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What's the story?
Professional wrestling's history is a treasure trove of footage and sometimes a match surfaces that really piques our interest. It's outstanding when you see older footage of Superstars you know today so you can see how far they've come as entertainers.
But it's even better when you get a rare glimpse of a Superstar way before you ever knew them and they were still incredible entertainers. When AJ Styles and Kevin Owens met in 2005, Owens was using his real last name "Steen," but the two still tore the house down. Some things never change.
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In case you didn't know...
Before wrestling in WWE, Kevin Owens and AJ Styles travelled for the world wrestling wherever they could. But every time they stepped in the ring these two impressed from the earliest stages of their career.
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Although the two seemingly had different paths to WWE, they did lock horns in 2005 on Kevin Owens' 21st birthday no less.
The heart of the matter
This match between Owens and Styles was epic and got plenty of time. It's almost like they knew how special of a moment this would turn out to be.
There were plenty of high spots including a Styles Clash off the ring apron you just have to see. These guys are so much younger now, but some things only get better with age and that obviously includes Owens and Styles.
Thanks to IWS announcer Brian The Guppie, we can all view this extremely rare match in its entirety. So please sit back and enjoy the first-ever encounter between "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen and AJ Styles.
What's next?
Kevin Owens and AJ Styles are still on the top of their game. But as you can see by this spectacular match, they were pretty darn impressive back then too.
As time progresses maybe we'll see more chances for these two to lock horns.
Author's take
It seems like Kevin Owens is destined to battle guys like Sami Zayn and AJ Styles. No matter where he goes he still brings his all. AJ Styles might have won this first match between the two. But it was still an amazing match and it's a fantastic snapshot in time that we can enjoy in retrospect which makes it even cooler.
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