Let's Get This Straight - AJ Styles IS a Good Promo Man

[Uncle Sam]

I see a lot of people saying "Oh yeah, I love AJ Styles. He's really good in the ring; shame he's so bad on the mic." And every goddamn time I do a double take. I honestly can't believe that these people have been watching the same guy I have. I think a lot of these people have the mentality that Xfear recently described - "If you're not the fucking Rock, you're shit." Some might think that an athletic cruiserweight has to automatically suck at promos. Others, however, may well just be a bit slow.

I'm willing to concede that AJ as a face is not blow-you-away fantastic. His face persona is a little vanilla and that's not entirely his fault. His promos, however, are consistently confident and competent - something I've noticed WZ favourite Sting hasn't been able to accomplish.

As a heel, AJ is one of the best promo men in the business. I was personally a big fan of Prince AJ. He had a clearly defined persona and bled charisma. I believe it was Slyfox (in fact, I know it was Slyfox) that said that he was the most charismatic man in the industry at this point. I'm inclined to agree.

Then there was the other heel AJ - the brash and confident heel AJ. We got to see him in the transitional period of trunks-wearing uberface to tights-wearing comedic heel, and we also saw him in "old, old" TNA. I'd argue that this is the AJ we currently have, albeit with a bit more "woo"ing. I for one thought his promo on Thursday night was excellent.

So, yeah, let's put this myth that AJ Styles is no good at promos to bed.

 

[Rated_R_Superstar2010]

you are 100% right. aj styles is one of the best in the world today and its a shame he isnt respected more by the casual wrestling fan. i started watching tna because of him and i continue to watch mainly because of aj. yes the face aj was a bit...i wouldnt say stale but his character didnt really have alot of depth. i love the new styles and with flair in his corner he can only improve.

 

[MisterRob]

No, AJ Styles is not one of the best promos in the business today. Not even close. He was fine in early TNA as a cocky heel, he's always been fine throughout his career, but he is far from great. And the promo from Impact last week with the Nature Boy sounded entirely forced. It was awkward to me and not natural, certainly not excellent. ESPECIALLY when he was tossing out Flair's catch phrase. If Styles is going to be the 'next' Flair, I certainly wasn't at all convinced from last week's promo. And he definitely needs to learn how to do the 'woo'.

 

[layinDown]

I agree with MisterRob: last week's promo felt extremely forced. I felt as though he wasn't at all comfortable, but did the absolute best he could. Is he bad on the stick? No, not at all. He's no Jericho, though. And if you don't think Jericho is the best mic-worker in the business, then you're straight wrong. This isn't about Y2J, though.

I was really, really excited to hear what the new "Flair-esque" AJ had to say last week, but it left me dissapointed. Despite the fact that I feel like he was uncomfortable during the whole thing, it was basically a Flair 2.0 promo. He woo'ed. He threw down the flair catchphrases. Did he strut? (I honestly forget). I simply don't want to see another Ric Flair. We have one already. I'm all for the Flair "mentoring" gimmick, but I want to see Styles take on it, not a duplicate.

Just more proof that (like the WWE), the TNA creative team is just ballsack sometimes. Hopefully AJ can transform into something original, because he deserves to be a household name.

 

[pun2003hh]

While not even close to being the worst stick man in the business today, mic work has never been a strong suit of Mr. Styles. This may not be PC to really say, but I think his southern, slightly country, accent hurts him. I do think the accent takes a bit of the bite out of his promos.

Now I know a crowd of people are going to jump on me and say "That's BS. Dusty Rhodes is one of the best stick men in the history of the business and he has an accent straight out of Louisiana." I agree with this. The difference is he embraced his southern roots and it became apart of his persona. When it comes to accents, you cant half ass it. You have to either embrace it entirely, or do what you can to eliminate it. Trying to be a straight heel or face with an accent that you do not embrace or accentuate takes away from your character. At least, that's my opinion.

 

[Rated_R_Superstar2010]

of course he's not one of the best promos is the business today. that title goes to jericho and punk hands down.

is he bad, no. is he good, hell ya he's good. better than the current wwe champion (really not saying much but still). i meant he is one of the best overall performers, not promo guy.

