The house that AJ Styles built ...

[Zeven_Zion]

How many times have we heard him say this? A lot.

I saw a thread the other day by rattlesnake4eva, noting that whoever ends Immortal will become the next megastar of pro wrestling, or at least the biggest star TNA has.

I have a feeling that there'll be lots of jumping ships from Immortal to the face faction ( whatever it is ) and from the face faction to Immortal. I see one of these jumps being AJ. It would make complete sense since he aligned himself with Flair and the rest of the originals to run TNA, and now Hogan and Bischoff took it over. It seemed like a decision Flair made, not a decision Fourtune made. Plus, on ReAction they said that they just added two-three guys to Fourtune to run the company which was kind of silly. AJ never said he liked any of them and he could see this is a hostile take over, as two guys trying to ruin the house that AJ Styles buit.

I don't know if it was just my imagination but AJ seemed so bummed out during their segment on Thursday. He had this weird look on his face, as if he hated being in that ring. It wasn't just him, all of Fourtune looked uneasy. Personally, I like everything about this storyline EXCEPT the fact that AJ is just some guy in it while he should have a more important role. I'm a huge AJ mark and he's arguably the best wrestler TNA has. Not to take anything away from Kurt, but AJ is AJ and AJ could do what Kurt does, I doubt that Kurt can do what AJ does.

My question is this : do you think it'll be good for AJ to turn on Immortal and be a face again, ultimately being the key player in their demise and becoming what AJ should be right now -- and that's THE guy in TNA, World Title or no World Title?

 

[Reddannihilation]

I also think it'll be AJ who leads the charge. A heel Jeff Hardy fighting a face AJ Styles, sounds like a good idea to me. I'd say a few Fourtune members will stick with Flair, probably the ones who need him more like Kaz and Morgan. AJ, maybe BMI. Personally I'd prefer an "unaligned faces vs. Immortal" deal instead of faction v. faction. Hopefully over the next few months we'll see Fourtune members having arguments with Immortal before causing your standard split.

 

[Trill Co$by]

I would say so... Simply because, I believe a huge money maker for TNA right now would be a quick AJ vs. Jeff Hardy rivalry. The two are quite similar, and they've had two one off matches in the past, but they need to make a rivalry from it. Hell, they need to use it as a gateway to unify the titles... or not even that. Have the two champions battle for each title and then have said champions retain, or even switch hands.

But yeah AJ is the face of the company, no matter what alignment you put him as.

 

[Dzone]

AJ is the best wrestler TNA has and he's an original which just makes it all the better. I'm liking the Television Title and WHC unification thing, it may work and it will bring more prestige to the X-Division.

TNA does eventually need a true babyface and AJ is just about the best babyface I can think of. He's already got amazing status in TNA's wrestling history and this will seriously solidify him into the history books of TNA and maybe even pro-wrestling as a whole, he may be the guy that makes Vince think twice about the competition (which would make a great story in itself).

 

[mrbooker]

I have said this many times before and the simple fact is AJ styles cannot draw, is he great in the ring absolutley, but so is daniel bryan, so was eddie guerruero and he got a world title at then end of his career.

The problem is no one CARES!!! if its the house AJ styles built. Is it really something to be proud of if Dixie hired hogan and bischoff to save "Aj's House." The only way I could see this work is if Aj is somehow responsible for being Hardy's lackey and helping Hardy retain at a PPV at the point were he and fans are disgusted.

Then through various weeks of impact Aj wrestles and each week series of clips play from Aj's past him bein x division champ, memorable matches, him winning the WHC title, him and no one else knowing who is playing it and one night he gets abducted, I would even show it on reaction in the middle of a promo the lights backstage go out, and you hear a voice saying "after all we have done for you, after all the memories, this is what you become" you hear Aj getting jumped and he is written off for awhile.

