So TNA fans are up in arms about AJ Styles possibly leaving the company (http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=79794) but the strategy behind it makes sense. If they know that the guys in the current spots aren't going to draw more $$$, doesn't it make sense to build for the future by signing 4 or 5 younger wrestlers for the price of one salary? Isn't this exactly what everyone has been saying is the problem with TNA in the first place?
Ernest
Yeah, really AJ might as well sow his wild oats while he's still got value. He'd be a perfect fit for NJPW right now or as the big fish in the ROH pond. Probably not WWE. But yeah, TNA has pretty much told all the stories with him that they can and it's best for both if he moves on.
Reading Terry Funk's interview combined with this lets me know that wrestling misses the territory system. Or at least a talent exchange.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes me wonder if WWE would be better served to try to recreate that globally. Set up permanent arms of the company in Mexico, Japan, and Europe, and maybe add a developmental region in NY/NJ. Give the bigger stars and the younger guys a place to cool out or build themselves up.
ReplyDeleteHe's been a lost soul ever since Miss Lynch left.
ReplyDeleteWhile Styles definitely doesn't have the mic-skills of Punk or Bryan, there's no reason that he couldn't be a great addition to WWE's roster. I mean, it's friggin' A.J. STYLES, dude's one of the best in-ring competitors ever, he could easily be tearing up the ring with just about anyone on a weekly basis.
ReplyDeleteAnd if they DID want to make him a main-eventer (even if just for a short time), they could always team with Heyman... Styles as a "Paul Heyman Guy", being deemed "The REAL Best in the World" by Heyman, having 5* matches with Punk and Bryan? Money.
Hell, he could help just about EVERYONE on the roster: Want to help a guy like Barrett or Sandow get to the next level? Let them work with Styles. Want to help the Wyatts look better in the ring? Let them work with Styles. Want to give Sheamus or Orton a new name to work with? Styles.
I really can't think of a down-side. What, he won't be treated as the centerpiece? I'm sure the extra zeroes in his paycheck will make him feel better.
Is it likely to happen? No, Styles has turned them down numerous times. But who knows, maybe he'll decide to put up with the heavier travel schedule if it's only for a year or two, especially since he's older, is probably looking to retire (or semi-retire), and TNA is no longer treating him like they always have.
Wasn't that a rumor at one point? I believe Shane McMahon was involved?
ReplyDeleteThe Dark AJ character would make a GREAT Heyman guy.
ReplyDeleteThey probably don't want AJ on a live mic. The last thing they need is AJ calling someone a faggot on live tv.
ReplyDeleteIs the Punk/AJ real life dislike still exist? I could have sworn they had some bad blood in ROH. I'm asking because that could get in the way of some possible good matches with Punk.
ReplyDeleteHas AJ been caught using that language before? I honestly didn't know.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be ridiculously cool.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the same.
ReplyDeleteI've also heard Bryan put AJ in a real armbar when Styles wasn't selling enough for Bryan's taste.
Tours of Japan, with ROH in between them is probably the best fit for him.
ReplyDeleteIf WWE would agree to not making him go through development and put him in an upper mid-card slot from the get go, it'd be an option. Maybe with Punk and Bryan on top atm, it is a possibility.
Sting to me is the other piece of the puzzle. Sting has always been a big AJ fan, and it seems they are good friends, if Sting wants to help his friend out he could finally give in and sign for a year with WWE on the agreement that they will bring AJ in and put him in the upper mid-card immediately. WWE would do anything to bring in Sting.
That's pretty much the only scenario in which I could see AJ in WWE, but I don't think it happens. I think AJ takes the pay cut at the end of the day and stays put.
ReplyDeleteI...I ... Can't tell if you're making fun me. I know that sounds really paranoid... But are you serious about the Bryan thing?
ReplyDeleteEither that or he just retires. He's... what, 40? And he's always talking about wanting to spend more time with his kids, if he has any way to make decent money outside of wrestling I wouldn't be surprised to see him hang it up. I doubt WWE has any interest (and from what I've read the feeling there is mutual), he's not going to Japan because of his family, and ROH probably just can't pay him enough, if anything just because they do at most 4 shows a month. Actually, TNA doesn't do too many more, so maybe ROH is a possibility. But I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he has. And a face, no less...
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a Botchamania clip with Kevin Steen and his opponent going off on a guy who chanted boring during their match and getting the crowd to chant that at him. Not exactly one of his finer moments.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Styles could take over the Sin Cara character? Or, since Sin Cara has been defined down as a jobber anyway, they throw him under a mask as someone else? I agree with SK— there's just no fit between him and WWE.
ReplyDeleteAt this point he would command a certain salary and status that WWE would see no reason to give him. I mean, crazy as it sounds considering he's been a top star for the #2 promotion for a decade, but Styles has pretty much zero name recognition for the majority of the WWE audience. Plus he'd have to change his name anyway.
