lionheart21
Patti Mayonnaise
Once did a thing...
Posts: 31,805 
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Post by lionheart21 on Oct 6, 2016 8:00:09 GMT -5
I can see their logic though. AJ Styles was just a TNA guy at the time and wasn't really considered a star before going to WWE. TNA has relied so much on having WWE guys headline that their homegrown guys look second rate. Look at Bobby Rhoode for example, he was just some generic guy, but is rejuvenated in NXT. If AJ stayed with TNA, what would he really be doing of note? He would be a big fish in a little pond. He needed to go to WWE to take his career to that next level. That's the point though. AJ more than any other star embodied the promotion; he had been with them from day one, had held all their titles and honors, had worked with every top star they had both home grown and ex WWE/WCW. Yet they never treated him as an established star, never gave him the four star main event status he deserved. And after he gave them more than a decade of his life and had done so much with them they turn around and ask HIM of all people to take a pay cut? It was nothing short of an insult. They showed him how much they valued him-and now he's turned around and showed them how much he is worth. He was even known as "Mr. TNA." He's the kinda guy where the executives running the place should have agreed to get their own pay cut in order to keep him. |
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Oct 6, 2016 8:05:50 GMT -5
TNA ran out of money so started cutting costs across the board, lol and whatnot.
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Post by wahoowah11 on Oct 6, 2016 8:17:07 GMT -5
He was the face that runs the place, except he wasnt pushed that way.
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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Oct 6, 2016 8:23:32 GMT -5
TNA ran out of money so started cutting costs across the board, lol and whatnot. except they weren't. they had no problems continuing to pay Angle without asking him to take a dramatic pay cut. the had no problem hiring new people that the WWE didn't want anymore. But they just didn't have the money to pay the face of their company. |
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Oct 6, 2016 8:28:21 GMT -5
Even if they were, you don't cut costs with your Cena/Hogan/Austin.
But then, them never treating him that way was always stupid too. So yeah, lol pretty well covers it; but more in a Nelson Muntz sorta way.
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Post by ________ has left the building on Oct 6, 2016 8:34:33 GMT -5
But but they have Drew Galloway now For now. Because his contract is coming up before the end of 2016. |
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Oct 6, 2016 8:35:14 GMT -5
TNA ran out of money so started cutting costs across the board, lol and whatnot. except they weren't. they had no problems continuing to pay Angle without asking him to take a dramatic pay cut. the had no problem hiring new people that the WWE didn't want anymore. But they just didn't have the money to pay the face of their company. Exactly. Point is when you have AJ you ask other people to take cuts for him not the opposite. Shows Dixie or someone thought AJ was some "dumb hick" and he will be a loyal solider and lay down for the cause. |
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Oct 6, 2016 8:56:05 GMT -5
TNA ran out of money so started cutting costs across the board, lol and whatnot. except they weren't. they had no problems continuing to pay Angle without asking him to take a dramatic pay cut. the had no problem hiring new people that the WWE didn't want anymore. But they just didn't have the money to pay the face of their company. How many of those WWE signings were on multi year exclusive contracts for AJ Styles money? Kurt Angle likely took a heavy paycut to re-sign with TNA on a short deal after the WWE made it clear they didn't want him, so yeah. The money was no longer there after the Bischoff Hogan era, the Carter family were no longer giving Dixie a blank cheque and the majority of big money contracts they signed weren't being renewed. Dixie has always been dumb when it comes to deciding who she should and shouldn't nickel and dime, but TNA had reached the point where it needed to slash and burn in order to survive, it wasn't just AJ, it was across the board with a lot of great big name talent leaving because great talent want to be paid according to their ability/name value. As much as people don't want to hear it, TNA would be where they are now with AJ Styles, having him on the roster would have fixed nothing, it would have made things as bad as they are now a lot sooner. This isn't like WCW letting Foley and Austin walk when they could have easily afforded to keep them, this was the AWA, ECW and WCCW letting guys go as things were on the cusp of collapse. Having AJ wouldn't get people to attend their live shows, having AJ wouldn't have gotten them a better TV deal, post Spike, having AJ wouldn't fend off the lawsuits they're faced with or kept the Carter's money flowing to keep them alive until they can get back on an even keel. TNA were not a healthy company then, they are worse now. |
