Report: Styles Lowballed By WWE; Re-Signs Long-Term with TNA?

[It's Damn Real!]

This from TNAInsider via The Wrestling Observer and PWI:

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that AJ Styles did get the opportunity to jump to WWE but for a very low price. WWE reportedly did make an offer a few weeks ago, but for about 20% of what he currently makes in TNA.

Meanwhile PWInsider is reporting that there is speculation that he and TNA have quietly signed a new long-term deal. Styles had initially signed an extension through December.

Last but not least, there is deep speculation that all of the TNA/AJ Styles contract rumors was just a work in order to spur interest in the recent storyline between TNA, Dixie Carter and AJ Styles.

--

My money is on the latter, personally. I get the sense it's all been a work, even if he did in fact get an offer from WWE, though I'm not even sold on that being the whole truth.

That said, I'm really not a fan of this kind of story telling and I hope TNA eases up on it going forward, because let's be honest — what percentage of fans do you think even follow wrestling to this depth, let alone care to be at it's every beck and call when "news" is shared through sites in untrustworthy piecemeal like this? I'd imagine it's quite low, and when you factor in that some fans who actually do follow it to this extent don't really like to, I think you've got all you need to work with. I mean, this is the money-making business, right? Are you really gonna make money off this? I doubt it.

Regardless, I'm hoping this is true. It'll be great to see AJ stick around with the company he helped build from the ground up.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

First of all, I have no idea why WWE has such little interest in Styles. He's Daniel Bryan... but better. Yes, I think he's better than DB. Better in the ring, looks like more of a man than a goat and is no worse on the mic.

I hope TNA signs him and actually uses him. He is clearly the guy who should be the face of that company. Hopefully someone over there gets that.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I was actually going to make this thread but then I saw yours so thanks for being ahead of me on that. I'm going to agree with Big Nick Dudley here AJ Styles is honestly phenomenal and it baffles me that they don't want him. All they'd have to do is build him up as a huge deal let him use his Get ready to fly song or at least remake it if they can't use it and just let him be him and they have a star. I think if he's better than DB in the ring it's by only a moderate margin but still that makes him better than pretty much all of the roster. And he's one of those guys who doesn't have to talk but can still be charismatic IMO but yeah he's definitely no worse than both of the guys they just had main-event there past 3 or so PPV's.

I do think he'll remain in TNA which is sad because I do want him to try WWE at least once but not on a long term deal so if they treat him like shit he could go back. But he needs to remain in TNA and again like Big Nick said they need to use him like he's the face of the company like a lot of fans viewed him for years anyway.

 

[fenderjapan]

I don't buy WWE trying to sign Styles. In 2000? Sure. But its 2013. He's 36. They tried to sign him back in the day, he didn't want to go to development. He sure as hell wouldn't want to go to development now.

I just don't see what would be in it for WWE to try to sign him. Not that hes not a good worker... he is... but he's turrible on the mic.

Plus, if WWE wanted to rename him (and they usually do for copyright purposes, so they can own that) they would have to explain the giant "AJ" tattoo on his body.

Just not seeing it.

 

[Schuyler]

He's the face of TNA, and makes a lot of money, he's fine with where he is a small fish in small pound. If he had the spark and the drive to be on the biggest stage in wrestling he would of jumped ship already. But just like Joe, they like the light work load and easy money.

Lets face it, they don't got the spark anymore, they like the easy money, and don't want to risk it, even if they could go back to TNA in a heartbeat, if they failed in the WWE. But you can't blame them for not risking it, but I'm still going to be a little bitter, not seeing Joe or AJ in the WWE.

 

[dman1373]

I don't buy WWE trying to sign Styles. In 2000? Sure. But its 2013. He's 36. They tried to sign him back in the day, he didn't want to go to development. He sure as hell wouldn't want to go to development now.

I just don't see what would be in it for WWE to try to sign him. Not that hes not a good worker... he is... but he's turrible on the mic.

Plus, if WWE wanted to rename him (and they usually do for copyright purposes, so they can own that) they would have to explain the giant "AJ" tattoo on his body.

Just not seeing it.

yeah that aj tattoo would be the deal breaker as they already have an aj on the roster that is more over. Hell shes more over then he will ever be. Hes a good worker without the charisma to really get that over. Hell hes butchered every storyline he has been in for the past 3 years. He was put with ric flair and it failed for crying out loud.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE already have an A.J. And she is infinately better than TNA's.