I guess he could come in as a "good hand" to put on awesome TV matches with people, sort of like a no-name version of Christian or Kofi. But I can't imagine the money would make sense.
Punk said that AJ was jealous of him, and I forget what AJ said. It's from the RoH/TNA split ten years back far as I can gather.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I'm not sure if the Bryan thing is true, I did hear it and I remember the source being somewhat trustworthy.
TNA has the hammer when it comes to AJ. TNA is restructuring right now. All the guys who make too much money (Sting, Hogan, Bischoff included) will be gone in a few months. TNA is scaling down their operations in a lot of ways; it's not like the ratings will go any lower.
ReplyDeleteAJ has never been a proven draw for them. If he takes less money and stays then sure they can roll with him for a little while longer. If he wants to walk that's fine too, they'll just build behind newer guys who'll work for cheap.
What WWE does or doesn't do with him (for the record I think they wouldn't do anything with him but who knows) is irrelevant to TNA. They have to make the right decision for themselves and not overpaying AJ is the right decision.
But this is where McMahon fucked up when he bought ECW and WCW. He should have financially backed them from behind the scenes and made it look like he had competition. But NO, he wanted to brag and put his stamp on it.
ReplyDeleteThe wrestling business is stagnant without real competition between companies.
In ROH he would typically go after hecklers by calling them faggot and when he was live on TV in TNA he said it and his apology was pretty weaksauce: "To me 'faggot' is a word you just say when your when
ReplyDeletegoofing off. Unfortunately it is not the right thing to say, I wouldn't
say it in church so I shouldn't say it anywhere else. It just slipped
out. It surprises them that I said faggot in Nashville, of all places,
but when I said bastard, which really bothered me the week before, it
didn't bother them at all. The week before that show, they wanted me to
say SOB, I compromised and said bastard."
They need guys to fill the new performance center.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but Steen is generally pro gay rights and what not. He's just one of those guys that knows heat is heat, you take what you can get.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I seem to recall that the whole Khali thing was to kickstart an Indian wrestling federation and he was going to be the centerpiece in an Andre the Giant role.
ReplyDeleteI might be way off base there.
His best case scenario in wwe might be as a trainer or being a veteran nxt jobber like regal
ReplyDeletePunk and Bryan both had to spend time in developmental. Plus hhh just said everyone is going to go through it. I wouldn't begrudge aj for giving it a shot but he's probably better off working the indys
ReplyDeletehe's 36
ReplyDeleteI think an exception could be made for someone who has had as much national tv time as AJ. Do you think WWE would make Sting go through developmental? I highly doubt it.
ReplyDeleteExactly— someone like Regal has 1000x the name value to WWE audiences that STyles would have, and even Regal hasn't been used on TV in years. Not saying that's the right thing to do, but it's what WWE does.
ReplyDeleteStyles has no value to WWE. Sure he could have great matches, but beating him means nothing (to WWE fans) and the dude has almost no potential to break out as a big deal.
Now as for Samoa Joe... I still think his look is unique enough that he could get over in WWE as a crazy heel. But Styles, yeah, he should just stay in TNA for life as their HBK-type icon.
I think that A.J. Styles has some value; just not as an upper-card player. I can't really fathom them giving him a serious look in the midcard either when there's a glut of talent there already going to waste. I DO however think that he could become a very integral part of a tag team, where his workrate could be paired off with a guy who can carry things on the microphone, or with another 'pretty boy' for that elusive Hardyz dynamic that they've yearned to recapture.
ReplyDeleteMy money would be on teaming him up with Evan Bourne; Bourne is already a high risk investment as is, so you wouldn't lose a lot from Styles if that self-destructed. But the dynamic could pay off dividends in a stale tag division.
You didn't just compare AJ Styles to STING, did you???
ReplyDeleteJust that they both have been the face of their respective companies.
ReplyDeleteRight...the difference being that the company of which Sting was the face actually drew PPV buys and posed a legitimate threat to WWF/E. TNA, on the other hand, has never demonstrated the ability to do either of those things. Saying we can compare AJ Styles to Sting means we can also compare Justin Credible to Steve Austin, then?
ReplyDeleteJust saying AJ doesn't need to be sent to developmental, and if he is it will be a very short stint. Would be to their benefit to use him as a surprise and keep his contract underwraps than to send him through developmental.
ReplyDeleteThat's about right.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't need to, but they would send him there. It's "policy". Sting? Doesn't need to, and they wouldn't. Straight to TV for "the Icon"...
ReplyDeleteBit of a resemblance there, also, right?
ReplyDeleteYeah I seem to remember reading that was Shane's idea of a big project before he left.
ReplyDelete