 

[jmitchell34]

I don't really know about the accent thing being his achilles heel when it come to promos. I think it's just the fact that he isn't clever. That seems to be the case with everyone except Pope but honestly, they all just keep saying the same things over and over again. I mean, if I hear one more person say that they have been in TNA from the start and blah blah blah, I'm gonna be sick.

 

[a0161613]

Amen brotha. He is so underrated that it actually beggars belief. The WWE feeds the same old boring stuff to the masses every week and do not get the same criticism and yet when Russo writes some decent material and the TNA guys deliver it competently they get criticised for it.

The measuring stick needs to be applied both ways. I saw the Miz, HHH, Hornswoggle etc stink up a segment on Raw through awkward dialogue and yet when AJ and Flair started iMPACT, AJ gets told by the smarks that he is uncomfortable. That's simple BS right there.

For the first promo of this angle, I thought it was good and it only got better when Hogan showed up. It's just a shame that the finish of the match let it all down.

(I will accept Punk as a great promo cutter. Jericho? Nah, he has got sloppy.)

 

[Esteemer]

Well I knew I wasn't the only one but of course he minority, I really honestly feel that Aj is good on promo. Last week didn't seem forced to me at all, it actually just seemed like a guy who is embracing a new character and new role and having a few kinks to work out. No he's not Rock, Jericho, Austin, Flair, Nash, Hall, or any of the other incredible mic workers but he is good and improving ever promo, I believe that with Flair mentoring him he will advance to those levels eventually, now he just needs his own catchphrase, prehaps telling his opponents that they just don't have enough style or something to that affect that will accentuate his cocky persona

 

[DarkAngel]

A.J Styles is one of THEE best in ring workers I've ever seen, and he's certainly perfect for a promotion like TNA to where they are now building their legs.

That said, he has a long, long, long, long road ahead of him, and it starts with his promo's. I'll go as far to say that he, along with Daniels, is one of THEE worst personalities on the mic, and not only on the mic, but acting. Sorry, but he isn't even in TOP 50 when it comes to working on the mic.

He's young and he can learn at a rapid pace givin' the right people around him. In fact, to talk on the mic, you need to connect with the people, so for the time being, being heel is great for A.J's career right now. He's an upcomming star regardless, but he's for certain, below average on the mic.

 

[Uncle Sam]

No, AJ Styles is not one of the best promos in the business today. Not even close. He was fine in early TNA as a cocky heel, he's always been fine throughout his career, but he is far from great. And the promo from Impact last week with the Nature Boy sounded entirely forced. It was awkward to me and not natural, certainly not excellent. ESPECIALLY when he was tossing out Flair's catch phrase. If Styles is going to be the 'next' Flair, I certainly wasn't at all convinced from last week's promo. And he definitely needs to learn how to do the 'woo'.

I would definitely have let you have this until you threw it in about him sounding forced. He sounded about as 'forced' as Flair. Less so, in fact. I've never seen a Flair promo that seemed all that natural - and the same goes for Sting, come to think of it.

Two promo men who are constantly lauded are Christian and - in this very thread - Jericho. Because Jericho's character is that of a sophisticated speaker and Jericho himself is not a sophisticated speaker, he'll often stumble over words and come over as forced. Christian is rumoured to script his promos over and over, so he'll come across as over-rehearsed and, yeah, forced as a result.

Here's AJ's promo on Thursday, in case you missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMnH5nhUUZI#t=4m45s

I'm not sure what promo people have been watching.

 

[JBSMan]

He's not terrible by any stretch, but sometimes he himself just doesn't sound fully convinced in what he's saying, which makes it hard to convince the viewers.

 

[DirtyJosé]

To answer the original post: yes, I believe AJ should not be described as being "no good" on the mic. He performs usually well enough on his promos. He's good.

Great? Best now? Best ever? This is all a matter of taste, as a quick scroll through this thread can confirm. And that really wasn't the point of the op. I suppose since everyone else threw in their two cents that I'll admit that I am not excited by AJ on the mic, but I am often impressed. I don't like calling him "new", but he does still have room to improve (like most everyone else, mind you). Jericho is usually stellar as a heel, though at times I get confused about whether Jericho using the same limited high brow insults every night (and occasionally screwing them up) is a sign of weak writing or a brilliant bit of characterization on Jericho's/Creative's part to add another agitating aspect to the character.