Have Sting come back once Immortals have full reign and have sting get on the mic and claim he is done with wrestling, he talks about how he came to TNA to make wrestling stand for something again, and talks about how his choices in TNA have always been to inspire wrestlers not to blanket them. Immortal jumps Sting and the lights go out to Aj Styles is standing in the ring with a bat and cleans house gets on the mic and cuts a pormo about how BFG was a stain on the name of TNA an does not represet TNA, he remembers TNA's BFG as the PPV where a legend had his chance to add more gold to his hall of fame career and choose to let him have a chance to full fill his destiny. He can also state other grat bound for glory moments. He then states that from this moment forward the one thing Aj styles will be known for is putting Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Ric flair out of the wrestling business permanently.

And they would have to build Aj styles all over again and slowly my only worry is that Pope, Anderson, and even Somoa Joe would most likely play this part better for taking TNA back but because mic talent is going to be crucial you cant fight flair, hogan, bischoff in a match, you have to get the better of them on the mic. I understand Aj fits the mold better because of his past credentials, over his actual talents right now.

The problem with AJ styles is no one really knows what he has done since Hogan and Bishoff came to TNA, He needs to be that guy that was the shyt back then and now needs to prove that he is just as good against the new competition then the old.

I always knock Aj becaue people are so quick to say he needs a title shot he needs to be in the big picture, no he doesn't he needs to prove that he is major player on the TNA 2010 roster which he has not done. He needs to have solid face promos, hype, consistent wins over talent that matters, and his in ring ability will speak for itself.

As crazy as it sounds Aj Styles DOES needs to be built up again, simply saying this is the house Aj styles built isnt going to cut it anymore it makes AJ look weak that its the house that he built yet it paid of hogan and bischoff to rescue it, and now he is the maid of his company. He needs to have the sting attitude pre-crow when the outsiders first came he needs to be the guy that represents TNA and shows it, no gold around his waste necessary, if anything the need to sell AJ as the main line of dfense for TNA, they need to remind the crowd, and show all new TNA fans just who AJ styles is and what he can do inside the ring.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

As crazy as it sounds Aj Styles needs to be built up again, simply saying this is the house Aj styles built isnt going to cut it anymore it makes AJ look weak that its the house that he built yet it paid of hogan and bischoff to rescue it. He needs to have the sting attitude pre crow when the outsiders first came he needs to be the guy that represens TNA and shows it no gold around his waste necessary they need t remind the crowd who AJ styles is and what he can do.

That's my point exactly. It's weird and wrong but TNA absolutely killed AJ Styles as a persona, as presence, in-ring ability and how symbollic he was to TNA. They bought other guys but none of them, NONE have what AJ has.

AJ needs to go back to basics, start from scratch, and him reclaiming his house can only be the beginning of it so people will take him seriously as he goes back to where he's supposed to be. Personally, I'm not okay with just KNOWING that AJ is TNA. TNA fans know it, we know AJ and who he is and what he can do - new fans don't. TNA's biggest problem right now ( IMO ) is that they're writing for TNA fans, and outsiders cannot possibly understand who's who unless they watch for two, three weeks straight, and most people don't have enough patience for such a small company. TNA's great, but it ain't much at first glance. To be a TNA fan you need to get to know it, it doesn't have that presentation it should, something that matches its potential.

However, I know a lot of WWE fans who don't like TNA, don't watch it, but know of this "AJ" guy and have seen his stuff around the web and love his style.

AJ can't draw -- but that doesn't mean that he WON'T draw. HBK didn't draw at first, Rocky didn't draw, noone drew from the start, they only started drawing when the machine got behind them. AJ's got the tools.

AS optimistic as I am, I believe that TNA has only like 4-5 TNA originals that can draw and make it big. AJ, Joe, MCMG, Bobby Roode ( dude's got so much potential, it's crazy ). I'd love to see these guys be a crucial part of the big storylines. But for now, I just want AJ to be given what he deserves and that's a spot as one of THE top guys, not just on theory.

