The Heel AJ Styles Is Pure Genius

[seiya1994]

There is much more to their being pissed off about DX than them just rehashing it. They have legit heat with HHH and HBK and this was the quickest route to a storyline geared around it. That's the key...IF they were still in the WWE. That's where they wanted to work, but they were given the run around just like they were when they were saddled together intitially as a joke and HBK didn't want them in DX. HHH is the reason that they weren't pushed after DX and according to them on the original shoot interview was the reason BG was booted out of the WWE. Whether it is true or not is anyone's guess. The truth for Kip is that he was always their utility man in the tag ranks and after developing his own character in Mr. Ass, they buried that one and dumped him in the Billy/Chuck angle which damaged his macho character for cheap publicity and then they just shelved him entirely. The sad thing is that the marks actually got behind DX. It only shows how desperate they've become.

As for The Dudley's, they feel passionate about something they helped create that has been bastardized and drug through $hit in the last couple of years instead of being left alone. Bubba and D-Von didn't just wrestle for ECW, they also helped to run it, so you I hope you can understand where they might be pissed at seeing something they loved and helped to build get raped by Vince McMahon. Most of the WWE marks have no clue about how important and special ECW was in the grand scheme of American wrestling, but that's okay, not everyone is informed. The level of respect that company had from the wrestling community was unrivaled and something that couldn't be bought. Hell, Vince stole the whole formula and just put better lights and pyro behind it for the Attitude Era. I'm just a fan and am disgusted and pissed off to no end with what's been done to the ECW brand name, so I can't begin to imagine how much some of the former worker's feel about it.

well said my friend

 

[Kasey]

think again, genius. they do ring a bell. by the way, your narrow minded definition doesnt cover everything. samoa joe was a heel and a credible threat, he didnt need low blows or eye pokes, he was just viscious. same as angle is now.some heels have crediblity. deal with it. you're comparing AJ to the Rock? he's hardly there yet.

That was never my definition. Just me trying to ascertain exactly what his was, maybe? Notice the question afterwards, chucko? Credibility is a matter of perspective and taste as to whether or not a heel turn is working. Joe was never a bona fide heel. The lines of who is "good" and who is "bad" have been blurred and destabilized in American wrestling ever since the NWO came to prominence. If Joe was a textbook definition heel he would've been booed. He wasn't. He got mad pops that only a couple of other guys in TNA could even hope to duplicate. He's in the same anti-hero category as the other guys. The first example of which IS the NWO. Hence my earlier post. They were the first really "cool heels" by any sort of modern definition because even though they were the bad guys, the fans still loved 'em and ate the gimmick up. I wasn't comparing A.J. to The Rock, but rather Styles' situation regarding his character, so don't get ahead of yourself. He, like Mr. Johnson, was pushed initially as a goody-two-shoes who couldn't smile enough but had zero drawing ability or emotional content with regards to his character. They're tearing him down to rebuild him. Just like Russo/McMahon/Ferarra did with Dwayne back in 1998. Remember the kind of response Rock got when he turned "face" again? The fans worshipped him because they had helped him perfect the character and create a vast wealth of charisma. Something that, as much as I love A.J. he could use a little more of. Re-inventions like these don't always pay off, and sometimes they start out rough. Austin was just like this. His whole scheme was a skidmark and didn't pick up remotely any momentum in the WWF until his feud with Hart turned him into a god. From then on, he just had to coast the ship in on auto pilot.

 

[Kasey]

1. you said define heel wrestling.
2. you used lacking examples to and that covered more in ring psychology.

Samoa Joe was booked as a heel for very long time. Wearing a towel of Daniels' blood isnt exactly the friendlies thing you could do, nor the strongest shade of grey. Which I'm all for, I'd wish they'd do more of it actually.thanks.

Being booked for something and getting over with it are two separate things. Joe could've been booked wearing a pair of Satan's undershorts and he still would've been cheered. Hell, most of the people at the Impact Zone were eating it up when he kicked Daniels' head into a guardrail. Yes, I did ask him to define it...from his perspective. Not yours. I used lacking examples? In what way?

 

[Uncle Sam]

I think it's difficult to sell someone with such a crowd-pleasing wrestling style as AJ's as a heel. I was surprised how well he's actually doing and I thought he had great chemistry during his interview with Christian Cage.