How AJ Styles Invented The Styles Clash, Explained
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The Styles Clash is one of the best finishers in WWE today. AJ Styles executes this move with perfection and receives a loud pop from fans every time he uses it. What makes the Styles Clash such an awesome move is that it's pretty unique and looks very devastating for the wrestler taking it. It's also a move associated with Styles since he's been using it since starting his wrestling career. But despite being one of the most popular finishers in WWE, most fans don't know the story behind Styles Clash and how it came to be.
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AJ Styles Accidentally Created The Styles Clash
On an episode of India Asks WWE, host Ganelyn Mendoza asked AJ Styles a fan question about the Styles Clash and how he came up with the finisher. Styles gave an interesting answer. He revealed that one day his brother was trying to powerbomb his friend on a trampoline, but he botched it, and his friend ended up "dangling upside down." What seemingly happened is AJ's brother didn't let go of his friend's legs (as you do while powerbombing someone) and kept holding on to them. As this happened, Styles came up with an idea. He went to his brother and he became the first-ever wrestler to take the Styles Clash.
“Well, my little brother was trying to powerbomb his buddy on the trampoline. He’s dangling upside down. They’re talking to each other, and I go, 'oh', and I walked over there and my little brother took the first-ever styles splash on a trampoline.”
Styles created this finisher at a young age. According to SmackdownHotel, he's been using the Styles Clash as his finisher since 1998. The Styles Clash has helped AJ win some of the biggest matches of his career such as the one against Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2014 for the IWPG World Heavyweight Championship, or the WWE Championship match against Dean Ambrose at Backlash 2016.
Michelle McCool Also Used The Styles Clash In WWE
Another wrestler who used The Styles Clash as a finisher in WWE was Michelle McCool. Previously she used Wings of Love as her finishing move, but WWE asked her to change her finisher and she started using Faith Breaker, which was identical to The Styles Clash (aside from a few subtle differences).
The Styles Clash is just another variant of the belly-to-back inverted mat slam. Other notable wrestlers to use this move were Crash Holly and Diamond Dallas Page.
The Styles Clash Was Briefly Banned By Vince McMahon
Multiple wrestlers have gotten injured while taking the Styles Clash. Yoshi Tatsu, for instance, almost got paralyzed due to this move, although it was Tatsu's fault for tucking his chin, which resulted in two broken bones in his cervical vertebrae.
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When Styles first arrived at WWE, Vince McMahon banned the Styles Clash after hearing that Tatsu broke his neck while taking it, so AJ started using the Calf Crusher and Phenomenal Forearm as his finishers instead. The move was later unbanned, thanks to Chris Jericho. He wanted the Styles Clash to be used in WWE and took the move in one of his matches against AJ. Since Vince didn't know much about the Styles Clash (only its name), Jericho went to his boss and convinced him to unban this move without explicitly naming it.
"I basically…started using it (taking it) during matches just so Vince could see it. I figured if he saw it and didn’t want me to do it then he would know…and people were so mad at me because I was kicking out of the move, like 'Jericho’s burying A.J…' It’s like, shut up you idiots, I have a plan here… Eventually I went to Vince and said, 'Did you see that move that AJ did?' Never using the words the Styles Clash because I knew…that name is taboo. Oh, the Styles Clash ,you can’t do it. So, I said you know that move where he picks me up and dumps me on my face?…He should use that as a finish! 'Yes, absolutely use it as a finish.' So, I was able to kind of indirectly able to get the move unbanned by just doing it, and not asking for permission, and never using the name Styles Clash when I talked to Vince about it."
While no one has gotten seriously injured due to the Styles Clash in WWE, it's still a dangerous move and even one misstep can easily break someone's neck. This almost happened with James Ellsworth in 2016. In one of their matches on SmackDown, he made the mistake of tucking his chin. Fortunately, Styles saw that and saved him from getting a neck injury.