I like Styles, but for all his talent and I can't say I care about seeing him in WWE against Bryan, Punk or anybody else. In fact, I think I'd still prefer to see Joe against those guys than I would Styles. And Joe is awful.

It's all irrelevant though, this report is bullshit. Although it would amuse me if he signed for WWE whilst still TNA champion and WWE put him in developmental.

 

[Rayne]

I'm not buying this story at all, but let's play along. Why would the WWE pay AJ Styles more than what TNA's been paying him in the past to not look at the WWE?

If you're thinking about this from the "but AJ Styles is such a good performer" point of view, you've got it all backwards. The WWE, like any other film or television show, needs certain actors to fill certain roles. You don't need two Daniel Bryans, they already have one. Where does AJ fit into the WWE?

Short answer: he doesn't. He's nearing the tail-end of his career, and 36 is getting on the side where it starts getting hard to introduce you to an largely new audience. Why would the WWE pay AJ Styles more than TNA would give him, when they can just train five guys for a role in developmental and pick out the one they like the best- at a much lower rate? To lure away the few TNA fans that don't already watch WWE, and haven't committed to never watching it again?

AJ Styles' abilities don't matter in this equation at all. It's what the WWE has need for, and they don't need AJ.

 

[The Eighties]

I'm a fan of AJ but I think the ship has sailed and WWE have a guy like Sami Zayn in development that they can make into their own AJ Styles. and who is only 29.

TNA maybe planted this storyline to make WWE look cheap, or WWE might have planted it to be spiteful, but most likely is that someone was bored yesterday and needed to write something for a newz site and this was the result.

Just a guess but I think AJ has probably already signed a new TNA deal and TNA are trying to build up some doubt among casual watchers by keeping AJ off TV for a while and having him wrestle in other promotions.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I read about this sometime yesterday. It might be a little easier to believe if all these various reports over the past few weeks about Billy Corgan being well into the negotiation process of buying TNA, the Carters selling TNA and Hulk Hogan having a "verbal agreement" with WWE about returning were all revealed to be pure bullshit.

Inside the ring, AJ Styles is a top tier talent but I believe that the time in which WWE was interested in him has passed. He's 36 years old and that's probably a deal breaker in & of itself because it goes against the reported idea for WWE to train & develop a lot of young guys for the long haul. I'd be very surprised if WWE hadn't made Styles some serious offers to Styles in the past, some reports from way back have said they have, but Styles has always remained with TNA. As I've said about Styles staying in TNA, if the man's happy where he is then more power to him. Especially if he's able to make a good living doing what he loves to do.

I have no idea what Styles makes in TNA, but the notion of WWE offering him only 20%of what he's said to be currently making just sounds unrealistic. That's the part that ultimately made me think this report was crap in the first place. While I don't know what Styles makes in TNA, I'm willing to bet that it's not anywhere near what the likes of Kurt Angle & Sting pull in, which is rumored to be in the high six figures and possibly at the $1,000,000 mark.

It's possible that this is all just part of TNA doing this to keep buzz going about Styles "departure" from TNA, which I think is pretty likely. At the same time, IF this did turn out to be legit and WWE did make Styles a lowball offer, then I think it'd be clarification to reports that WWE is no longer seriously interested in him.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Remember that time we were in that slowly developing third world country and that small boy lured us with sexual gestures insinuating there were sexy women who would have sex with us for just a little bit of pocket change and when we went behind with the boy we got jumped, ass fucked, and robbed of all our clothes and money?

Well at least that left us with a nice little life anecdote to share at Thanksgiving dinner. Sure we were lied to and treated like an asshole but at least we learned something. It can not be said we learned something when we click on dirt sheet links.

Another BS report. I'm not going to even explain why, Rayne did it well. The only question is whether the story is made up or planted to get one of the two organizations value. It's hard to tell since on one hand it makes WWE look petty for wasting anyone's time with a shit offer or it makes AJ Styles look like a worthless talent.

Maybe it's both.

Dirt sheets are professional wrestling to an exponential extent. Tons of hype, an occassional payoff, but mostly just complete crap.

 

[Mustang Sally]

First of all, I have no idea why WWE has such little interest in Styles.

Is it possible there is an agreement between TNA and WWE? The thought of that seems ridiculous, yet I also couldn't fathom the two companies working together to allow Ric Flair to appear at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, but they did.