 

[mister_b1LL]

Styles is not as good as what the OP claims him to be. He is not one of the best in the business today.

That said, he is pretty darn entertaining on the stick. He reminds me of Jeff Hardy when he talks, except with a bit more wooooing. His promos are consistent and actually get me to listen to them which is the main point of getting in the ring and blabbing on and on about how good you are.

If I had to put him on a scale, I would definitely put him above Jeff Hardy, on the same level as Kurt Angle, and just below heel Triple H.

 

[a0161613]

Ugh, heel HHH bores me to tears. Kurt Angle when he has momentum and goes a little psycho is awesomeness on the mic.

I am sure AJ will get better. He has shown real development when he has taken on new gimmicks and learns little things quickly. His Prince AJ thing came to him so quickly and he had Angle and Christian (two masters of the comedy heel) with him. But i think this will force him to change again and so it's going to take some time. The first promo was promising.

 

[mell413]

I guess it depends on your definition of good. I wouldn't say he is bad on the mic at all. He's not the Ultimate Warrior, but he is not the Rock either. That being said I think he still has room to improve. I think him being with Flair can only help. I wasn't too thrilled with his promo on thursday because to me it felt forced like others have said. I think he has the potential to be much better.

 

[MisterRob]

I would definitely have let you have this until you threw it in about him sounding forced. He sounded about as 'forced' as Flair. Less so, in fact. I've never seen a Flair promo that seemed all that natural - and the same goes for Sting, come to think of it.

Two promo men who are constantly lauded are Christian and - in this very thread - Jericho. Because Jericho's character is that of a sophisticated speaker and Jericho himself is not a sophisticated speaker, he'll often stumble over words and come over as forced. Christian is rumoured to script his promos over and over, so he'll come across as over-rehearsed and, yeah, forced as a result.

Here's AJ's promo on Thursday, in case you missed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMnH5nhUUZI#t=4m45s

I'm not sure what promo people have been watching.

I've already watched it twice before, thanks. I definitely don't need a third. It was, indeed, forced. He used exaggerated gestures and mannerisms because he was uncomfortable. The whole Flair catch phrase was extremely forced and I didn't believe him saying it at all. His woo was the worst part of the whole promo. It started off okay, but it slowly progressed into clear signs of him saying what he had to say and 'pretending' and that's a negative sign to me when it comes to someone cutting a promo and attempting to play a character. When you can tell the person's playing a character I think the promo fails, and so it failed to me in what Styles was attempting to do. I am a huge fan of Flair and I'll fully admit that his promo was just as bad last week as Styles's. It felt forced and it didn't come out well in the least, and I definitely think time's finally catching up to Flair. Clearly he's playing a character now instead of BEING the character like he use to be when he wasn't 60 something claiming to be sleeping with young women and living the same life style he did 30 years ago.

AJ Styles isn't bad on the mic, but he certainly isn't anywhere near great and he has a lot of work ahead of him to be consistently good.

 

[KKarvox]

I watched the promo you were talking about, and he isn't awful by any stretch of the word. That being said, he also isn't great either. The promo came off very fake, and what i mean by that is that it didn't seem like he was able to work a heel promo at all. He seemed really out of place, and like someone else said, it sounded very forced. He was very over-active, and came off as trying to act too much like Flair. I think he would have been better had he done it in a calmer, cooler fashion, but that's my opinion. He just doesn't seem like a heel, you could tell that people did not want to boo him really. At least Jericho sounds like he means what he says when he cuts a promo. AJ just sounds too fake, and like MisterRob said, you can tell that he is trying to play a character, and he is trying way too hard. I don't dislike AJ at all, but his promos leave alot too be desired, in my honest opinion.

 

[FromTheSouth]

The only thing that seemed forced from AJ in that promo was his whooooooo. Everything else seemed fine.

I love listening to AJ talk. I think his promos are top notch. His southern accent instantly makes people think he isn't that smart, but that's a nasty stereotype that has no actual relevance. When he talks it comes across as very natural to me. It sounds like he is just talking to us, as opposed to someone like The Rock, who while exciting, sounds like there is a script he is following, whether he wrote it or not.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I think AJ has sounded natural to me. Maybe he is a bit over the top now with Ric Flair, but I think the majority of us thought he was too plain before. AJ Styles' personality in the past didn't really mesh with the Nature Boy character. It's new and it will take a while to take it all in. I think it's fresh to see AJ as a heel again. I love seeing him with Flair, I just hope he can come up with his own catch phrases instead of Nature Boy's.