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Oct 6, 2016 9:30:11 GMT -5
No one is arguing that. We're sayin it's dumb to treat the face of your company like they did.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Oct 6, 2016 9:52:47 GMT -5
except they weren't. they had no problems continuing to pay Angle without asking him to take a dramatic pay cut. the had no problem hiring new people that the WWE didn't want anymore. But they just didn't have the money to pay the face of their company. How many of those WWE signings were on multi year exclusive contracts for AJ Styles money? Kurt Angle likely took a heavy paycut to re-sign with TNA on a short deal after the WWE made it clear they didn't want him, so yeah. The money was no longer there after the Bischoff Hogan era, the Carter family were no longer giving Dixie a blank cheque and the majority of big money contracts they signed weren't being renewed. Dixie has always been dumb when it comes to deciding who she should and shouldn't nickel and dime, but TNA had reached the point where it needed to slash and burn in order to survive, it wasn't just AJ, it was across the board with a lot of great big name talent leaving because great talent want to be paid according to their ability/name value. As much as people don't want to hear it, TNA would be where they are now with AJ Styles, having him on the roster would have fixed nothing, it would have made things as bad as they are now a lot sooner. This isn't like WCW letting Foley and Austin walk when they could have easily afforded to keep them, this was the AWA, ECW and WCCW letting guys go as things were on the cusp of collapse. Having AJ wouldn't get people to attend their live shows, having AJ wouldn't have gotten them a better TV deal, post Spike, having AJ wouldn't fend off the lawsuits they're faced with or kept the Carter's money flowing to keep them alive until they can get back on an even keel. TNA were not a healthy company then, they are worse now. You are completely missing the point. |
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Oct 6, 2016 10:03:48 GMT -5
You are completely missing the point. I see the point people are making, face of the company, yadda, yadda. I just think it's a stupid one that's born more out of a romantic notion that you have to protect and retain the 'face' of the company at all costs rather than parting ways and trying to cut costs and rolling the dice on making new stars, even if it means the company dying. Mock TNA for the BS around the time AJ signed with the WWE by all means, but letting him go was harsh but necessary. |
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lionheart21
Patti Mayonnaise
Once did a thing...
Posts: 31,805
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Post by lionheart21 on Oct 6, 2016 10:50:41 GMT -5
You are completely missing the point. I see the point people are making, face of the company, yadda, yadda. I just think it's a stupid one that's born more out of a romantic notion that you have to protect and retain the 'face' of the company at all costs rather than parting ways and trying to cut costs and rolling the dice on making new stars, even if it means the company dying. Mock TNA for the BS around the time AJ signed with the WWE by all means, but letting him go was harsh but necessary. This would work if TNA's booking nowadays had any real success in creating new stars. Aside from Lashley and EC3, who have they made? |
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Post by cabbageboy on Oct 6, 2016 10:54:05 GMT -5
I'm looking at this more from Styles's point of view. Why stay in TNA? I supposed they gave him his initial break, but over a decade he really wasn't booked especially well. TNA always was looking for some new free agent instead of trying to build their own guys (and maybe use a bigger star to augment the roster). Here's the thing. I wouldn't have pushed 2006 era AJ Styles to the WWE title. Nor would I have pushed 2010 era AJ to the title. As a character in TNA there just wasn't anything to take seriously about the dude. For a long time he was kind of bland as a face and a goofball as a heel (Remember his flirting with Karen Angle? Poor man's Flair?). It's kind of astounding how much better of a serious heel character he is in WWE.
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lionheart21
Patti Mayonnaise
Once did a thing...