Styles is not meant to be in a group. Groups and Tag-Teams are for guys who need to establish credibility with the fans, or already established wrestlers, forming a group for a short period of time, just so they can put over another group of up and comers. Guys like Kaz, Doug Williams, Matt Morgan, etc. AJ should be nowhere NEAR a tag-team or a faction. The guy shines best when he's on his own. For cryin' out loud he made Rob Terry look like million bucks. I see AJ on the card against just about anyone - I'll buy it. He's worth the money 'cause fuck RVD, he's one of a kind.

I'm all for him beeing a heel, but the problem with that is that he can't allow himself to do all the awesome things he does in the ring because people cheer for him no matter what. I think he learned what he needed to learn from this heel turn - mic skills wise. I believe that was the whole point of it. AJ did fairly well as a heel, now it's time to move on.

Like you said, to realize what and who AJ is all you need to do is let him do his thing and wrestle. That's all. For some stupid ass reason TNA ain't doing that.

 

[mrbooker]

Well put my biggest gripe is Aj needs to be given the go head to show what he is all about, give me the best Aj Styles on screen, in a storyline, the main part I liked about OP was he mentioned AJ with no title implications just going against THEY. So many people are quick to throw AJ back into the spotlight, like i said give me a solid AJ styles every week and let me see how good he really is. This gives them a chance to test the waters with guys to go against Hardy with Pope, Anderson, and Joe. Where its more about the title not TNA.

Sadly I dont see how AJ will turn face anytime soon, it would frankly take all the steam off of THEY as a serious threat. So at the same time im happy for it, right now I think TNA is in a test the water phase right now to see who is a big enough face to dethrown THEY right now as well is it Pope, Anderson, Joe, Angle. I easily coul see them with the Nwo type booking where Hard may lose the title but get it right back. To the point that taking down THEY is more important then the WHC. Kind of like the WCW days they tried it with Sting,Goldberg, Luger,Savage, Piper all taking their turn at the title or bringing down hogan in this case Jeff Hardy. Their is alot of plot that comes between now and when THEY are dethrowned I could see AJ, but at the same time it would not shock me at all to see Anderson, or Pope, or even Somoa Joe just because he has that bad ass persona

 

[shattered dreams]

Considering they kept the two groups named separately I definitely think it would not be surprising if they did not get along forever. However, I disagree that TNA killed AJ's persona. I am a huge fan of AJ but he never had a persona until recently. As much as we in the IWC enjoy the style of wrestling he brings, people do not tune in in mass for those high flying matches, they do it for stories and characters. He is finally getting a character over and the story just might be in the obvious contradiction of him playing second fiddle to an outsider. Not sure why everyone thinks AJ has lost something simply because he wrestles (and wins an amount) more appropriate to being a heel than he would as a face.

 

[TomServo]

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but AJ did not look very happy in the ring during the "celebration" and he sure didn't look very happy when Hardy was showing off the belt.

He doesn't seem to really be into it.

 

[Dzone]

If AJ wants to stay in this Immortal-Fortune *...wow... nice name there =]* make him the standout singles wreslter in Fortune and Hardy in Immortal then work it out to be AJ and a few others who take out Immortal. It basically needs to feel as though he isn't a part of the team but he's the leader of the team.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think a lot of fans of AJ Styles just want to see him back as a face because, most likely, he'll be back to the Styles of old. As a heel, I personally think Styles has had mixed results at best. He's improved some on the mic, but I just find his voice kind of annoying. If you change his hairstyle a bit, make him about 20 years older, 40 pounds heavier and put glasses on him, he'd look just like Jim Cornette and he sounds a lot like him too. Cornette has given fun interviews, but I just never took him seriously. For me, his voice just kind of annoys me.

