Did Ric Flair Ruin AJ Styles' TNA Career?

[georgelfc123]

Before AJ Styles turned heel, he was the face of TNA, in entertaining feuds with Kurt Angle, Sting, Main Event Mafia, Christopher Daniels etc. But then came Ric Flair, he had signed for TNA and at Genesis in a World Title match, Flair interfered in the match between Styles and Angle, Styles ended up turning heel by hitting Angle in the face with the title getting the cheap win. From then on, Styles had a lackluster heel run apart of Fortune with Flair being his mouthpiece, but as soon as Styles lost the title nothing seemed to be going for him. Since then, he's turned face and is embarking on a year long feud with Daniels. But he hasn't been able to pick off from where he started before Ric Flair came along. In a way, has Flair ruined AJ's career?

 

[kobrad]

I don't know if Flair ruined his career, i think the booking of tna ruined what he had going for him. Fortune could of been awesome! I loved the story line at first but then it got stale and just over done. But it was entertaining at the beginning. I really liked watching Fortune.

Also, AJ Styles career is not ruined i dont think. He is still putting on good matches and still making good promos. This weird story line with this prego lady is messed up but he at least will have a great match to end it, thats what i am looking forward too. I think he will get the title back eventually but he just needs something to do for now and he can have great matches with daniels and kaz in the mean time.

 

[sabataged]

I actually enjoyed AJ under Ric Flair but he was the wrong person for the gig. Bobby Roode was the perfect candidate to be take under Flair's wing. Unfortunately the timing was wrong since he was in the tag team with James Storm at the time.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I don't think Ric Flair per say, but I think Hulk Hogan most certainly did.

It was Hogan's idea to stick Ric with AJ. It's well documented that Hogan doesn't think much of AJ in terms of being a main event wrestler. The problem wasn't Ric Flair, it was that AJ went from being the face of the company to being treated like a midcarder who couldn't get over on his own.

 

[The Hillside]

I don't think Flair ruined AJ's career. AJ styles was already an established main eventer in TNA since years and was called 'Mr. TNA or face of the TNA at that point as well'.

I think Flair helped Styles long run as a heel world champion. Flair helped him on the mic, helped him with promos and gave Styles more starpower by being his side all the time.

It's Ric Flair, the same wrestler who managed future main eventers like Batista and Orton and also managed HHH for sometime.

It was not Flair who got Styles to be demoted, instead it's TNA's booking. Styles held the World Title for about good 6-7 months and they took it from him on a television show from the newcomer RVD.

Styles overness was also effected by the popular news comer from WWE RVD and Jeff Hardy.

In one of the statement, Styles himself was unhappy about the way his title loss was booked.

 

[Miz_Mark]

This is an absurd suggestion. Ric Flair is one of the greatest of all time, and was instrumental in shaping the careers of younger talent he's been associated with. Absurd to suggest he hurt AJ's career. AJ's promos improved by leaps and bounds after his work with Flair, and he kept the title months longer than he otherwise would have.

TNA simply decided after his run to focus on other talent. That is in no conceivable way Flair's fault, nor, FYI, is it Hogan's fault. Nor is it necessarily a bad thing.

AJ has not been irreparably harmed. He's still on TV in major angles. He could step into the main event in a moment's notice. And since he has been deemphasized, we have seen Storm (although he is absurdly overrated), Roode, and Aries leap into the main event.

 

[Weems2k]

I don't think Ric Flair per say, but I think Hulk Hogan most certainly did.

It was Hogan's idea to stick Ric with AJ. It's well documented that Hogan doesn't think much of AJ in terms of being a main event wrestler. The problem wasn't Ric Flair, it was that AJ went from being the face of the company to being treated like a midcarder who couldn't get over on his own.

And you got these supposed facts from whom? The same knob that allegedly knows TNA's financials even though they are all private?

 

[Last Man Standing]

I don't think Ric Flair per say, but I think Hulk Hogan most certainly did.

It was Hogan's idea to stick Ric with AJ. It's well documented that Hogan doesn't think much of AJ in terms of being a main event wrestler. The problem wasn't Ric Flair, it was that AJ went from being the face of the company to being treated like a midcarder who couldn't get over on his own.

Exactly my response. The blame is on Hogan more than anyone. Except maybe Dixie. She should stand up to Hogan and side with the TNA loyalists more often.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

And you got these supposed facts from whom? QUOTE]

Hulk Hogan's mouth. When he first signed on with TNA he did a bunch of interviews where he subtley buried AJ. He made it clear that Flair was with him to try and get him over and he's actually stated that AJ "wasn't at that level."

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

I think Ric Flair ENHANCED AJ's career. AJ was never more interesting, and never felt more like a SUPERSTAR then he did when he and Flair originally joined up. It's shocking enough when someone goes to the dark side while holding a championship, but for AJ to do it was completely unexpected, and to do it with Flair was one of the best idea's Hogan & Bischoff had at the beginning of their era. I think the main problem was they took the belt off of him too early. They also did it right as Fortune was forming, so there was a lot going on. I honestly wish he held the title until at least Slammiversary. Anyways, going from top heel champion.. to member of a new 5 man faction is a quick way to get lost in the shuffle. Especially with Hogan more concerned establishing the new shipment of WWE guys (RVD, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson).

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

I never cease to laugh at how many people buy what they read on the Internet, where is Zeven_Zion when you need him? I don't know how TNA runs, we always assume (us IWC folks as a whole) about who runs what in the company but we really don't f'n know.

As far as the poster who stated that it was Hogan's idea to pair Flair and Styles up, please furnish the source of this information, and I don't want to read some bullshit retort like, "I am not doing your research for you..." Bottom line is this, if you are going to speculate about something, back it up and provide a source for it. There is nothing wrong with speculation, but there is nothing more tiring than the typical BS of a poster saying something but having nothing to back it up with.

