AJ Styles is Re-Living Sting '97, and It's Great

[multiverseman.com]

and AJ is going to draw fans? if TNA felt that way AJ would have been more than a mid carder the last 3 years. the only time he had that heavyweight title match with Bobby Roode was because James Storm at the time had a legit concussion and couldn't' wrestle.
outside of TNA, AJ Styles isn't very popular. at least Kurt Angle is a well established name, who can still bring it in the ring I might add.

so basically, book for yesterday instead of tomorrow. Kurt Angle is kinda still popular right? might as well put the title on him. forget trying to get our guys over or try anything new.

if Bully as heel is the champion, then likely a face will have to beat him. if not Angle, the next best option is Jeff Hardy. but I think Angle winning does more since Hardy was the one to lose to Bully.

yep ex-WWE guys, two guys who have had the title before, more of the same. Kurt Angle has been smacked around plenty by Aces & Eights. Now he's suddenly becomes the guy to take out Bully? I'd rather it be Hardy, although that doesn't do much either. Hell, build up Magnus. Although according to the "they're not popular already so why try" school of thought, that would be silly

 

[New Hot Fed]

Some have mentioned AJ Styles' overall new look can get the casual fans not take him seriously. But this is the sort of things TNA should have done a long time ago to distinguish themselves from the WWE. Remember in the 80s when the NWA was facing off against the WWF? They were a very different product and other than the Flair shinny robes, most of the NWA wrestlers seemed to have an unfinished look to them. They were just guys going to the ring and wrestle, regardless of looks. The whole package made for a grittier, more realistic feel. I would love for wrestling promotions to go above look and presentation and just be better at doing storylines. Where some casual fans might be turned off by AJ Styles' "unfinished" look, some other fans might find this character very compelling cause of his transformation he's going through every week. Every week AJ is more and more intriguing and you don't know what he's going to do next. This is how you write weekly dramas and keep the fans watching.

 

[SpecialFNK]

yep ex-WWE guys, two guys who have had the title before, more of the same. Kurt Angle has been smacked around plenty by Aces & Eights. Now he's suddenly becomes the guy to take out Bully? I'd rather it be Hardy, although that doesn't do much either. Hell, build up Magnus. Although according to the "they're not popular already so why try" school of thought, that would be silly

I hate this. ex WWE guys. so what?!
Triple H, Steve Austin, Undertaker.. all ex WCW guys before they went to WWE, but did that effect them? CM Punk is an ex TNA guy, does that get thrown out there? I don't watch WWE so I can't comment on CM Punk, but I've seen people talk about how he is great. so why does no one (or not many) make a big deal that CM Punk is an ex TNA guy?

TNA should definitely build/promote some of the lesser known guys. Magnus, Storm, ect. but you also have to factor in ratings. these established names like Angle and Hardy can help bring in the casual viewer that don't watch on a regular basis. now the quality of programming also helps, and right now TNA's biggest problem isn't the Aces and Eights, it's that story lines take too damn long to develop. which is why waiting another 4 months for this AJ Styles story line is just too long. maybe if TNA had waited longer to start this darker AJ Styles story line it would been better. this could have started after Slammiversary. then you could have had AJ not in a PPV match until BFG which is the next TNA PPV in October.

 

[I'm A Vince Russo Guy]

It's working but it isn't working quite as well as I'd hoped. It isn't AJ's fault, he's playing his character very well, but Bully Ray is no Hollywood Hogan and Aces & 8s isn't the nWo. They're building AJ up perfectly, he just doesn't have the foil that Sting did in 97.

Maybe Bully doesn't have the star power Hollywood Hogan had back then, but who in TNA does? Bully is doing an amazing job right now, I can't believe anyone would criticise his work.

 

[I'm A Vince Russo Guy]

Some have mentioned AJ Styles' overall new look can get the casual fans not take him seriously. But this is the sort of things TNA should have done a long time ago to distinguish themselves from the WWE. Remember in the 80s when the NWA was facing off against the WWF? They were a very different product and other than the Flair shinny robes, most of the NWA wrestlers seemed to have an unfinished look to them. They were just guys going to the ring and wrestle, regardless of looks. The whole package made for a grittier, more realistic feel. I would love for wrestling promotions to go above look and presentation and just be better at doing storylines. Where some casual fans might be turned off by AJ Styles' "unfinished" look, some other fans might find this character very compelling cause of his transformation he's going through every week. Every week AJ is more and more intriguing and you don't know what he's going to do next. This is how you write weekly dramas and keep the fans watching.

I think most casual fans prefer this kind of character to the cheesy 1995 cartoonish crap WWE is giving us at the moment, such as Fandango. Of course you still have a couple of those guys in TNA... Robbie E, Joey Ryan for example - but those guys have much more personality than Fandango, because they get mic time and appear in backstage skits, while all Fandango does is say "It's Faaan-Daaan-Goooo".

Really though, every wrestler's character in TNA is being so well written right now. The intertwining storylines appeals to adults much more. It's criminal that some people still write TNA off, despite how vastly improved the overall product is

 

[mlp420]

I just don't get, and won't ever get these people who obsess over who's an "original" and who is an "ex wwe" guy. What in the world is going on inside their heads?

As far as AJ goes, this angle is clearly working for him, and I think that the payoff in the long run will be strongly positive. But people need to understand that he'll never be a household name until the TNA brand itself grows. I've said this before and I'll say this again, WWE could take all the TNA originals and book them EXACTLY the same as TNA has over the years and they'd be big names in WWE. People who keep psychoanalyzing every single booking decision because they're frustrated that AJ Styles or Bobby Roode aren't as popular as John Cena or Sheamus need to find something else to watch.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I just don't get, and won't ever get these people who obsess over who's an "original" and who is an "ex wwe" guy. What in the world is going on inside their heads?

As far as AJ goes, this angle is clearly working for him, and I think that the payoff in the long run will be strongly positive. But people need to understand that he'll never be a household name until the TNA brand itself grows. I've said this before and I'll say this again, WWE could take all the TNA originals and book them EXACTLY the same as TNA has over the years and they'd be big names in WWE. People who keep psychoanalyzing every single booking decision because they're frustrated that AJ Styles or Bobby Roode aren't as popular as John Cena or Sheamus need to find something else to watch.

I find it a bit funny that AJ has tried a lot of gimmicks (baby Flair AJ, prince AJ, fake baby AJ, I like being around Hogan AJ, Hardy doesn't bother me at all AJ, I'm okay with doing nothing AJ, my new tattoo totally looks cool AJ), and the one that works for him is the one which requires him not acting at all.

He's really good at not doing facial expressions. I remember watching closely the first few weeks. He literally never blinked. Is Heyman booking for TNA or something? Playing by their strengths and shit?

Still, he tattooed his own name on his ribs in huge, black letters. That took way more balls than screwing over Aces and Eights. How come Taz never mentions this in his weird commentaries?