No, I'm not claiming the two companies have been secretly in cahoots all these years, but in this case, if WWE had no interest in A.J. Styles, why did they make him an offer at all? Could it have been a pre-agreed upon stipulation to convince Styles that his only viable option was TNA? If so, what does WWE get for it?

Of course, agreement or not, if WWE really wanted Styles.....and the sticking point in his contract negotiations was money......the McMahons could have swept him away from TNA in a heartbeat. But why offer him 1/5 of what he could earn in TNA if they knew that offer wouldn't get the job done? Why bother?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Just sayin' if I was Vince I wouldn't offer AJ a premium salary to join the company. He's 36-years-old, majority of fans wouldn't know who he is if they debuted him under his current name, if they repackaged him as The Masked Avenger or King Alex The Great or even simply Alan Jones or whatever his actual name is, would anybody really care for a guy who'd have maybe five years at best and whose history as more or less been instantly erased?

Stick with TNA, he started there he might as well end there. When the rumors of Styles' contract and all that crept up I made the original thread and said if I were him and was offered a big deal by WWE, I'd take it for the money and to say, "I worked in the big one," but outside of that he has nowhere to go. I'd love to see him return to ROH but the whole "we only use the money we make" thing would mean Sinclair have to spend, which they aren't in the business of doing.

 

[TheChristmasCreature]

I would tend to believe that TNA made this up before I were to believe that WWE actually made an offer to Styles. I watch WWE mostly and do try to watch TNA but tend to flip much more when watching TNA... I'm just not as invested and am not pulled by the story lines.

As for AJ Styles, he's good in the ring but has no charisma... he does not draw you in. It was painful to sit through his promo with Dixie a few weeks ago when he refused her offer and left with the belt. There was no energy and it's him. He does not deliver there... almost void of emotion most of the time.

To me, if WWE were to offer any TNA employees contracts, it would be: Sting, Angle, Hardy, Roode, Hernandez, Storm, Brisco, Magnus, & Terry... not Styles. The first three for obvious reasons; Roode and Storm cause I find them to be charismatic and entertaining; Hernandez and Terry for size alone; Magnus cause he's british and could be a draw overseas; and Brisco is young and I think may have some potential.

 

[mooseman]

For everyone saying that TNA secretly revealed that WWE low balled an offer thats crazy and stupid. If it was TNA that let it out they would say WWE offered him more money but AJ took less money to stay with them. If anything this is WWE revealing this and saying TNA's #1 isn't worth much of anything to us.

 

[willross]

AJ's size and look already put him at a disadvantage. Not too many people in the WWE audience will know or care who he is and he hasnt got Bray Wyatt charisma to just get thrust into a spotlight.

It would take time to get him over and by then is it even worth it? You have a whole developmental system, why bring in a 36 yr old for double the price it is taking to get a similar 25 yr old?

They already have Curtis Axel, Tyson Kidd, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and many more who already fill the kind of role an AJ Styles would play.

The WWE has workhorses. They need STARS!! Larger than life guys. Big E types. Cena types.

Wrestling is a circus. You can't have just fire breaters. You need elephants, fire breathers, acrobats, etc etc etc.

If AJ had jumped 5 years ago it would have been a different story.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

A lot of guys have stepped up in speaking about how crappy WWE's developmental contracts are. They probably offered AJ one.

He should have taken it. Sure, it would have been a paycut, but I doubt it was that much less than what he is making in TNA. Plus, once he made it to the main roster, he'd be making the same as Cesaro, Swagger, Kofi and all those other guys who are making about 6 figures.

 

[Vance Ryan]

Guys just think for a second. Aj has been in tna how long now? So I'm pretty sure aj is getting paid, but just like all wwe talent he's gonna have a development deal too. So I'm not gonna pay a guy a great amount to be in my development program that's probably the case.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Of course they low-balled him. AJ is AJ in TNA. AJ outside of TNA is an average or slightly above average performer. So what if he's TNA's number one guy? WWE is much larger than TNA, nullifying their importance. No importance for TNA, no importance for a TNA guy. End of story.

This is not a rib on AJ, he's a fantastic performer and anyone who compares him to Daniel Bryan is a joke in my eyes since Bryan doesn't have an ounce of AJ's athleticism and excitement in the ring.

But it's not stupid by the WWE either. Why would they pay extra for a 36 year old wrestler coming from a company that is not even on WWE's radar? If TNA were real competition, you bet WWE would shed big bucks for him. Now? Hell no.

