A.J. Styles future?

[The Doctor]

A.J. Styles is musing over his future. His contract with TNA expires
later this year, believed to be in September, and he is yet to discuss a
new deal with the company. "I'd like to stay with TNA," Styles told the
Winnipeg Sun. "But this is a business ... this is what I do. I will make
sure my business grows to support my family." Styles was offered a $500
per week WWE developmental contract shortly before TNA open their doors
around two years ago. At the time he felt he could earn more money with
TNA along with outside bookings. Those close to Styles say he doesn't
regret turning down the offer at the time, but now he is said to be
strongly considered working for the McMahons, who would obviously sign
him up in a heartbeat.

from Mike Aldren <[e-mail]

[MikeMcKinney]

He should stay right where he is. Cause we all know WWE pushes size and A J is not very big. If he were 6' 3" and 280 lbs. he would get a chance, but at 5 foot something and maybe 220 no way . Vince likes the big boys the little man has no place in the WWE.

[BrianU]

Styles was a champ for and made a star by TNA. WWE seems to enjoy jobbing wrestlers who were made a star by another fed.

[Mad Dog]

It's still early to be considering this. He's got probably six months left on his deal and they won't start talking about it till summer.

I'm guessing the WWE will show no interest or lowball him on a deal again. They passed over almost the entire roster when contracts were first offered.

[ringking]

What about Paul London? He was in TNA a good amount of time before he was picked up by WWE. And now London is cruiser champ.

[Mad Dog]

Yeah but working in the WWF was a dream job for London. Styles has already turned them down over money/lack of use. Styles won't go unless they make a really good offer for him.

[MikeMcKinney]

A J is a headliner in TNA. He would be just another little guy in WWE. He should stay 4 less money and be a star!!!!!!! not a jobber, 4 some no talent, big gimick guy that vince feels the people want 2 see.

[pikemojo]

If you need proof of WWE jobbing guys who were made by other companies look at: Booker T, Nash, Scott Steiner, RVD, Raven, and Shane Helms. Now I know that there can be arguments made about some of the guys on this list but they were all legit stars in WCW and ECW.
WWE and in general its fans have the opinion that WWE is and has always been the best company with the best stars no matter what. Booker T, Steiner, and Nash were all WCW world champs and when they got to WWE they all got their title matches and lost and then got their rematches and lost. All 3 "jobbed" to HHH. RVD has always been over. There have been a couple of times in his WWE tenure where he should have gotten the push toward the world title. Now maybe he shouldn't win the world title but you would at least think that he would get a shot every once in a while.
And Shane Helms. First off they renames him Gregory. Gregory!!! Is that the best they could come up with. Then after they determined that he wasn't marketable enough they gave him the Hurricane gimmick and then limited his move set a ton. They took away one of the most impressive moves I had seen in a long time, the vertebreaker. And when was the last time we actually saw the Hurricane really get a push. In WCW he was the center of their cruiserweight division while feuding with Chavo Guerrero. The 2 of them put on some great matches together. There is no debating that.
I know there are more examples and there are of course examples of WWE pushing stars from other companies as well so you can all make up your own minds about this but you now know what I think.

[JimSteel]

As I posted last night A.J. Styles has signed a long term contract to stay with the NWA-TNA through 2008 along with Christopher Daniels which is great news because Vince and the WWE would screw them big time and make them jobbers even I wouldn't mind seeing Styles vs Rey Mysterio,RVD or Eddie Guerrero

Same goes for Daniels. They are both great athletes

[Swarm]

mikemckinney said:

He should stay right where he is. Cause we all know WWE pushes size and A J is not very big. If he were 6' 3" and 280 lbs. he would get a chance, but at 5 foot something and maybe 220 no way . Vince likes the big boys the little man has no place in the WWE.

C'mon that's not true. Maybe in some examples, but clearly not company wide.

[thefamoustommyz]

I mostly agree, Swarm...but for a little guy to get a real push, he generally has to get REALLY over in another company, ala Rey-WCW...and TNA or ROH neither have the kind of exposure to let Styles get over enough to come in as a major player, sadly.

That said, another good steroid scandal and all the big guys would disappear again and Vince would be falling all over himself signing medium to small guys.

[Joe]

If he decides to sign with WWE, AJ Styles will be a superstar. I have no doubt about that.

It blows me away that fans who are so savvy and up on things that they use "insider" terms at a ridiculously alarming rate can advise someone such as Styles to remain in TNA rather than take a job with WWE.

Hell, why would he want to sign with WWE? Just look at the six guys Pikemojo named off of examples of how much WWE screws up its employees.

Booker T- He hates his job so much he decided to hold off on long-discussed retirement plans and signed a two-year contract extension.

Rob Van Dam- For the first time in his career he's getting paid what he should be getting paid. He doesn't have to destroy his body to the extent he always has, is still incredibly popular and even knows he's going to get paid when he is rehabbing an injury.

Shane Helms- First of all: GREGORY? GREGORY? Yeah, Shane is light years ahead of that as far as cool points go. Besides he doesn't go by either one anymore, he is simply The Hurricane, and I am quite sure that doesn't bother him. For one he is a lifetime super hero fan, it seems, and he gets a kickback from every Hurricane mask that gets sold. By the way, have you seen how those things apparently sell. Hasn't gotten a push? He pinned The Rock. He still gets to say that. Hell, JR even mentions it from time to time. Aside from that, he is one-half of the Tag Team champions and is being accompanied by Stacy Kiebler. Things could be worse plus, did I mention, he, too, is making a hell of a lot more money than almost anyone in TNA.

As for the other three Pikemojo mentioned, they are extremely poor examples of WWE misusing wrestlers from other companies.