Posts: 31,805
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Post by lionheart21 on Oct 6, 2016 11:00:40 GMT -5
I'm looking at this more from Styles's point of view. Why stay in TNA? I supposed they gave him his initial break, but over a decade he really wasn't booked especially well. TNA always was looking for some new free agent instead of trying to build their own guys (and maybe use a bigger star to augment the roster). Here's the thing. I wouldn't have pushed 2006 era AJ Styles to the WWE title. Nor would I have pushed 2010 era AJ to the title. As a character in TNA there just wasn't anything to take seriously about the dude. For a long time he was kind of bland as a face and a goofball as a heel (Remember his flirting with Karen Angle? Poor man's Flair?). It's kind of astounding how much better of a serious heel character he is in WWE. I've mentioned it a few times in the past, but a main success that Styles had in Japan was him finally getting his character down, specifically his heel character. |
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Oct 6, 2016 11:36:25 GMT -5
I'm looking at this more from Styles's point of view. Why stay in TNA? I supposed they gave him his initial break, but over a decade he really wasn't booked especially well. TNA always was looking for some new free agent instead of trying to build their own guys (and maybe use a bigger star to augment the roster). Here's the thing. I wouldn't have pushed 2006 era AJ Styles to the WWE title. Nor would I have pushed 2010 era AJ to the title. As a character in TNA there just wasn't anything to take seriously about the dude. For a long time he was kind of bland as a face and a goofball as a heel (Remember his flirting with Karen Angle? Poor man's Flair?). It's kind of astounding how much better of a serious heel character he is in WWE. AJ finally found his look and persona with the lone wolf character he got at the end. After all these years he finally found IT, that one thing that will catapult him from greatness to f***ing star. He went to Japan and perfected it which is what we see today, the confident good on the mic AJ we thought we'd never see. |
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
Posts: 29,418
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Post by Sephiroth on Oct 6, 2016 11:58:43 GMT -5
You are completely missing the point. I see the point people are making, face of the company, yadda, yadda. I just think it's a stupid one that's born more out of a romantic notion that you have to protect and retain the 'face' of the company at all costs rather than parting ways and trying to cut costs and rolling the dice on making new stars, even if it means the company dying. Mock TNA for the BS around the time AJ signed with the WWE by all means, but letting him go was harsh but necessary. They didn't let him go, he refused to renew. While I understand that TNA needed to cut costs, one of their bests hopes for a turnabout was to have reliably good workers capable of delivering good matches-so they turned around and alienated some of the most capable stars they had such as AJ, Joe, and Daniels, and all for the sake of mirecfailed experiments like MVP. And as AJ as proven in Japan and WWE, he is a freaking license to print green. TNA just didn't appreciate what they had. |
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Post by cabbageboy on Oct 6, 2016 12:46:44 GMT -5
It's the dilemma though: If Styles stayed in TNA, would he have developed into the well rounded performer he is today? In TNA that lone wolf gimmick reeked of some goofy 1993 USWA style booking of Sting being The Crow vs. the NWO. I don't necessarily disagree with Dixie Carter's whole "He was just finding himself" statement since he really just was figuring out how to be a money drawing character at the tail end of his TNA run. He did some wild shoots on Dixie on Impact, during the same time she was grovelling at Hogan's feet for him to stay. This woman's lack of self awareness is amazing to me.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Oct 6, 2016 13:03:40 GMT -5
I see the point people are making, face of the company, yadda, yadda. I just think it's a stupid one that's born more out of a romantic notion that you have to protect and retain the 'face' of the company at all costs rather than parting ways and trying to cut costs and rolling the dice on making new stars, even if it means the company dying. Mock TNA for the BS around the time AJ signed with the WWE by all means, but letting him go was harsh but necessary. They didn't let him go, he refused to renew. While I understand that TNA needed to cut costs, one of their bests hopes for a turnabout was to have reliably good workers capable of delivering good matches-so they turned around and alienated some of the most capable stars they had such as AJ, Joe, and Daniels, and all for the sake of mirecfailed experiments like MVP. And as AJ as proven in Japan and WWE, he is a freaking license to print green. TNA just didn't appreciate what they had. That 'license to print green' appeared at quite a few of those 'LOLTNA' low attendance shows so let's not pretend he was going to be the saviour of the company and worth every penny to them at that point. The problems TNA had and still have would not have been fixed just because they retained AJ, all he would be is another big name guy they're not using correctly and another reason for people who don't watch TNA to complain about their product. Had the WWE not come calling, his shine would have worn off by now, people were already turning on him because of the trail of neck injuries and his douchey attitude toward people hurt in matches that involved him, plus his heel work on the indy scene involved homophobic knuckledragging bull****, something people conveniently ignore because he's a great worker. This whole situation is akin to Kevin Nash leaving the WWF, he went on to do great things BECAUSE he left, had he have stayed he wouldn't have. We wouldn't have gotten the NWO, he would have kept on being the smiling handslapping glove salesman who doesn't draw because he's not used correctly. |
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Post by Hit Girl on Oct 6, 2016 13:35:29 GMT -5
They didn't let him go, he escaped.
He was found by the side of the road dishevelled and disorientated when he flagged down a cop.
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Post by King Devitt: What Plants Crave on Oct 6, 2016 14:54:38 GMT -5
They didn't let him go, he escaped. He was found by the side of the road dishevelled and disorientated when he flagged down a cop. wait.... was he on the side of the road in Cobb County Georgia? AHS Season 7 right there. |
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