Don't Ruin It This Time Around

[EnterTamed]

the past 3 months he has been ending the show, i mean his match with joe, tomko, angle several times, he's been the main guy. I believe AJ has plenty of charisma, heck i know he does, just isn't that good on the mic, everyone says jeff hardy has charisma and why? becuase he gets the fans behind him and the only thing he ever does in the match is take his shirt off and flip off something. Waltman used to have a lot of charisma, having charisma and talking are two completely different things. Hell you could make a case that hornswoggle has the most charisma of anyone in the business, Abyss has a ton of charisma, doesn't mean i want to hear him talk like a d bag.

but that aside, i think it is smart to do this with styles and flair, but personally i dont know if he is personally that much of an asshole in real life to bring that into the character. usually you can find a bit of each person into the character they portray, the only thing with styles is that he would just be the best in the ring(up to opinion), every interview i've seen with AJ he seemed pretty humble, even if the character isn't so well he at least has in ring ability to fall back on. honestly the best potential heel for the company in my opinion is alex shelley if they ever let him be a singles competitor again, he was great in 05/06

 

[Double J]

...Abyss has a ton of charisma, doesn't mean i want to hear him talk like a d bag.

A little off topic for a second, but I actually liked the Abyss/Anderson segment last night. I wish they're let Abyss act like a psychotic monster like that and he can still be face. I liked the way he stuck up behind Anderson and the facial expressions, but I hate afterwards his segment with Bishoff "Will I be ok here? I'm so sorry Mr. Bishoff".... You can't call someone a 'monster' and then make them act like that...

As for Styles, personally I think he sounds worse as a heel. I didn't care for his promo last night at all, he just sounded more fake than usual. I agree I think he would of been better off being TNA's version of Cena.

 

[Airfixx]

Shoulda aimed for the stars with AJ as a face. By all means pair him with Naitch, but turning AJ heel atm makes no sense unless they're gonna use him to put a Hernandez, Morgan, Pope or someone over, but that too IMO would be a bad call as arguably AJ still isn't at that kinda level... He needed an epic title run where he was booked time after time to dazzle all the fans with his ring work only to e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y get strewed outta the belt and then either taking up the title chase as the wronged face OR starting a bitter, cheated heel turn.

 

[noumenon]

Definitely. I was thinking the same thing. Unless TNA has some other star that they're banking on right now that they believe can carry the company on their shoulders as a face this was honestly a bit of an iffy move. Sure for the time being they've shifted back to Angle holding the face card, but it really wasn't necessary at all. The pairing with Naitch is cool, as I think AJ really does have a lot to learn as far as projecting his character and getting himself over on the mic. However, they could have paired the two and perhaps gone to route of teasing that Ric was maybe luring him towards the "dark side" and having negative effects on AJ. Obviously with Sting looming in the rafters they of course could go down the road of Sting being disappointed with AJ and yada yada, but then who are they going to be putting over as the next top face ? Sting? Huh!?
Perhaps someone like Pope is almost ready to step up? Though I'm not sure about the choice in opting to build off of him instead of AJ. Desmond Wolfe is still pretty new and pretty freshly and solidly heel to boot, so a face turn would be extreme back peddling on his account. Had AJ remained face it would have opened up the avenue for him to go against guys like Anderson, Desmond and others who I'm guessing this year will be the big up and coming heels in the company.

Kind of an odd decision all around. A company should be build around a strong marketable face, not a heel. And that's exactly what AJ was. Unless TNA is just content in marketing around Hogan's name?

 

[Mike Chaos]

Ok so if anyone remembers TNA when CC was there and It was AJ and Tomko tagging. You know how horrible AJ was as a heel. They made him look Blue with Angle and a dumb blonde if you will. Now he has turned once again do you think TNA will screw it up or will they do a better job? Do you think Flair can help it any or not?

They are actually going to make him a real dumb blonde this time. I read they are bleaching his hair to make him look more like Flair. I really hope that isn't a true news story.

 

[noumenon]

Post it or gtfo. That's horrible... you better be lying.

 

[Airfixx]

LOL.... Tragic, but funny as fuck!

 

[Mike Chaos]

http://www.gerweck.net/news/1264450465.shtml

http://www.impactwrestling.com/Content.aspx?ID=31138

TNA = MADNESS

 

[Mike Chaos]

Lance Storm also posted this on his website he makes a few good points.

