AJ Styles Speaks to the Claire/Carter/Daniels Story Line

[IT Factor]

AJ styles has done everything in Tna! He's been the best wrestler in the world, Champion, The longest Reigning World Champion, The first X Division champion, The grand slam champion, He's been a lackey to Tomko,He's been Ric Flair's protege, He's done it all!

And despite all that, he's been kinda lost in the shuffle before this whole storyline with Daniels came along. My whole point earlier is that TNA has done a piss-poor job projecting Styles as one of the best. He's visibly been the face of TNA, yet taken a back seat for years. When's the last time AJ got a TNA title shot? World title, tv title, or otherwise? The only thing noteworthy lately was his brief tag title reign with Angle.

Where in the hell has that gotten him or Tna! You the Hardcore fan love him because he's a great wrestler.But the casual fan wants more than that,They need to get to know the personal side of these characters and invest in them emotionally. And that's what this story is trying to do.

Lemme guess; you are the hardcore WWE mark that values "entertainment" overkill over actual storytelling and in-ring stuff. Because I was simply pointing out that this storyline has been disappointing up until now. Christopher Daniels has been the one great exception to that thus far.

More people love Tommy Dreamer and some would cry when they meet him just because of the stories he was involved in. And he couldn't do half things AJ styles can in the ring. If you want Tna to grow then you need to let the stories do, what they are intending to do!

I do agree somewhat here. But, it's not AJ's fault, is it? It's lousy booking and mostly TNA's fault for not projecting Styles as the character he can be.

And people wonder why fans don't buy pay per views ,It's because they are not emotionally invested.

Again, I do somewhat agree. People do need to be invested in TNA's storylines. Do I think this storyline has done that? Not even close. In order for a story to really get "over" all elements of that story need to make sense and everyone involved needs to be good at selling it. Claire & Dixie are the WORST at acting. Styles & Daniels have been the best at selling it, which is the only reason it's still going.

TNA is being hyped as the place for wrestling. And while I do like a good story as much as the next guy, I do believe TNA should stick to their strong suits. Wrestling is indeed just that. They would do just as well by telling in-ring stories without the overinflated drama. The whole baby daddy thing has been done to death in wrestling and I think most people in a year from now won't even remember this crappy storyline.

 

[RawIsJericho]

I've tried to give this story a chance because I hate when people complain about stories without actually giving them a chance to play out but man this shit has gone on so long and the acting from this women is just horrendous, I'm not going to lie and say I fast forwarded the segment but I was pretty damn close and that is something I never do. It's given us two great matches the AJ/Daniels match and the tag team match with AJ/Kurt vs Daniels/Kaz but I just roll my eyes when this women starts yapping on.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

"There’s so many unexpected things that are about to happen that you never would’ve thought A.J. Styles may have done."

After last week I gotta say wow I did not expect those photos lol since he is a devout Christian and all that very surprised he agreed to this.

"The only hole that I need to address is Serg punching me in the face, which is fine because he punches like a little girl, so I’m OK with that. We never did address that, the fact that it came out and I still haven’t received an apology from him on the phone, text, or anything like that."

Well can't you just chalk that up to Dixie not telling Serg and him assuming they were having an affair? Though it's kinda flimsy Dixie wouldn't tell her husband about it all.

Anyway this storyline.... I don't mind it now actually. But I used to watch soap operas a lot lol I can see how the average wrestling fan would shit all over it.

 

[RawIsJericho]

Is the woman that plays "Claire" related to one of Dixie, Hogan, Bischoff or something? it just perplexes me how this woman has gotten into a situation where she is paid for her "acting".

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I think people are being way to critical of this storyline, especially as we haven't reached the conclusion. My feeling is that people were that unsatisfied with the closing of the Dixie/AJ affair chapter that they are digging their heels in and refusing to either acknowledge the positives that have already happened - that are STILL happening, or invest in the fact that this could give us a momentous pay off yet.

If it wasn't for this plot, would anybody be singing the praises of the Fallen Angel as much as they are currently? Would Kaz even be on TV? Would we have been treated to great matches (like Kurt/AJ vs Daniels/Kaz or the recent LMS bout) or the brilliance of the Daniels led promos?

There's a well known saying about how winning or losing a battle doesn't necessarily mean that you will win or lose the war. Critically, TNA has lost one battle but it is only one and the war does still appear to be in full swing. I really enjoyed Chris and Frankie's work last Thursday and, although Claire's contribution was still lacking, I still have the feeling that this is leading to something bigger than just besmirching AJ's reputation as a good guy.

