AJ Styles should have had Hardy's Position?

[michael.foulds]

Every time I see Hardy's heel turn I always wonder; shouldn't this be AJ Styles.

This is why I think this, he is TNAs biggest homegrown star, loved, shouldn't of been in fortune when he was set for the biggest push of his career (which is now gone) and in TNA he was probably more like the "Hulk Hogan" being the fans favourite and more of a rolemodel than Hardy ever will be.

So what do you think?

 

[PsychoBlack]

Aj has been in this position many times before. Sometimes it's just the next guy's turn. If it were AJ there you would hear people saying that it should be Hardy and doesn't everyone hate heel AJ anyway, but, because Someone else is in the Top spot of the company it should just be AJ. Give it time and dont be so critical and you might end up liking what you see

 

[King_of_Swing1520]

i think aj will be in this spot. eventually some group has to come and have a real chance at beating immortal. and right now that group would be fourtune. flair and hogan will have some kind of power struggle and flair will turn is fourtune boys (with out morgan and soon with out williams) face and aj will be the ME guy, beer money the tagteam and kaz as the midcarder. now aj could have been in hardy's place but then where would hardy be? just another guy trying to stop immortal on his own, much like pope, joe, and morgan.

 

[wwetv21]

AJ styles she be the one who saves tna from immortal. he should turn baby face (maybe betrayal, dosent like the rules.ect) he could become on top again. kinda like how the rock saved wwe from alliance.

 

[LegendKiller716]

I think this will eventually turn into Fortune vs Immortal and AJ will win the title from Hardy. I hear what your saying, but Hardy was a better fit for the role, and he is playing it quite well. Although seeing him in a match or two would be great.

 

[Vintage]

AJ was chosen to get the rub from Flair when he needed something to help get him over as a heel. If Fortune was all about TNA originals, which means AJ is needed there as the main eventer of the group, then it only makes sense for someone not home grown to buy into Immortal. In the end, TNA pride will be running wild brutha and the golden child of TNA is the only one who can defeat the Anti-Christ of professional wrestling. Makes sense to me, but I personally would have liked Pope to have ended up being the chosen one.. I felt that he was the one person eliminated from the final 4 for a reason.. I guess I have to wait and see how that works itself out

 

[RoseFire81]

I am a HUGE AJ fan and I can not stand Jeff Hardy . I actualy loved it when WWE let Orton beat him while looking like he didn't break a sweat. That being said... It simply would not have had the impact if it were AJ. AJ had been heel several times before, and had usualy still been cheered[except when he was prince aj]. The whole point of turning Hardy was to recreate the Hogan turn.
Hogan had spent his entire career as a face , same as Hardy . They had never turned their backs on the fans till those moments.
THAT was the impact of the moment - that counldt of happened with AJ.

 

[Slyfox696]

I'm as big of an AJ Styles fan as any, but c'mon. Everytime someone in TNA does something, it comes back as "shouldn't it be *insert "homegrown" talent here*". What's wrong with Hardy being where he is? He's a bigger name than Styles, and is more synonymous as a face than Styles, which is why the heel turn would be a bigger shock. AJ Styles was the focus of TNA for 3 or 4 of the last 5 years. Nothing wrong with him taking a back seat for a change, and that's coming from someone who lists him as arguably his favorite active wrestler.

 

[wushady]

I think Hardy is better only for the reason of it being a shock and great swerve when he turned heel. However Styles would be a better choice in the long run. He makes a better heel than Hardy, and he is a homegrown TNA talent. I'm just not getting into Hardy as major heel yet, but it is still early in the angle. Hopefully he gets better at it, but I still think Styles would be a better choice.

 

[MWRedskins]

i disagree. AJ Styles is already heel, i think they should continue with Hardy as a heel for about 6 months as champ, then (sometime when AJ loses his TV title to a CREDIBLE guy) have AJ and maybe Fortane turn face and have AJ battle Hardy in what would be a great match in all likelyhood.

 

[Adalam]

I remember long ago posting in a thread stating that Flair could possibly turn on Fortune and make it Oldies vs the TNA Originals, ending Bischoffs reboot of WCW after however long. Now I get that the idea is stupid, but this could easily push the younger guys to the limelight, with Brian Kendrick being jumped by EV2.0 as they join Immortal with Morgan, Joe, Pope, Fortune, and Anderson coming to help out. Now granted, it would mean that they would have to balance... wait, EV2.0 is old guys, Immortal is led by two old guys, the team I have set up as TNA's future works great. Now yeah, Kendrick ain't a Main Event guy, and Anderson might work out as one with how good he is at getting over, but he's not a World title holder just yet. The other guys are there, though Pope, Morgan, and Kazarian aren't there yet either. They of course, would need to get over. Anyways, I feel that AJ and Fortune might just get backstabbed by their mentor, so no, AJ didn't need Hardy's slot.