Overall though I think AJ has greatly improved over the past year. We hardly heard AJ on the mic a few years ago. I think if AJ can have that Ric Flair style with an attitude all his own he will be fine.

 

[RVDgurl]

Yes, Sam, AJ Styles can cut a good promo. In fact, at times, he has cut great promos. I know alot of people criticized his goofy heel gimmick when he was a part of the Christian Coalition, but I love the character simply because it gave him so much personality to work with on the mic.

Currently, I feel that the pairing of Ric Flair and AJ Styles can be extremely beneficial to AJ's all around game, specifically promos. I have to admit, that I'm a little concerned that TNA is trying to give AJ a little too much of a Flair persona with the Woooo's and kissing random girls (we all know AJ is a married, father of 3, who is a devote Christian). It's way too early to tell how this will play out, but it looks like we are going to see yet another side of AJ's personality.

 

[The_Hooded_One]

I never thought AJ cut shitty promos really, maybe someone had him confused with Roderick Strong. He's always had super charisma but at times he wouldn't go into detail and say what needed to be said in his promos. Im 50/50 on the Flair thing as I respect Ric but think he disrespected the business by stepping in the ring again after the Match HBK gave him and the final 15 mins of Raw the night after but whatever. I like cocky/asshole Styles but he doesn't need to woooooooo and say he's a limousine riding jet flying kiss stealing wheeling dealing son of a gun as that's Flair's trademark, he needs to be AJ Styles not old man Flair. I think it's vital to keep the Title with him for at least a few more months but with Hogan/Bischoff and Russo at the helm he wont have it another longer then a month more, gotta love that crash tv philosophy eh?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Styles' work on the mic has improved noticably. Now, he used to be absolute shit on the mic in my opinion. He seemed to have no confidence in what he was saying and felt like he had to just force out everything he was saying.

Unfortunately, that's exactly the same sense I got from Styles when he was cutting the promo in the ring with Flair last week on iMPACT. Styles in a suit some of Flair's catchphrases just doesn't feel right in the least to me. There are some stories going around that Styles is going to bleach his hair as part of his partnership with Ric Flair and his role in being the "next Ric Flair".

That's all well and good, but if they essentially have Styles doing the "Nature Boy" gimmick, I'm definitely changing the channel.

 

[Miko]

Love AJ's mic work, I think it's great. He plays a very good face and a very good heel, I dont really know what to say about that that hasnt already been said, AJ comes across as natural, when he's playing the face he sounds determined, when he plays the heel he sounds suitably cocky. In short, nothing wrong with promo AJ.

 

[The Roid Rage]

Uncle Sam

I think a lot of these people have the mentality that Xfear recently described - "If you're not the fucking Rock, you're shit."

I am not going to go that far, obviously there are different levels of ability. On that matter, I'd have to say that A.J. Styles is at the bottom of the bunch when you look at all the others in TNA and WWE.

I'm willing to concede that AJ as a face is not blow-you-away fantastic.

That is fair.

His promos, however, are consistently confident and competent - something I've noticed WZ favourite Sting hasn't been able to accomplish.

Confident, ok. Competent, that's questionable.

As a heel, AJ is one of the best promo men in the business.

Not as a heel, not as a face, not as a comedic character, not at all.

I was personally a big fan of Prince AJ. He had a clearly defined persona and bled charisma. I believe it was Slyfox (in fact, I know it was Slyfox) that said that he was the most charismatic man in the industry at this point. I'm inclined to agree.

No. None of it man. What did he do to warrant such accolades from a tough critic such as yourself? Explain this shit, because I am really really missing the bandwagon on this one. You and others want to say he has this, that, and the other thing but no one offers to back it up with examples of when or where he displayed this great fabled ability.

I for one thought his promo on Thursday night was excellent.

And I for one thought it was shit.

So, yeah, let's put this myth that AJ Styles is no good at promos to bed.

well it's going to be one hard bed to lie in

Mister Rob

No, AJ Styles is not one of the best promos in the business today.

