to roll him up and win the world title.

AJ is more than capable of enduring Vader's worst, and history has proven that Big Van Vader could barely carry his own weight if a match lasted longer than 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, AJ Styles is only getting started.

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