 

[shattered dreams]

I'm as big of an AJ Styles fan as any, but c'mon. Everytime someone in TNA does something, it comes back as "shouldn't it be *insert "homegrown" talent here*". What's wrong with Hardy being where he is? He's a bigger name than Styles, and is more synonymous as a face than Styles, which is why the heel turn would be a bigger shock. AJ Styles was the focus of TNA for 3 or 4 of the last 5 years. Nothing wrong with him taking a back seat for a change, and that's coming from someone who lists him as arguably his favorite active wrestler.

This is how I feel. I am as big an AJ fan as anyone but they have been pushing AJ for years to mixed results. Let them try something else for once. AJ is phenomenal but he is not as big of a name as some of these guys and there is no reason for TNA to keep all their eggs in one basket right now. Let him hone some of his less developed skills and maybe build a midcard for TNA in the process. There is more to TNA now than babyface AJ does amazing things in the ring and IMO they are better off for it. A more developed main event scene only helps AJ. Think how much better his title reign would have been with a solid group of main eventers to defend against.

 

[A Mod's Best Friend (aka Bitch)]

I disagree. I too am a massive fan of AJ but he just wouldnt be able to carry this whole storyline with Immortal. Im really enjoying AJ in Fourtune and its only a matter of time before he is knocking off Jeff Hardy for the World Title.

 

[ABMorales787]

AJ wouldn't be able to pull of the dark-sided mastermind character Jeff is playing. AJ is build to be a standard role wrestler. Meaning he will be a basic face or a basic heel. You can't go into details into him, because that would ruin him. Jeff Hardy on the other hand, always had an edge to him because he was unpredictable. Not to mention his character was always on the cryptic and symbolic side. I never would've thought Jeff could pull a heel character, but he did. He's an artist, so he knows how to express himself in the manner that was necessary to present the character of The Immortal's psychotic leader. AJ is a wrestler. His best heel role would be his current. Cocky and boastful about how great he is.

 

[Jeritron5000]

I thought the reason I was told to enjoy the revelation of "They" and to not criticize this completely anti-climactic event was because Hardy turning heel was a "shock." That being said, I personally wouldn't have minded if AJ had been a face this entire time and ended up being the one to turn at BFG...and I mean into a badass heel...not a Nature Boy wannabee suit wearing establishment heel. Either way, whether you like or hate it, in the end i believe Hardy was the right choice.

 

[mrbooker]

No AJ Styles should not have had that spot because

1. It was stated before hardy was always a loved face

2. Aj styles does not draw and has minimal promo skills, he woud be a terrible fit for TNA style and presentation of Immortal with Impact promos, and reaction promo/interviews.

3. Aj compared to Jeff hardy. If wrestling legacy is represented by a coffee table the size aj's legacy is the coaster on the table, while jeff hardy is the lamp. Jeff touched on it on TNA Reaction the withTLC matches, the ladder matches, the moments engraved in peoples memo ry over the past ten years from Jeff Hardy will never go away. Also consider his opponents and feuds from tag team, through the mid card, to the mainevent.

Jeff Hardy has beaten HHH, HBK, and the Undertaker all cleanly and had a monster fan base, that made those matches even more exciting because HHH,HBK, and Taker all had huge fan bases to. Aj styles important wins in his career is Kurt Angle.

4. Simply put Hardy is better suited he has a bigger legacy he has been around longer to garner more fans, he gets fans attentions to come see the matches, im not just going to shit on AJ he is great in the ring, but no one is going to care enough about the match to go see it and see Aj perform well in the ring.

Jeff Hardy has not had a match since bound for glory and has carried the TNA title, and the Immortal storyline no way in hell Aj Styles could do that without a match, as great as Aj is in the ring Jeff Hardy isnt some slouch he can go in the ring and I think TNA knows that which is why they are taking a quality Hardy over a quantity Hardy by have him wrestler PPV's and little/ zero matches on impact.

Honestly the best thing for Aj is to have EV2 win he gets fired, Immortal/Fortune cant use their power to bring him back so he comes back with dixie carter to stand up to Immortal/Fortune who sold him a false bill of goods about their power.

