Hard Justice 2005: Styles Wins the World Title and the Card Finds Balance

Shark Boy pinned David Young after the Dead Sea Drop in the six-minute preshow qualifier for Hard Justice's later Gauntlet for the Gold. The winner was entitled to enter that 20-man contender match, rather than receiving an immediate NWA World Heavyweight Championship contest. Young had a chance to stop Shark Boy before the pay-per-view broadcast, but the decisive cover moved Shark Boy into the main card's crowded elimination field. The result was a direct singles pin, not a qualifying battle-royal elimination or a championship victory. Its practical value lay in giving the undercard wrestler a second appearance that mattered to the night's advertised heavyweight-title path.

Petey Williams pinned Sonny Siaki to give Team Canada, with Eric Young, a tag victory over Siaki and Apolo after A-1 attacked Siaki while Coach D'Amore distracted the referee. A-1 entered the exchange from outside and used a suplex, leaving the unconscious Williams positioned over Siaki for the legal count. The shortcut explained how the Canadian pair secured the decision without claiming that A-1 was an authorized third partner. Williams was the credited covering wrestler and Siaki took the loss; Apolo remained on the losing team without being pinned. The eight-minute contest followed a ten-bell salute to Chris Candido and did not defend the NWA tag title.

Michael Shane pinned Chris Sabin after the chaotic end of a mixed tag match that paired Shane with Trinity against Sabin and Traci. The men and women had overlapping rivalries, and their alliances were strained by the closing exchanges; Traci struck Sabin low, exposing her supposed teammate before Shane secured the pin. The result went to Shane and Trinity, not Sabin and Traci, and Traci's betrayal was a central story development rather than proof of an official disqualification. Shane covered Sabin specifically, so neither of the women was pinned to settle the advertised match. The teams' breakdown supplied more memorable material than a conventional tag finish would have done.

Raven pinned Sean Waltman after backdropping him through a section of cyclone fencing in the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. Waltman had attacked Raven with a trash can, kendo stick and staple gun as the bloody fight moved around weapons fastened to the ring and ringside. Raven had earlier handcuffed Waltman to a post, but Dusty Rhodes intervened to free him, allowing the brawl to resume rather than ending it by submission. Waltman even drove Raven through a table for a near fall before the final reversal into the collapsing fence. The decisive result was Raven's cover of Waltman, not a standard no-disqualification countout or a title match. The unusual setup accounted for the encounter's identity and punishment.

Monty Brown pinned Diamond Dallas Page after the Pounce to give Brown and The Outlaw a non-title tag victory over Page and Ron Killings. The opposition pairing had changed: B.G. James was originally promoted as Page's partner but could not attend, and Killings replaced him for this card. Brown's late spear-like Pounce and cover on Page decided the match, while interference associated with Phi Delta Slam complicated the closing action. The winning team had no tag championship at stake, and neither Killings nor The Outlaw was the wrestler who completed the pin. The shifting alliances and ringside action gave the result more specificity than a generic tag win.

Chase Stevens pinned James Storm while using the ropes for leverage to keep the NWA World Tag Team Championship with the Naturals alongside Andy Douglas. America's Most Wanted's Storm and Chris Harris came close to reclaiming the belts during the fourteen-minute contest, but the champions resorted to an illegal advantage at the decisive cover. Both teams were established rivals, allowing the stipulation to be straightforward: the winners were defending titleholders, not newly crowned champions or first-time contenders. The finishing shortcut is crucial to the retrospective assessment because it explains how a highly competitive tag match ended without a decisive clean superiority.

Christopher Daniels pinned Shocker after countering a top-rope suplex attempt into Angel's Wings, retaining the TNA X Division Championship. Shocker challenged as a veteran with an aerial and lucha style, forcing Daniels to defend against offense from several positions rather than working an ordinary showcase. The closing counter came when Shocker moved toward the top rope for a bigger finishing opportunity, allowing the champion to land his signature move and follow with the cover. The result was a successful single-fall title defense, not a tournament win or disqualification. Daniels then declared himself central to TNA's X Division, a postmatch statement separate from the recorded decision.

Abyss earned the next NWA World Heavyweight Championship opportunity by defeating Ron Killings after a Black Hole Slam in the last stage of the 20-man Gauntlet for the Gold. The contest began as a staggered-entry over-the-top-rope elimination match, but the final two wrestlers moved into an ordinary pin-or-submission finish. Killings struck Abyss with a chair and nearly finished him when a referee was down; Abyss responded with his power offense and landed the Black Hole Slam for the deciding fall. Earlier eliminations, including a series involving Shark Boy, Lance Hoyt and Team Canada, narrowed the field without deciding the championship itself. Abyss gained a title shot, not Jarrett's belt that night.

AJ Styles pinned Jeff Jarrett after a Spiral Tap to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, ending Jarrett's lengthy reign with Tito Ortiz serving as special guest referee. Jarrett attacked Styles' leg and used a prolonged figure-four, while each wrestler later tried the other's signature finisher. Monty Brown entered during the closing exchanges and accidentally struck Jarrett with a Pounce; Ortiz prevented another referee from making the count. Jarrett then shoved Ortiz during an argument, prompting the guest official to knock him down. Styles climbed for the Spiral Tap and made the legal cover. The championship changed hands through that pin, with Ortiz's intervention part of the controversy rather than a separate match result.