 

[Rayne]

I think people are being way to critical of this storyline, especially as we haven't reached the conclusion. My feeling is that people were that unsatisfied with the closing of the Dixie/AJ affair chapter that they are digging their heels in and refusing to either acknowledge the positives that have already happened - that are STILL happening, or invest in the fact that this could give us a momentous pay off yet.

I can think of several books that I've stopped reading because they bored me halfway through. Was there a fantastic payoff at the end? Maybe, but I don't really care. I'm reading a story to be entertained, not to see how witty the author thinks he can be. If the beginning and middle bore the hell out of people, why stick around for the end? There's a story TNA/IW is selling, they've read through some of it, and what I see doesn't interest me in buying into it further.

If it wasn't for this plot, would anybody be singing the praises of the Fallen Angel as much as they are currently? Would Kaz even be on TV? Would we have been treated to great matches (like Kurt/AJ vs Daniels/Kaz or the recent LMS bout) or the brilliance of the Daniels led promos?

Who's to say that there wouldn't have been other stories written for Daniels and Kaz? For that matter, I'm still wondering what Kaz is doing on TV, besides being Daniels' bitch lackey. Kaz is the kind of performer other performers beat to enhance their stock, not the kind of performer you stick next to other people in the hopes that they get a rub. Didn't work in Fourtune, and it isn't working now.

There's a well known saying about how winning or losing a battle doesn't necessarily mean that you will win or lose the war. Critically, TNA has lost one battle but it is only one and the war does still appear to be in full swing. I really enjoyed Chris and Frankie's work last Thursday and, although Claire's contribution was still lacking, I still have the feeling that this is leading to something bigger than just besmirching AJ's reputation as a good guy.

Yes, but in war, typically the loss of a major battle will lead to a change of tactics. (I'm excluding the tactical retreat.) So far, the response to the loss of this battle has been AJ saying "we're going to keep doing what we're doing, and you should keep watching because you don't know how it works out." If someone has thought the story has sucked so far, why would they want to stick around to see if it will keep sucking or not?

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I can think of several books that I've stopped reading because they bored me halfway through. Was there a fantastic payoff at the end? Maybe, but I don't really care. I'm reading a story to be entertained, not to see how witty the author thinks he can be. If the beginning and middle bore the hell out of people, why stick around for the end? There's a story TNA/IW is selling, they've read through some of it, and what I see doesn't interest me in buying into it further.

But the story up to that point wasn't boring people, it was just the pay off that didn't sit well. What this would be the equivalent to in your analogy is quitting to read the book because the end of one chapter a distance in didn't meet your expectations.

Who's to say that there wouldn't have been other stories written for Daniels and Kaz? For that matter, I'm still wondering what Kaz is doing on TV, besides being Daniels' bitch lackey. Kaz is the kind of performer other performers beat to enhance their stock, not the kind of performer you stick next to other people in the hopes that they get a rub. Didn't work in Fourtune, and it isn't working now.

They have tried different approaches with the Fallen Angel over the years and the general perception was that, like AJ, he was excellent in the ring but lacking in the charisma department. Nobody is saying that at the moment. As for Kaz, he complements Chris and gets it done in the ring and has, at times, even outshone him (like when he went from reluctance to relishing his screwing over of AJ or when he was feigning disgust with Daniels only to back stab Styles). Something he didn't do in Fourtune.

Yes, but in war, typically the loss of a major battle will lead to a change of tactics. (I'm excluding the tactical retreat.) So far, the response to the loss of this battle has been AJ saying "we're going to keep doing what we're doing, and you should keep watching because you don't know how it works out." If someone has thought the story has sucked so far, why would they want to stick around to see if it will keep sucking or not?

I personally believe that this is a diversionary tactic to keep the Phenomenal One distracted. As long as Christopher Daniels keeps up the great work and I get to see bouts like the LMS, I'm willing to give them some slack.

 

[Rayne]

But the story up to that point wasn't boring people, it was just the pay off that didn't sit well. What this would be the equivalent to in your analogy is quitting to read the book because the end of one chapter a distance in didn't meet your expectations.

There are quite a few books that I've read which started out well, then fell apart in the middle. Writing a story is entertainment; I don't think professional wrestling writers are trying to create art, so it's safe to say they're writing to maximize profit. If you have to ask your audience to accept that the middle of a story is going to suck, you're a shit writer.