And even with that said, other than what we see presented on TV, what do we really know? What goes on behind the scenes is conjecture and I am sure organizations like WWE and TNA feed us a lot of bullshit in the first place just to work us, since that is what the artform of professional wrestling is. But just the same, I don't think Flair hurt the career of AJ Styles, no matter whose idea it was, at least it was an effort in my eyes to utilize the manager role. They just didn't have the chemistry to be a long term duo. But instead of thinking about it in those terms, the armchair experts want to find this as an excuse to blame Hogan for something, there are more valid things (even as a fan I would cite some of his WCW outings) to speculate about in regards to Hogan's ego. It's my belief that this is not one of them. Because we all know if you want to bury someone the first thing you do is to pair him up with someone who is one of the top ten icons in the business. *eye roll* I hope I don't have to explain that I was being sarcastic.

Sadly enough for as good as AJ is, he has taken a backseat to guys like Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, James Storm, Kurt Angle, etc...he is not the first performer to go from World Title holder to lower on the card. Hell, it even happened to CM Punk, and he has managed to bounce back from that, what's to make us think AJ can't do the same thing? Besides even without the World Title he still has main evented shows and had a role in the organization still. I really can't help but laugh about the incessant bitching that some of you ass clowns can't resist plastering on these forums.

 

[sufyaan05]

No,
He gave him the edge he needed to become longest reigning champion in TNA (At the time)

AJ Styles would have become stale, just like CM Punk did, but they turned him and in an instant he was interesting again.

 

[HBsam31]

Yeah I don't think it was Flair. I actually enjoyed his run as heel champ. I think he has been booked poorly since, and has been treated as more of a mid card guy. I think Flair brought out a side of AJ that we hadn't seen in a while, and it was overall good for him.

 

[IT Factor]

Its laughable to say Flair ruined anything for Styles. Styles' career has been derailed for several reasons, the least of which is horrible booking. He hasn't been consistently booked as the guy in TNA, even though he's been the unofficial face of the company since its beginning. Another big reason that Styles has been misused is because he quite honestly sucks on the mic. He's one of the best in-ring performers on the TNA roster, no doubt. He can do great things in the ring. On the mic, he falls flat and comes off as uncomfortable during promos often messing up words and he has to stop to regroup before continuing. You can't be the top guy if you cannot connect with the audience verbally. He does great at selling and telling stories in the ring. He needs to improve the promo work to really be that face of the company.

Honestly, out of all the Fourtune guys I believe Roode is the best overall improvement on the mic. He used to suck and now he's the top heel. There's a reason for that. Styles should take a page out of Roode's book and start really concentrating on improving his mic game to a whole new level. Once he can do that, no one could "ruin" his career. Truly great wrestlers will rise up and not have any one individual ruining their careers for them.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Nothing has "ruined" AJ Styles' career in my eyes. It's only that, within the past few years, some wrestlers have come along and/or been elevated to spots within the company that make some of Styles' weaknesses more obvious.

Styles is an ace inside the ring, that's not debatable, but relatively weak promo skills and lack of charisma have always been Styles' Achilles Heel. Compared to guys like Angle, Sting, Hogan, Storm, Roode, Anderson, Ray, Aries & Daniels; Styles just doesn't have the goods when it comes to personality & promo work. He's not awful or boring or anything, but he's certainly not dynamic or anything at all remarkable in these areas either. He's just kind of there.

To me, if anything is "ruining" AJ Styles' career in TNA, it's the fact that he's still in TNA. What I mean by that is that AJ Styles has done EVERYTHING in TNA that can be done multiple times. He's a 4 time World Heavyweight Champion, 6 time World Tag Team Champion, 2 time Legends/Global/Television Champion, 6 time X Division Champion. He's feuded with and beaten the biggest & best names to pass through TNA over the course of its decade long existence.

He just turned 35 years of age a couple of months ago and while he still potentially has a lot more to offer pro wrestling, he's done it all in TNA already. His career isn't ruined in my eyes, it's just in a state of limbo. The fact that he keeps getting put into dragged out feuds with Daniels and put into lame storylines like this baby mama drama bullshit just makes it all that much easier to see. I think that things would certainly liven up a bit if Styles were put into something fresh, such as being a serious contender for the TNA WHC. When it's all said and done, however, I just think Styles' best days in TNA are probably behind him.

 

[IT Factor]

To be fair, AJ Styles got the shaft last time he was TNA World Champion. He didn't get to hold the belt long before dropping it to RVD and then not really getting his true rematch. It's a pattern of bad booking that TNA has been famous for since their beginning. They cannot maintain a star long before screwing it up. We cannot really use the excuse that Styles has done it all in TNA. Alot of triple crown winners still get booked strongly despite doing everything already. Shawn Michaels was a great example of that. He was still being consistently used and booked in main events. The difference between them is that once HBK became triple crown champ, he kept improving on the mic and elevating himself with each program. He could work with anyone in the ring and get a good match out of different size opponents. Which Styles can also do well. Michaels could really work a crowd with promos, which is the main thing setting AJ and HBK apart. AJ has been stuck in limbo on the mic for years and it's a problem. He's never really had that career defining breakout moment on the mic that most performers do at some early point in their careers. In the ring, Styles is truly "phenominal". It's everywhere else[on the mic, character developement] that he needs improvement.

I'm a big fan of Styles. I've been to numerous house shows and PPVs and also their pre-PPV meet and greets. AJ is a great worker who is nice to fans and seems to love what he does. Just imagine how well his career would be elevated if he improved on the mic. He'd be constantly main eventing and not stuck doing Dixie Carter/Claire Lynch storylines that are doomed to fail before they ever reach completion.