Thank you.

And the promo from Impact last week with the Nature Boy sounded entirely forced.

It was awkward to me and not natural, certainly not excellent. ESPECIALLY when

he was tossing out Flair's catch phrase. If Styles is going to be the 'next' Flair, I certainly wasn't at all convinced from last week's promo.

Watch, you are going to hear a lot more of this.

Layin Down

I agree with MisterRob: last week's promo felt extremely forced.

Indeed it was.

I felt as though he wasn't at all comfortable, but did the absolute best he could.

Another fair statement.

Is he bad on the stick? No, not at all. He's no Jericho, though.

No no, not bad but not good, so that means mediocre.

it was basically a Flair 2.0 promo.

I simply don't want to see another Ric Flair. We have one already.

Agreed, don't need another Flair. One is enough and some times too much.

I'm all for the Flair "mentoring" gimmick, but I want to see Styles take on it, not a duplicate.

I'm not for any of it, nor do I want to see A.J. Styles do much of anything.

Pun2003hh

While not even close to being the worst stick man in the business today, mic work has never been a strong suit of Mr. Styles.

See the trend?

Jmitchell34

they all just keep saying the same things over and over again. I mean, if I hear one more person say that they have been in TNA from the start and blah blah blah, I'm gonna be sick.

I feel you there. What an honest and accurate statement.

Numbers

He is so underrated that it actually beggars belief.

“ How is that so when you and half the other members here coo at the whim of his every move and word. I think it's ridiculous. What is so great about A.J. Styles? I don't get it. What is so special about this particular guy? What does he do that anyone else couldn't do? Or better what yet, what is it that he does so much better than anyone else that makes his so great? You could name a ton of other guys who are every bit as athletic, every bit as good of wrestlers, and if not as good as him than better.

Russo writes some decent material and the TNA guys deliver it competently they get criticised for it.

Are you serious? I see this “Competence” being mentioned too, how so? What was so “Competent” about their promo? What showed “Competence” to you? Was it how horribly A.J. Fumbled with his words or how he just tried to rip off a Flair promo or something? Or was it the part where Hogan came in and saved the promo? What was it ? Besides, this isn't about TNA and WWEs writing. It's about the ability or lack thereof to deliver a good promo from A.J. Styles.

The measuring stick needs to be applied both ways. I saw the Miz, HHH, Hornswoggle etc stink up a segment on Raw through awkward dialogue and yet when AJ and Flair started iMPACT, AJ gets told by the smarks that he is uncomfortable. That's simple BS right there.

Say what you will about WWE, they've got their shit way more together than TNA. If the DX segments don't appeal to you than maybe you aren't the target audience for that segment, ever though of that? Besides, if was horribly obvious how out confused Styles was, and how much he was trying to play a role, completely manufactured and unbelievable. It was like he was trying to convince himself for God sake that he was all the shit Flair was saying about him. The character was and felt completely unnatural to him, and he looked uncomfortable in his own skin trying to act like Ric Flair or something. What is B.S. Is how people want to either dis-acknowledge this guys incapabilities and weaknesses, or try to say something bad about the WWE to atone for his shortcomings like that even matters.

Esteemer

I really honestly feel that Aj is good on promo.

I honstly feel that you are wrong.

he is good and improving ever promo, I believe that with Flair mentoring him he will advance to those levels eventually

Improving a little bit? Maybe. Good, no not yet. The funny thing is, that this deal with Flair will amount to a hill of beans in the long run and A.J, Styles will be no further along, but most of you will still be singing his praises just to spite. Maybe that's not even funny, more like pathetic. It's being blind to the obvious for unexplained reasons. No one has yet to give a good reason for this fandom based on anything but fragile opinions.

Dark Angel

A.J Styles is one of THEE best in ring workers I've ever seen, and he's certainly perfect for a promotion like TNA to where they are now building their legs.

Based on what? Once again, what is it he does so well that he is “One of the best workers you've ever seen” and where is some proof. I agree that he is perfect for TNA since they are still a “B” company, but what is he going to do once they are past that? He has to evolve and he has not done so. This is not a step towards evolving the character, it is another chance for Flair to get paid, and for this guy to look like someones flunky again. At least Dark Angel tries to explain why he likes the guy, if you like him that is all fine and dandy to me, thank you for telling me why. I just disagree on your points. I appreciate your efforts nonetheless.