In any case, I think lots are hoping to see Styles turn face during this storyline so he can stop being booked so weak in matches. I can't recall the last time Styles won a match without virtually half the TNA locker room helping him to win.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Firstly zeven zion thanks for mentioning that thread of mine where i mentioned that the guy who takes down immortal could be the next megastar of wrestling.

storyline wise i think aj would make the most sense because he is possibly the most popular tna original out there.this is the house he built and now some dude who smokes pot and wears stupid face paint aka jeff hardy has come and practically been gifted the title.what more the guy who he perceived as his mentor aka flair is also supporting hogan's decision.so it could all build up to the point that he snaps and takes down hardy

the only doubt that i have is that i dont think aj is the most charismatic guy out there.sure he is tna's greatest wrestler with the possible exception of angle but thats all there is to his personality.what i also mentioned in my megastar thread was that the guy only has a chance to become a megastar if he has truckloads of charisma.does aj have that?can aj engage in a verbal war with guys like hogan and flair??

i would love it to be true but i do believe that he will be one of the players who take they down but not the main guy.

i believe the main player will possibly be anderson or pope with my preference being towards pope because

1.i like him more than anderson

2.he was in a faction with guys like sting and nash.two huge names whichever way you see it.so it seems as if tna is slowly building pope up

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Firstly zeven zion thanks for mentioning that thread of mine where i mentioned that the guy who takes down immortal could be the next megastar of wrestling.

storyline wise i think aj would make the most sense because he is possibly the most popular tna original out there.this is the house he built and now some dude who smokes pot and wears stupid face paint aka jeff hardy has come and practically been gifted the title.what more the guy who he perceived as his mentor aka flair is also supporting hogan's decision.so it could all build up to the point that he snaps and takes down hardy

the only doubt that i have is that i dont think aj is the most charismatic guy out there.sure he is tna's greatest wrestler with the possible exception of angle but thats all there is to his personality.what i also mentioned in my megastar thread was that the guy only has a chance to become a megastar if he has truckloads of charisma.does aj have that?can aj engage in a verbal war with guys like hogan and flair??

i would love it to be true but i do believe that he will be one of the players who take they down but not the main guy.

i believe the main player will possibly be anderson or pope with my preference being towards pope because

1.i like him more than anderson

2.he was in a faction with guys like sting and nash.two huge names whichever way you see it.so it seems as if tna is slowly building pope up

I agree and you're welcome. I actually added your name to that post cuz I didn't know who the OP was.

And yeah, God gave AJ all the ability in the world, but little to no charisma. He sometimes stutters during his promos, forgets his thoughts or straight out messes words up. I don't have an issue with his charisma, I just don't like his mic skills. I can deal with his voice but he just doesn't have that "it" about his mic skills. He's not totally bad but more like .. meh. Nothing special. But then again, that's AJ for ya. I'll take that AJ over no AJ at all.

He's got a boatload of motives to turn on these guys, but at the same time Fourtune looks like shit if AJ's not in it. It's just Beer Money, Doug, Morgan and Kaz. Flair and AJ make that stable. Flair alone isn't credible enough to make me believe that these guys can whoop some ass and I blame that on TNA and the way they booked Fourtune. They should've been the Goldberg of stables. Run EV2 out of town, don't allow them to win a single big match. Nothing. The Lethal Letdown match at BFG should've ended in a complete and utter squash.

Thank God Fourtune saved some face last Thursday by becoming a part of Immortal. But still, AJ is just another troop. Usually he speaks and voices his opinion. Hell, at one point he was the spokesman of the group and I almost forgot about Flair.

But Jack-Hammer is right, I guess I want him face because faces are usually credible and win their matches. At the same time I like this AJ. I like the heel he is. He's cocky, brash, arrogant and he's got a reason. If they could somehow mix his current "badass" attitude and add some good guy patterns to it, they could turn him in quite the character. The best faces are not the goodie two shoes, it's the badass guys. They appeal to the public more because it's just unrealistic to have such Angels as Cena in real life. I believe AJ can pull it off.

 

[TomServo]

I think the right thing to do with AJ's character is to have him start feeling guilty about turning to the "dark side". Since there appears to be a biblical element to the booking/writing going on (antichrist of wrestling/Nash referencing the Bible and getting grayers "wisdom/compassion" I could see AJ going back to doing some soul searching and then become Dixie's last hope. Sort of a bizarre union of the biblical references and Star Wars where Angle or Nash or Sting become Obi Wan and Flair/Hardy/Bischoff become some odd Russo combination of Darth Vader, the Emperor and Satan himself. Have Hardy win vs RVD and maybe Anderson and then Pope...making THEM look all powerful. Until AJ comes back to avenge.

