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Post by psychokiller on Jan 5, 2018 16:27:31 GMT -5
When I watched TNA/IMPACT throughout the 2000s I knew Styles was talented but I feel I didn’t appreciate him at the time like I do now. I was kind of mixed on him since at the time I didn’t think he had that much of good in ring psychology at the time due to all the flashy moves he would do & felt he wrestled like he was a cruiserweight & not a main event level talent. I’m not sure if it was due to it being earlier in his career & he’s improved a lot since then or what. But now he’s probably in my top 50 favorites of all time when before I thought he was good but not to the point where he would be one of my favorites. I don’t know what it was that changed what I like about him compared to back then but he’s the best in the company today & possibly in all of wrestling in my opinion.
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Post by TWERKIN' MAGGLE on Jan 5, 2018 16:28:19 GMT -5
When I first saw AJ Styles, he was Christian's comedy goober boy.
I definitely appreciate him way more now.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Jan 5, 2018 16:30:09 GMT -5
He had been a great talent in TNA, but breaking free from there to find his own place and carving out some time in New Japan did miracles for helping him tap into a lot more personality and presence. He feels like a star in ways he didn't always during his TNA time where even if he undeniably was a star, he didn't yet exude that something special to bring him from merely next level to his own level at the top.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jan 5, 2018 16:38:06 GMT -5
I always appreciated him in TNA... my problem was that TNA didn't appreciate Styles when he was in TNA.
They pushed him as "the future of TNA!" for like 10 years... They never treated him as the central guy... he was always in 2 or 3 years he's going to be the guy.
even after winning every title and having one of the longest World Title Reign in company history.
Hell Dixie herself claimed that "He was just coming into his own" when he left.
Granted his New Japan run helped solidify he could do more than just be the phenomenal one that you'd always get a great match out of.
but he was never really given the opportunity to do that in TNA.
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Juice
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Post by Juice on Jan 5, 2018 17:01:56 GMT -5
Aj was the best wrestler in the world in tna too. Always been top 3 for me.
Edit: dixies love of giving ex wwe guys top biling had no bearing on his axtual ability in ring.
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Johnny
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Post by Johnny on Jan 5, 2018 17:20:16 GMT -5
AJ was great in TNA. But the 2018 version of AJ is miles better than the 2013 version. He's really grown since leaving TNA.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2018 22:17:01 GMT -5
He was a great technician in TNA but their match production/agents are pretty terrible outside of the occasional moments.
Away from there he's had people produce matches that allow him to be awesome AND display persona and charisma like never before.
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Post by cabbageboy on Jan 5, 2018 23:21:58 GMT -5
You aren't to be blamed here, mainly because I don't think TNA appreciated him while he was there either. Styles in a lot of ways was a victim of Russo booking in TNA, while is when he was doing the silly Christian lackey stuff or falling for Karen Angle. His PWI 500 rankings tell that tale clearly: #8 in 2004, #7 in 2005, but then he vanished from the top 10 from 2006-09 during the peak of Russo TNA. Oddly enough he got to #1 in 2010, which was a time during the last half of 2009 when TNA was in lame duck mode before Hogan and Bischoff came in (and thus just booked some great wrestling, with Styles on top) and the first half of 2010 when he was TNA champ until late April.
The funny thing is that his late era TNA stuff in 2013 very much set the stage for his NJPW and WWE runs. His brooding redneck Sting act during the Aces and Eights took him in a very different direction and he totally changed his in ring style. Whereas he rejected the A & E, NJPW simply had him come in and become the new leader of the Bullet Club. That's the irony to me of the BC. TNA was already doing a somewhat similar gang storyline, but it was uncool and rooted more in Sons of Anarchy style biker culture than being an NWO style group. Doc Gallows quite literally went from one group to the other.
In other words TNA got Styles to the precipice of being a major draw, and then low balled him so he left and they didn't even reap the rewards.
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Post by xxshoyuweeniexx on Jan 5, 2018 23:22:03 GMT -5
I always appreciated him in TNA... my problem was that TNA didn't appreciate Styles when he was in TNA. They pushed him as "the future of TNA!" for like 10 years... They never treated him as the central guy... he was always in 2 or 3 years he's going to be the guy. even after winning every title and having one of the longest World Title Reign in company history. Hell Dixie herself claimed that "He was just coming into his own" when he left. Granted his New Japan run helped solidify he could do more than just be the phenomenal one that you'd always get a great match out of. but he was never really given the opportunity to do that in TNA. In a weird way, Dixie was kinda right. Maybe not “just coming to his own”, but he was definitely hitting a stride he never reached before in his last few TNA months, that he only improved on in NJPW and then WWE. That weird “Evil ways” stuff actually gave him his now signature soccer Mom haircut look.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jan 5, 2018 23:48:07 GMT -5
I always appreciated him in TNA... my problem was that TNA didn't appreciate Styles when he was in TNA. They pushed him as "the future of TNA!" for like 10 years... They never treated him as the central guy... he was always in 2 or 3 years he's going to be the guy. even after winning every title and having one of the longest World Title Reign in company history. Hell Dixie herself claimed that "He was just coming into his own" when he left. Granted his New Japan run helped solidify he could do more than just be the phenomenal one that you'd always get a great match out of. but he was never really given the opportunity to do that in TNA. In a weird way, Dixie was kinda right. Maybe not “just coming to his own”, but he was definitely hitting a stride he never reached before in his last few TNA months, that he only improved on in NJPW and then WWE. That weird “Evil ways” stuff actually gave him his now signature soccer Mom haircut look. what I meant at the end was he wasn't given the opportunity to branch out of the phenomenal one stuff in TNA. If they actually treated him like the star he was he probably would have broken out earlier for them.