As much as TNA die hards will get pissed we are just seeing where AJ Styles is in his career compared to other stars of other organization like a Jeff Hardy, say what you want about the court stuff as far as on air tv guys like Jeff Hardy are better and far more diverse in getting the attention of the audience the fact that Ken Anderson and the Pope will most likely see the WHC before AJ is point enough. I been saying it for awhile TNA needs to drop the whole this is the house Aj styles built persona because it makes him look like a loser that he is a leader of a group who is being run by another group. They need to drop it and rebuild the entire AJ styles character all over again so fans of new can be happy

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't AJ Styles given a similar push? Remember back in January he was the face of the company and also the TNA World Champion? He turned heel by screwing a legend in Kurt Angle and siding with Ric Flair. It was supposed to get a huge reaction from the crowd because the biggest babyface in TNA had turned. But it did not work out that way. That could be due to the fact that the audience did not accept AJ as a heel or it could be due to his lack of charisma that renders him incapable of playing a great heel. So the point is that AJ had been given Hardy's position but it just did not work out.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I can see both sides of the argument and both have merit I think.

On one hand, it's true that AJ Styles will probably always be seen as THE guy in TNA as far as the "home grown talent" goes. After all, Styles' run with the TNA Championship ended rather unspectacularly when TNA basically pushed him aside for RVD. RVD's title run was pretty lackluster overall and Styles has been relegated to the mid-card scene with a championship that's not worth carrying to the ring. Like a lot of people, I'm kind of saddened to see how watered down Styles has become since turning heel and since losing the title. As a fan, I'd like to see him in Hardy's spot. While it's still early generally speaking, I can't exactly say I've been blown away by Jeff Hardy thus far. He's been off television except for a few 20-30 second promos that has some convinced that he's this fantastic heel all of a sudden. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Hardy's gal just had a baby and it's of course the right thing that he spend time with his new baby. But, TNA should've considered that before putting the belt on him as they new she was gonna pop any day. The champ and "top heel" of the company has been virtually MIA on top of the fact that the title was vacant for 2 months and there's no heat or build up for his first title defense at the ppv tomorrow.

On the other hand, Jeff Hardy is simply a much bigger star than AJ Styles. Styles has had lots of time in TNA as "the face", generally speaking, of TNA and maybe it's time for someone else to step up. Jeff Hardy going heel was something of a shock and a lot of people are waiting for a proper follow up to Hardy's appearance on iMPACT! after Bound For Glory. It hasn't happened, aside from a few taped mini promos, so it'll be interesting to see what he's ultimately capable of doing in the long run.

Overall, I'm leaning more towards Hardy being in the spot right now. I like AJ Styles, but we've seen him in this position before and we haven't with Jeff Hardy. He's a heel, he's got the title so now let's see what he can do.

 

[a0161613]

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Even as a big Styles fan, I'm not concerned.

I am certain they have big plans for AJ. Most notably, I think that will be the one to lead Fortune against Immortal.

I love the Anti-Christ thing. It's so different and it's working. It's the rest of Immortal that I hate. I am sure Hardy can keep this fresh for a while as Anderson fights his way through to fight for the belt.

AJ could not have pulled off the Anti-Christ gimmick. He struggled with the Flair thing and is only now coming into his own in that character and I think that reason is why AJ wasn't given this spot. He didnt need the title, whereas Hardy did to make this work.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I'd love to see AJ get the strap, but why in the HELL should he have Hardy's place?

"Oh! AJ Styles is the new Champion! He's the key figure in Immortal!!!!"

So fucking what. Nobody outside of TNA knows who AJ is. How is that going to create a bigger buzz than Hardy? How is that going to draw new people to watch or at least check TNA out? It's not, that's how.

AJ is the best wrestler in the business today. Fuck Orton, Fuck Angle, it's AJ. But he's not popular and TNA needs a poster boy that is. TNA could have all the best wrestlers in the world, amazing booking and wipe out ALL their flaws but what good is that when nobody's there to see it. Let's face it, TNA didn't put the strap on Hardy because he's such an amazing wrestler and a talker. He's a very good wrestler, and contrary to what many people want to believe, he seems to be a much better talker now than before. Taped promos or not, they're good. However, Hardy got the strap because of two MAIN reasons -- the shock factor ( turning him heel ), and the fact that he's arguably the most popular active wrestler today, if not THE, he's at least on Cena's level. He's good for marketing, people know who he is, it was a good decision.

Personally, I would've preferred Anderson to have taken Hardy's place. You don't need no huge shows explaining why. You just give Ken the mic and let him say - "Cuz I'm an asshole". That's it. Short, sweet, badass, explains a whole lot.

However, the downside of that is that we would've seen a face Hardy go against a heel Anderson, with a face Hardy getting the belt, eventually, and THANK GOD we didn't get that. Instead, we get a cool heel Hardy against a face Anderson, which equals a fine reign of a heel Hardy who reinvented himself and became a whole new wrestler in my eyes, and a future WELL deserved reign of Mr.Anderson.

Unfortunately, AJ doesn't have Anderson's mic skills or Jeff's popularity. All he has is the wrestling and how over he is with TNA fans. We, as TNA fans, love it, but it is not good for business, and if it ain't good for business, don't expect TNA to do it until it is.