#7 NWA action
Once upon a time, AJ was one of the most well-traveled independent wrestlers in the business. NWA President Bruce Tharpe made it a point to book Styles as often as possible, in as many of the NWA affiliates he could.
One of the current hot-spots for quality NWA wrestling happens to be nestled high in the Great Smoky Mountains, at NWA Smoky Mountain in Kingsport, Tennessee.
AJ Styles made his way to Kingsport for a big match against up and coming indie darling, Chase Owens, as shown in this photo. This was an incredible back-and-forth bout, but in the end, one Styles Clash sealed the deal, giving then IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles the victory. This match took place on May 9, 2015, at NWA Collision Course.
On a related note, Chase Owens would eventually join the infamous Bullet Club, shortly after AJ left for the WWE.