I'm just glad he gets to stay in TNA and be AJ Styles, instead of going to the WWE as "The Exciting One" Alexander JoNson, wearing a singlet or something to cover up his big ass tattoo.

WWE would butcher him anyway. They won't call him "The Phenomenal One" since it's too close to "The Phenom", they won't call him AJ since they have a chick AJ, it's very likely "Styles" won't be his name either so "Styles Clash" is out of the equation. It's a damn nightmare when you think about it.

 

[shalliin]

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that AJ Styles did get the opportunity to jump to WWE but for a very low price. WWE reportedly did make an offer a few weeks ago, but for about 20% of what he currently makes in TNA.

Meanwhile PWInsider is reporting that there is speculation that he and TNA have quietly signed a new long-term deal. Styles had initially signed an extension through December.

Last but not least, there is deep speculation that all of the TNA/AJ Styles contract rumors was just a work in order to spur interest in the recent storyline between TNA, Dixie Carter and AJ Styles.

I believe this post in full. Except for one small item. I think they missed a word in their research. I think if, and that's a big IF, WWE made an offer, there was likely a 20% compared to his TNA salary. But what they missed was that it wasn't 20% OF his TNA earnings, but most likely 20% LESS THEN his TNA earnings.

Of course that all depends on if there was an offer in the first place, which isn't likely since AJ was going no where and this is TNA using real world to advance a crappy story line.

 

[shalliin]

Of course they low-balled him. AJ is AJ in TNA. AJ outside of TNA is an average or slightly above average performer. So what if he's TNA's number one guy? WWE is much larger than TNA, nullifying their importance. No importance for TNA, no importance for a TNA guy. End of story.

This is not a rib on AJ, he's a fantastic performer and anyone who compares him to Daniel Bryan is a joke in my eyes since Bryan doesn't have an ounce of AJ's athleticism and excitement in the ring.

But it's not stupid by the WWE either. Why would they pay extra for a 36 year old wrestler coming from a company that is not even on WWE's radar? If TNA were real competition, you bet WWE would shed big bucks for him. Now? Hell no.

I'm just glad he gets to stay in TNA and be AJ Styles, instead of going to the WWE as "The Exciting One" Alexander JoNson, wearing a singlet or something to cover up his big ass tattoo.

WWE would butcher him anyway. They won't call him "The Phenomenal One" since it's too close to "The Phenom", they won't call him AJ since they have a chick AJ, it's very likely "Styles" won't be his name either so "Styles Clash" is out of the equation. It's a damn nightmare when you think about it.

Also, can't have a 'superstar' or new top talent using a move that you had earlier pawned off as a diva's move. Michelle McCool used the Faithbreaker, which was her version of the Styles/Landing clash. Aside from the rare submission move a la sharpshooter, they rarely allow male performers to use a move that was best known in their company as being used by a female performer.

As for the name, could keep aj even with lee around. Most of the 2 name wrestlers are usually called by last name anyway. CM Punk is never called CM, usually just punk or both. So keeping AJ Styles isn't an issue. might have issues with Phenomenol One, since he might not own rights to it, and it was a blatant rip off of Taker's being known as The Phenom.

 

[Rvdrvd]

The WWE doesn't want "Wrestlers" they want "Sports Entertainers". Honestly if you care about your craft as a wrestler the only reason to go to the WWE is for the pay check. They won't further your wrestling career and they will tarnish your legacy as they see fit. There are no wrestling promotions on national T.V. in the U.S., both WWE and TNA are a joke. That being said I'd rather watch TNA because they at least have wrestling matches occasionally.

 

[bioshock]

AJ has the in ring talent to be a WWE champion, but in WWE he would be a small guy. That hasn't stopped them from pushing small guys like Bryan now, but also he lacks the talent on the mic to be a major star.

Also if TNA is having such money problems how are they paying AJ 20% more with a long term contact? That part doesn't make sense.

 

[New Hot Fed]

AJ has the in ring talent to be a WWE champion, but in WWE he would be a small guy. That hasn't stopped them from pushing small guys like Bryan now, but also he lacks the talent on the mic to be a major star.

Also if TNA is having such money problems how are they paying AJ 20% more with a long term contact? That part doesn't make sense.

It's not like Bryan is The Rock on the mic either. He talks in a very monotone manner.

Actually looking at both Daniel and Styles, Styles has more of the obvious sport entertainment vibe to him. Cause he can easily put on a show just with his acrobatics. WWE like larger than life characters and that is why Ray Mysterio succeeded there even though he was small and could not talk.