AJ's redemption vs Jeff Hardy's antichrist of wrestling.

The only problem is, where do Angle and Joe fit into that?

In reality, the only person that makes sense to be the savior of TNA is the guy who is MOST branded TNA other than Jarret, and that is AJ Styles. But it will probably be Angle. I could see Angle being the Obi Wan and passing the torch to AJ by letting AJ save the company or fight the big one.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

Great thread, I've been pissed off lately about the way TNA has been treating AJ Styles. He's either Ric Flair's clown, or just a sideline character. AJ Styles help build TNA, same with Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels. Look at their positions in TNA right. Or out of TNA right now. Samoa Joe and AJ Styles should tag team and take on Immortal themselves. It sounds silly, but it`s the unlikely tag team. They`ve been feuding with each other for so long, so many years ago, but theres someone else that they BOTH hate in TNA. They should be the most dominating force in TNA, hell, if they can hire back Christopher Daniels, he should team up with them too. They should call themselves, The Originals. Just my opinion.

 

[rondiesel2005]

i had this conversation with a friend of mine Thursday after watching TNA that for some reason the fractions now are too big. And if they going to have a fraction like that, AJ styles needs to be someone of a savior of TNA to take back what's theirs. I don't mind AJ Styles as heel but its time for him to go back to being face. I mean with Angle taking time off, Nash and sting leaving and probably coming back. With Anderson and The Pope as babyface I don't see them being top face of the company unless they have either AJ styles or Joe with them.

I hope TNA doesn't involve EV.2 in this storyline, I careless about EV.2 anyway

 

[mvalley]

One year ago A.J. Styles was in a decent storyline where he was about to retire, was convinced otherwise by Sting, won the world title, and beat Sting cleanly to end Sting's BFG streak. A year later he lost to Dreamer as part of Fortune in the upper mid-card part of the card. Talk about a turn around. Only Daniels, who went from main event to losing to Val Venis in the opener, has had it worse.

However, this seems to be how Styles goes. I remember when he was going for the NWA / TNA title, only to be part of a comedy act a few years later with Tomko, playing second fiddle to Christian Cage and Kurt Angle. He then turned it around completely and was back on top, having the longest title reign in TNA.

Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me to see Styles turn face again. It is about time for him to "turn around" again. Furthermore, for a little while it looked like he was going to turn face anyway after Flair was berating him. Instead, he joined Fortune. It wouldn't be hard for those old feelings to come up again, with Styles thinking / feeling Flair isn't acting on his best interests.

As stated above, a Hardy / Styles match would be a dream match, and one they have more or less held off on for a PPV since Hardy arrived. In addition, with half the top faces turning heel, TNA really needs to strength their face roster, and Styles would make a perfect addition. Furthermore, given he has been with TNA since the beginning and is honestly the embodiment of TNA much like Sting was for WCW, it would only make sense to have Styles lead the charge against Hogan, Hardy, etc.

I foresee the face turn coming very soon. Styles turned heel in mid-January and having Flair as his manager has run its course. Furthermore, it was never that great of a mixture; there is and will only be one Ric Flair, and there is and will only be one A.J. Styles. Both men are great, and really don't need one another to add to their greatness. Furthermore, fans have been wanting to be behind (and many still are) Styles since he turned heel because inside the ring he is excellent.

Right now, Angle and Anderson are the top faces. Angle is obviously going to feud with Jarrett while Anderson has a match with Hardy. I wouldn't be surprised to see Anderson win by DQ, then lose to Hardy the next month in a ladder match due to interference from Hogan, Flair, and everyone else. After that, you'd probably see Angle (who will feud with Jarrett for a while) face Hardy in a match where "there must be a winner" only for Jarrett to use his trusty guitar. Their feud will continue, Anderson will probably feud with Hogan or Abyss, and RVD will finally get a shot at Hardy (wasn't he suppose to get a shot at the next PPV though?). RVD will lose, probably due to Abyss.