"I’m not going to say this is wrong or even a definite bad idea, only time will tell for sure, but I hated AJ Styles as the new Nature Boy. There are a ton of things that needed fixing in TNA but AJ Styles isn’t one of them. One of the reasons the Nature Boy gimmick worked so well for Ric Flair was that he lived it; he really did live this life style. AJ Styles is about as far from this gimmick in real life as humanly possible. The only person that might be less suited for this gimmick is me. I also think AJ as a heel is a terrible idea because most of the appeal of AJ Styles is all the phenomenal stuff he does. AJ does cool sh## and has great matches, so why would I want to boo him? The answer is I don’t, I like and respect AJ for how hard he works and I enjoy matching his matches. AJ Styles acting like a Ric Flair wanna be is just going to make him look like a second rate worker marking out for a guy he sees as a bigger star than himself. Also, on a production note, book SHORTER girls! Why did no one notice that these girls were TALLER than the World Heavyweight Champion, and point out that this is a bad visual on TV? AJ got in the ring and stood between Flair’s two girls and they were both taller than him. Book shorter girls or make them take off their heels when they get in the ring!

To me this angle is a sabotaging push. You claim to be pushing a guy while you force him out of his own element as a character, put him in a situation (being a heel) that limits his strengths in the ring, you then over shadow him with someone who is supposed to give him the rub and do underhanded things that make him look bad (like having him look small standing beside girls) and then when he isn’t as over as he is supposed to be at the end of it all, you point out that you tried real hard, “but the kid just couldn’t get over” and put all the blame on him and then go on to push who you originally wanted to in the first place. I hope I’m wrong, but the alternative to this being a clever way of making AJ fail, is that they are actually trying to succeed and are making this many mistakes unknowingly. I’m not sure which is worse."

www.stormwrestling.com/012310.html

 

[xtremebadass]

OMG AJ bleaching his hair? TNA is seriously doomed. They are going to take AJ's old moveset away next. He will only be limited to low blows, eye pokes, and figure fours.

 

[noumenon]

Yup, Storm's got it. AJ definitely needed to rub a little mic skills off of Flair, but acting like him was no way to do it. Seeing AJ "woo'ing" and strutting was pretty painful to watch.

 

[xtremebadass]

I found it utterly hilarious in a very pathetic way. AJ is TNA's golden boy, it's a shame what they think they have to do to make him "the man" in their eyes.

 

[MizMasta3000]

I don't like the looks of it already. He acted like a 10 yr old kid with too much candy in him.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

What was once a really great idea is being shat on by TNA. Good lord, it was a simple enough premise: pair the top young guy with limitless in-ring ability, but can't talk, with a man who is amongst the best to ever do it. Flair covers AJ's inefficiencies and helps legitimize AJ while AJ gets a rub and some valuable education.

But we get the good ol TNA rehash and weeze bullshit booking that is just crippling that company. I mean, why the fuck is it necessary to make him the "Next Nature Boy"? He just isn't that type of guy and why would you sacrifice the image he built up just because Flair is in his corner and he is the Nature Boy? Look what he did for the Batista and Orton, why not follow that simplicity? Storm is right, it sounds like sabotage, but in truth, it's just that the people who run TNA are just so god damned stupid. From Russo to Hogan and Bischoff to Dixie Dumbtwat, they have no idea what works these days or how to make a unique and fresh product or star. This is exactly case in point. They took such a simple and time tested approach to help their champ and it appears to be turning into a giant mess.

 

[noumenon]

TNA are in the mindset right now that they need to take everything to the next level and to the extreme, and they're dead set on gutting the product and re-sculpting it. I severely hope that in the coming weeks they realize how badly it came across with him trying to talk, walk and act like Flair. You wanna stick a few girls on his arm, whatever, go for it. But don't mess with the essence of his character completely.
Hell, I would have been perfectly satisfied with AJ coming out with the hood over his face, and a "holier than thou" wrestling god attitude. Have Flair become the guy's total and complete mouthpiece. Building up how phenomenal the guy is, and how he refuses to accept matches with those below his caliber, ect. ect. For a guy who's been in the company 7 years this could have been AJ's true proving point and "big break" in his career so to speak. This could very well be remembered as one of the low points of his character.