That said, he has a long, long, long, long road ahead of him, and it starts with his promo's. I'll go as far to say that he, along with Daniels, is one of THEE worst personalities on the mic, and not only on the mic, but acting. Sorry, but he isn't even in TOP 50 when it comes to working on the mic.

And the Lord touched this boy and he was saved. Enlightenment came his way, and he lived out the rest of his days in harmony and bliss, So said the Lord. In other words, I couldn't agree more.

He's young and he can learn at a rapid pace givin' the right people around him. In fact, to talk on the mic, you need to connect with the people, so for the time being, being heel is great for A.J's career right now. He's an upcomming star regardless, but he's for certain, below average on the mic.

I just want you to know, I'm adopting you! That's it, I am adopting you! Most accurate statement made so far from the crowd.

Uncle Sam

He sounded about as 'forced' as Flair. Less so, in fact. I've never seen a Flair promo that seemed all that natural - and the same goes for Sting, come to think of it.

Sam! Sam! Your slippin' bro c'mon !!! I can't let you go out like that, you can't be serious about this shit, really. Flair has been cutting good promos since before A.J. Styles or even myself was even born. It was a good old school eccentric Flair promo. And you can't be serious about Sting, seriously? He's been great on the mic for years dude.

Two promo men who are constantly lauded are Christian and - in this very thread - Jericho. Because Jericho's character is that of a sophisticated speaker and Jericho himself is not a sophisticated speaker, he'll often stumble over words and come over as forced. Christian is rumoured to script his promos over and over, so he'll come across as over-rehearsed and, yeah, forced as a result.

While I can agree with you on your comments about Christian to a degree, I have a small objection about Jericho. Now I'm not going to go on about “How great Chris Jericho is on the mic” I don't need to. Everyone else has made that case already. Where I disagree is you saying he stumbles over words. I think it's fair to say that he wouldn't be revered so highly for his mic skills if he stumbled over his words as you put it. I'd also have to say that contrary to your statements Jericho himself is more of a sophisticated speaker which is why he does so well with the character he is playing now, it's much closer to the way he really talks than the old Y2J stuff he did.

Dirty Jose

Great? Best now? Best ever? This is all a matter of taste, as a quick scroll through this thread can confirm.

Ahhhh, don't you love the sound of the truth. I know I sure do.

I suppose since everyone else threw in their two cents that I'll admit that I am not excited by AJ on the mic, but I am often impressed.

I'm getting a mixed signal here. If you didn't like him on the mic, than how would you be impressed? Which is it, it can't be both?

Mister B1LL

Styles is not as good as what the OP claims him to be. He is not one of the best in the business today.

Joy to the world the truth has come, let Earth receive a decent promo!

mell413

I guess it depends on your definition of good.

My definition of good and others seem to have some really big discrepancies with each other.

I wasn't too thrilled with his promo on thursday because to me it felt forced like others have said.

There's that “Forced” feeling haunting A.J.'s case again. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Kkarvox

The promo came off very fake, and what i mean by that is that it didn't seem like he was able to work a heel promo at all. He seemed really out of place, and like someone else said, it sounded very forced. He
was very over-active, and came off as trying to act too much like Flair.

Didn't I say something about that earlier? Hmmm, I must be crazy or something because I thought I heard this guy say the promo sounded “Forced”. Not that story again. These are my sentiments exactly. It was forced, fake, out of place, trying too hard to act like Flair.

Lil Wes Is My Big Daddy

His southern accent instantly makes people think he isn't that smart, but that's a nasty stereotype that has no actual relevance.

Well, It kind of is relevant, and I think you are right on point that his southern accent does make him come off as unintelligent. It's not so much a stereotype as it is just the way it sounds. If he sounds like a backwoods country bumpkin what do you expect. It doesn't sound intelligent. Remember when they did the whole storyline with him and Karen Angle when he took her do to the bayou or whatever and he was just this total idiot? Or what about when he was supposed to be torn between siding with Kurt Angle or Christian, he just looked like a natural idiot, like that character was just him, and unfortunately it was the only thing that really fit. I'll say it to the end, the biggest mistake they ever made with A.J. Styles was letting him talk.