During all this time, tension will mount, probably with something like Styles versus Kaz with the loser having to lose fortune. Flair will turn on Styles, kicking him out of Fortune, only for Styles to face and defeat Kaz at the next PPV, then Flair at the PPV following that one.

 

[Dean Winchester]

Yeah AJ a better face then heel, he just not interesting anymore, and as Fortune he kinda like the bacbone so like at times I do not even realize he is even in the group thts how much he just disappered from bein important. Plus he is just a natural fce he is not a heel,some people can be both a face and a heel, but AJ s better suited as a face rather then a heel. I like to see him in the future going back to being a face.

 

[Kaneanite]

I was kind of certain that it would unfortunately be RVD that is the one who tries to lead the charge against Immortal. Please correct me if I'm wrong because I didn't watch BFG only saw results and I haven't seen Impact in awhile but hasn't Jeff and RVD been confronting eachother? At least through Jeff's promos? And also shouldn't RVD have a title shot since it was vacated from him because of the attack Abyss gave him... who also happens to be a member of BFG? It seems like it's set up for RVD.

I'd rather see Styles too, though. He deserves it and I really think they're wasting his talents right now. Or at least wasting his charisma.

 

[CyDeez]

It HAS to be AJ for him to be truly effective in all this.

It sets up an awesome feud with Jeff Vs. AJ.

With someone or some group trying to take over TNA, it should be Styles to be the guy to step up and fight for "his company".

To be honest, not that he is doing a bad job, but I am a little tired of AJ as a Heel. I like Fortune and think they could go places. But I truly prefer AJ Styles as a Face!

This is the perfect time for him to come with some Face turn on Ric Flair and the big overall group.

When Hardy cut his in ring promo on Impact, AJ basically looked uninterested to a certain extent, in the background.

Also, my last statement is something that should never be said in, or about TNA, "AJ STYLES IN THE BACKGROUND"!!!!

 

[barclayteo]

sadly i dont see tna being around to much longer. because of dixie this is not about her being a woman its about she knows nothing bout the buisness and tna needs to be run by someone who knows the buisness and she dosent i used to be a hugh hulkamaniac. but him and eric are running tna into the ground as soon as they arrived tna lost half their great talent and the other half are being treated like red headed step children. aj, samoa joe, and kurt are their only real shot i want tna to rise so much but as long as hulk and eric are their its only a matter of time and dixie either needs to leave or be a behind the scenes boss with no twitter account. because aj is one of the best wrestlers to date and if tna fails i bet he would be nothn but a jobber in tna. sorry that i went off topic but if things dont change tna is only gonna get worse then mr macmahon is going to close down another place.

 

[SpecialFNK]

lets see. Dixie knows nothing about wrestling and should not be running TNA. enter Hogan and Bischoff who do know a lot about wrestling, but they too should not be running TNA? I guess TNA can't win.
TNA won't be going anywhere anytime soon. even if this angle completely fails that would not be enough to destroy the company.

I would love to see AJ Styles turn on Fortune. in order for it to start to work it needs to be Styles being the one to turn on Flair/Fortune/Immortal. I don't think Styles alone could turn on them, he would have to have some help. maybe this is where one/some of Sting/Nash/Angle could convince Styles to turn.
Styles never drew before because even as TNA champion a lot of people didn't know who he was. I think now with the addition of the likes of Hogan/Hardy who are well known by general WWE fans that at this point if Styles was to be main event again more people would take notice. having him be the one to beat Hardy could also help.

I think it would be benificial for the future of TNA to have Styles in the main event title scene even regardless whether its face or heel. I think he would make a better face. then at that point I think TNA would have to do a better job of marketing him so that more people do know who he is.

 

[onemandynasty08]

I see AJ Styles turning face in the future, but I don't see him turning on his own. I believe that with the spotlight now on Jeff Hardy and fortune joining with Immortal, AJ Styles is not going to be pleased with sharing the spotlight and they will kick him out soon, and he will become a face again.