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Post by thetower52 on Jan 6, 2018 1:35:49 GMT -5
AJ styles was not a wrestler I ever liked in TNA
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jan 6, 2018 2:14:08 GMT -5
(To the OP)
Nah, I knew AJ was the man in TNA. The sad thing, and I know I'm parroting what another poster has said, is that TNA never realized that, as he really should have/could have been THEIR Shawn Michaels. He was the closest "Total Package" guy (especially 2009 on) in that tradition since HBK himself, and I think WWE has woken up to that fact.
What's even sadder is that AJ picked up all the skills to be that (and I'm talking "sports entertainment" skills here...he's been the man in ring since he walked in the door) during his time with TNA, but TNA screwed him over so much that they never got to benefit off of all of that seasoning. NJPW did. WWE is, but not TNA. Of course, that's kind of been the story for a lot of TNA's cast offs in recent years, but AJ is probably the greatest example of this. He's that dude.
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Post by corndog on Jan 6, 2018 2:19:21 GMT -5
I never understood why TNA didn't stick with AJ as their ace. The only thing I ever questioned was his character, but that was TNA's fault for their stupid booking. His New Japan/ROH Bullet Club run just proved he could play the character just as well as work in the ring.
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Post by Fade is a CodyCryBaby on Jan 6, 2018 2:56:45 GMT -5
I've loved AJ since I saw him in his s.e.x days on the weekly nwa:tna days. When they got on Fox Sports Net, I would race home or ask for a ride from school, not so much to catch the show, but to catch AJ compete.
All that being said, he's absolutely come into his own since NJ/WWE. Both companies have treated him like the absolute star that he is.
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Post by abjordans on Jan 6, 2018 3:08:46 GMT -5
When I watched TNA/IMPACT throughout the 2000s I knew Styles was talented but I feel I didn’t appreciate him at the time like I do now. I was kind of mixed on him since at the time I didn’t think he had that much of good in ring psychology at the time due to all the flashy moves he would do & felt he wrestled like he was a cruiserweight & not a main event level talent. I’m not sure if it was due to it being earlier in his career & he’s improved a lot since then or what. But now he’s probably in my top 50 favorites of all time when before I thought he was good but not to the point where he would be one of my favorites. I don’t know what it was that changed what I like about him compared to back then but he’s the best in the company today & possibly in all of wrestling in my opinion. I was totally guilty about this. He is as always good in the ring, and I understood that. But, he didn’t develop that badass main event swag until later in the game. AJ Styles gives off the most gangster main event swag in all of today’s pro wrestling business. When he is out there everyone watching knows a star is out there, and he didn’t develop it until late in his TNA Run, mastered it in Japan, and perfected it when he got to WWE.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 6, 2018 3:14:27 GMT -5
Growing his hair out helped a lot. He no longer looks like he's costarring in milf porn.
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Post by Hobby Drifter on Jan 6, 2018 4:00:05 GMT -5
I give WWE a lot of flack for how they handle stars from other companies, but I give them all the credit in the world for what they did with AJ Styles.
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Post by ellisdee on Jan 6, 2018 5:06:37 GMT -5
He, Joe and Daniels were the reason I first watched TNA. Ya know, before it was totally awful.
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Jan 6, 2018 5:19:13 GMT -5
Growing his hair out helped a lot. He no longer looks like he's costarring in milf porn. While it did help in retrospect, it took a little time for that look to really work. Bowl cut AJ would have been laughed out of the WWE's main event scene.
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Woo
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Post by Woo on Jan 6, 2018 7:07:18 GMT -5
I thought AJ Styles was the best wrestler in the world in 2005 the minute I first saw him wrestle. He wasn't great on the mic, though playing Christian's stooge was one of the best things that happened to him and he was fantastic in that role. Even with his lack of mic skills AJ just looked like a star. Coming to the ring with his "I AM I AM" theme, one of wrestling's best themes ever, and with the fantastic hoodie look AJ just oozed star quality.
His match in the X Division Finals tournament with Joe remains one of my favorite ever matches and then he continued his feud with Daniels which led to the iconic three way feud. His cage match with Abyss proved he could wrestle a little guy vs big guy match perfectly too. Then there was his first ironman match with Daniels, the three way Ultimate X match with Williams and Sabin and later the feud with LAX.
AJ was the best wrestler of the late 00's with only Angle as his main competition.
I would say he still is the best but that has to be Richocet/Prince Puma now.
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