Kevin Nash- He broke down practically every time he set foot in a WWE ring. Pike mentions him being forced to job to Triple H, but does he think it would have been better to have Triple H drop the WWE title to him in the Hell in a Cell match.

Scott Steiner- Steiner was damaged goods with a horrible reputation when he arrived in WWE. They built him up best they could, but what good would it have served for him to beat Triple H for the title.

Raven- A rather unique situation. Yes, Raven could have been used far better than he was. In my mind, Raven is one of the best characters in wrestling history. He was also in a very unique situation that many who leave WWE are not: He can still go in the ring and could make big money by calling his own shots and touring the indies or overseas.

The reason AJ Styles did not take the WWE's offer had something to do with his wife being in school and his using the logic that if WWE were willing to pay one amount for him then, given a couple years to shine on a national stage, they would pay more for him at a later date. Fact is, Styles is the first guy in a long time to wrestle in another promotion that fans are speaking about in the, "What if AJ wrestled so-and-so?" manner.

If he goes to WWE he will get over. Mark it down.

[pikemojo]

Well first of all I am not advising Styles to stay in TNA or not go to WWE ever or anything like that. That is certainly a decision that I cannot possibly make for him or even pretend that I know all of the thought that will be put into a situation like that when and if it should arrive.
You seem to be confusing money with a decent push with the company, Joe, which was what we were talking about in the first place. You can't honestly believe that since the Hurricane pinned the Rock a few years ago that he IS getting a push. And just because Stacy is accompanying him to the ring does not mean that he is getting a push.
and the fact that you think that RVD is guaranteed pay while he is injured is funny considering how many rather high up wrestlers have been fired recently, even some injured ones. Test and Matt Hardy come to mind. The even funnier part is that that is the reason that Austin and Waltman got so mad at Bischoff. He fired them while they were injured.
Now I will not respond to anything more said on this topic because the last thing we need is another argument about WWE/F vs. WCW/TNA/Japan/etc...
I have said my peace and I think I have made my points and I know that there are plenty that agree with me.

[Joe]

pikemojo said:

Well first of all I am not advising Styles to stay in TNA or not go to WWE ever or anything like that. That is certainly a decision that I cannot possibly make for him or even pretend that I know all of the thought that will be put into a situation like that when and if it should arrive.
You seem to be confusing money with a decent push with the company, Joe, which was what we were talking about in the first place. You can't honestly believe that since the Hurricane pinned the Rock a few years ago that he IS getting a push. And just because Stacy is accompanying him to the ring does not mean that he is getting a push.
and the fact that you think that RVD is guaranteed pay while he is injured is funny considering how many rather high up wrestlers have been fired recently, even some injured ones. Test and Matt Hardy come to mind. The even funnier part is that that is the reason that Austin and Waltman got so mad at Bischoff. He fired them while they were injured.
Now I will not respond to anything more said on this topic because the last thing we need is another argument about WWE/F vs. WCW/TNA/Japan/etc...
I have said my peace and I think I have made my points and I know that there are plenty that agree with me.

We are not arguing, we are discussing.

I do consider Hurricane to be getting a solid push. He is on TV nearly every week, and not many wrestlers can say that. He also is one-half, the star half, of the World Tag Team champions. What kind of push does he need? I cannot see him as a serious contender for the World title, so what better direction could he go in? Sure, he could feud with Shelton over the I-C belt, but that would mean turning him bad. If I am not mistaken, they tried to turn him bad a few months ago, and fans weren't really into it.

Matt Hardy did not get fired because of his injury, he got fired for personal reasons dealing with the whole Lita/Edge scenario.

Test did not get fired because he was injured. Test got released because, for several years, they tried to push him and the only time he ever got anywhere close to being over was a situation in which a female was the star of the show (i.e. Engagement to Stephanie, T & A, Stacy and the "Testicles"). To compare him and RVD is chicken salad and chicken... well, you know the saying.

Austin and Waltman got fired by Eric Bischoff while they were injured. What does that have to do with RVD being paid while he is injured working for Vince?

[thefamoustommyz]

That may be true, Joe...but you really shouldn't call RVD chickensh...

Nevermind.

[pikemojo]

Well as long as it doesn't get nasty I will continue.
My point was not that Test or Matt Hardy got fired because they were injured. We all know that that is just not the case. My point was that they did get fired while injured even if that may not have been the reason. Now if for some reason WWE stupidly decides RVD is not worth the money or something they might just fire him even if he is injured. I was just saying that just because he is injured does not mean that his job is safe. That is all. RVD is most likely safe though.
And to defend Test for just a second, I personally liked him and all of the Unamericans. I really thought that that was a pretty solid gimick for all of them. But that was a long time ago I know, I'm just saying I liked it.
And about Hurricane, I guess I did not realize that he was part of the tag champs. Keep in mind though that only a few weeks ago he was rarely on tv. And for my personal taste I would prefer to see him back in the Shane Helms type gimick. I liked the way he wrestled better back then.
I would say that we probably mostly agree on what we are talking about, Joe. But I still do think that Vince kind of holds grudges against WCW wrestlers. That is my opinion based on how I have seen him use certain wrestlers that I have liked since being a fan of WCW. But keep in mind they are opinions.
To me one of the biggest misuses on WWEs part is Booker T. He goes out there every week and puts on a solid match. Plus he is pretty dang good on the mic. Yet he rarely rises above midcard status. Every once in a while we see him in matches for contendership for the title but I don't remember him actually fighting for a world title since WMXX. I could be wrong of course as I dont always get the ppvs.
Come on somebody has got to agree with me on that one.
And last thing, you said that you thought AJ would get over in WWE. I do believe that you are right but if I were to pick whether to see him in WWE or TNA I would pick TNA and I got my wish until 2008.