Why Corey Hollis vs. AJ Styles Is a Big Deal to Me

From Scott Hensley: This upcoming Saturday night in Canton, GA NXT/ROH star Corey Hollis is scheduled to have what is seemingly ...

From Scott Hensley:

This upcoming Saturday night in Canton, GA NXT/ROH star Corey Hollis is scheduled to have what is seemingly the biggest singles match of his career against the now WWE star The "Phenomenal" AJ Styles in Styles' last scheduled independent date that I'm aware of for Georgia Premier Wrestling (run by Darryl Morris and Greg "Woody" Hullender).

This is a big deal to me.

Of course it isn't every day that a current WWE superstar works a local independent event but to really explain why this is such a big deal to me, we have to go back over 13 years to October 9, 2002.

I liked professional wrestling growing up and attended some local shows in Middle Tennessee and some WCW shows, including a couple of Starcade events but I didn't fall in love with professional wrestling until my dad and I went to NWA TNA in Nashville, TN on October 9, 2002 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. We went because my dad saw that Chris Rock would be filming a scene for his upcoming movie Head of State at a wrestling promotion that featured Jeff Jarrett and BG James(Road Dogg from WWF). At that event, I got to see other stars I was familiar with like Curt Hennig, X-Pac(billed as Syxx-Pac at the time), and the man we now know as R-Truth(billed as just Ron Killings), but what changed the way that I felt about professional wrestling was a group of guys who did stuff I'd never seen and absolutely went all out with everything they did: The X Division.

The X Division for me was just unbelievable. I'd watched WWF, WCW, a little ECW, and local stuff but I never saw guys in person that could do the type of stuff they did. Guys like Low Ki, the SAT, Jerry Lynn, and Kid Kash impressed me, as it was my first time seeing them. This day was also the first time I ever saw AJ Styles. I waited after the show for autographs, hoping to meet him but never saw him. This would happen multiple times until finally I hung out inside after the show and did get to meet him. He signed an index card for me that I still have and jokingly warned me not to marry a short woman, as his wife stood within earshot.

When I moved to Chattanooga and as I've become more active in the Southeastern wrestling scene, I've become good friends with more and more people who have worked alongside Styles, mentored him, traveled with him, and even the man who gave him the moniker "Phenomenal"(Dan Wilson). Over the years, I've seen him live many times, met him several times - and even empathized with him and the way he interacts with other wrestlers as "Uncle Allen" on the Talkin' Shop podcast. I even ran into him at a high school baseball game in Georgia one time. Small world. February 5th will be different though.

His opponent is Corey Hollis, a name that more and more people are becoming familiar with, as he frequents Ring of Honor and NXT. My history with Corey goes back to July of 2009 when I had first started as a ring announcer for Ultimate NWA in Scottsboro, AL and he was in the first few months of his professional wrestling career that has now taken him all over the United States. He wasn't ever the biggest guy on any of the shows we've worked together but he almost always had the biggest heart and most drive to succeed. I was fortunate enough to work with him again in Nashville with NWA Main Event and in Chattanooga with NWA Chattanooga, and even recently my Scenic City Invitational event in Rossville, GA(in which he was the runner up). Sometimes you just know that there's something special about someone and that was always the feeling with Corey. Many times people said, "He could be the NEXT AJ Styles." and veteran wrestler after veteran wrestler has praised him and encouraged him. I've seen his wrestling abilities and personality continuously evolve and improve from the very beginning - and it's been fun to see.

This Friday night it's not just a current WWE star and "Best Wrestler in the World" vs a talented NXT/ROH Wrestler for me - it's the man who made me fall in love with professional wrestling vs a young man that I respect and call one of my wrestling brothers.

I'll be there on commentary for the event and I hope to see you there as well. I recommend getting your tickets in advance, as I believe only 450 tickets will be sold - and I'm pretty sure it will sell out.

Check out DSCW or Georgia Premier Wrestling on Facebook for more information on location and tickets.