News More on Styles and other talent negotiating. Who has taken over for Pritchard?

[Stopspot]

As Mike reported earlier today on the site, AJ Styles' contract with TNA will be ending very soon. Unlike in the past with TNA however this is not a case of a contract expiring abruptly. Styles and TNA management have been in talks for a new deal for a while now. They have yet to agree on a new deal but discussions are ongoing. But there is a very real possibility that Styles will leave TNA and there is only one reason for that: Money.

John "Big" Gaburick has replaced Bruce Prichard as the man in charge of Talent Relations for TNA. People in TNA have described the company as going through a period of transition right now. Having worked in the past for WWE, Gaburick brings in knowledge as to how things work in a successful wrestling promotion and he is implementing them now. At the same time, TNA is working under a budget more now than they ever have in the past and when that is the case, hard choices have to be made. While everyone I spoke to in TNA told me that they want AJ to stay, it will come down to whether the deal makes sense to them financially. From AJ's perspective, he has over a decade of service and goodwill with the company. Like anyone in that position, he doesn't want to stay even or go backward financially. TNA management understands that but they also realize that they don't have unlimited finances and thus have to spend their money as judiciously as possible. They want AJ to stay but they also understand that if he can get a better deal for his family, he should take it and move on.

The company has set an objective recently to try and uncover young talent. Going foward, they will be looking for young workers to add to their roster. The sad reality of the situation is that after a decade in TNA, their audience has plateaued. It could be that AJ's experience and tenure have priced him out of TNA. If they can bring in four or five guys for the price of his contract, it is something that they have to consider.
There are at least two other wrestlers being affected by the new reality of TNA right now as well. They are Ken Anderson and the person that loses the fall of tonight's match on Impact. Anderson is in a similar situation to AJ in that the sides are still talking and it could go either way but will probably go down to the wire. The person that loses tonight's fall is said to be leaving in the next month or two.
It should also be noted that every single talent in TNA's contract is, or has been, evaluated by management. For those of you who know NFL football and the salary cap, think about it in those terms. There have been countless beloved superstar athletes that have been let go due to cold, hard finances. That is the exact position TNA is in right now.

Pwinsider

 

[seabs]

AJ never struck me as the take a ton of money from the company kind of guy so that being the stumbling point is surprising.

 

[Stopspot]

AJ never struck me as the take a ton of money from the company kind of guy so that being the stumbling point is surprising.

Yeah he does seem to be one of those guys going on loyalty and gives and gives and gives. But my experience is a lot of those guys reach a limit (usually due to age) where they realize they need to make more since their career is starting to wind down.

His kids might be nearing college age and he wants to make sure they get the best possible thing i dunno. While A doesn't seem like the guy who wants a lot of cash out of the company I can still see it being a factor. If you sacrifice a lot from the company you're gonna want something back I guess.

 

[Testify]

AJ Styles has 3 kids and a wife at home. It's only logical he wants bigger paychecks and I have zero problem with him wanting raise (no matter if it's 1 million a year).

Oh, and if AJ Styles is gone from TNA Wrestling, I'm done watching TNA.

TNA is not TNA without AJ Styles, it's just the way it is. And here's a quick solution: don't re-sign Hogan's and Anderson's contracts, and raise AJ Styles' pay. It's very simple.

 

[Nick]

AJ Styles has 3 kids and a wife at home. It's only logical he wants bigger paychecks and I have zero problem with him wanting raise (no matter if it's 1 million a year).

Oh, and if AJ Styles is gone from TNA Wrestling, I'm done watching TNA.

TNA is not TNA without AJ Styles, it's just the way it is. And here's a quick solution: don't re-sign Hogan's and Anderson's contracts, and raise AJ Styles' pay. It's very simple.

The only problem with that is you're thinking logically. TNA doesn't think logically

 

[Leo C]

Not re-signing AJ is a stupid move. I mean, is Hogan really that much of an asset? What about Anderson? Not a hard decision here.

 

[CFCrusader]

Re-sign AJ, but get rid of Hogan. Anderson should be there for teh lulz. #August1WarningReactions

 

[Testify]

-There are many in the company who feel that certain names in TNA will be there until they retire. These names include AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, James Storm, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe and others. There is a possibly unfounded rumor that WWE won't touch any of these guys because they have been established in TNA. All of these guys are also older and have made most of their career in TNA.

- The reason I bring this up is because of the AJ Styles contract situation. Right now its being seen as both parties getting down to business. AJ will try and get as much as he can out of TNA while TNA will try and get AJ at the lowest price they can. In the end, it is believed they will sign AJ to a new long-term contract.

- If AJ does go, he will be taking a step down. WWE is unlikely for him, Japan would require him to be away from his family and he won't make as much money on the indies. He is also a major part of TNA. All signs point to TNA wanting to keep him so I expect that it will happen.

- Finally, my sources feel that TNA wouldn't have placed AJ in such a prominent role on the past taping had they not been confident in his re-signing with TNA. The plan (as it has been) is to do Bully Ray vs AJ Styles at Bound For Glory.

-TNAsylum.com

:

 

[Stopspot]

Its one thing being confident. Its another thing actually putting money where your mouth is so to speak.

 

[Testify]

AJ Styles just tweeted:

"Dolph'sZiggler can kiss my behind. RT"

Spoiler

:boss:

:tyson:

 

[Cloud]

AJ Styles just tweeted:

"Dolph'sZiggler can kiss my behind. RT"

Spoiler

:boss:

:tyson:

That seems to me he's coming an i understand as you get older money becomes a big thing its starting to for me u need paychecks to set ur family up so imo go AJ. Why not no worse than most bloody footy players.

 

[Aids Johnson]

AJ Styles just tweeted:

"Dolph'sZiggler can kiss my behind. RT"

Spoiler

:boss:

:tyson:

Dolph'sZiggler

 

[Aids Johnson]

AJ Styles just tweeted:

"Dolph'sZiggler can kiss my behind. RT"

Spoiler

:boss:

:tyson:

Dolph'sZiggler