|
Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 28, 2019 13:22:57 GMT -5
Man, was this f***ing stupid. Took a simple concept and f***ed it up. AJ and Flair as champ and manager should have been complete money but yet they flipped it on its head and turned him into little naitch. Typical of them of trying to create a star off a old name using the same gimmick instead of elevating the star thanks to rubbing elbows with the legend
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2019 13:38:42 GMT -5
I remember Scott Hall's old youtube vlog mocking him
|
|
|
Post by Cyno on Aug 28, 2019 13:41:18 GMT -5
I think it would've worked if Ric Flair chose a relatively unknown guy to pass the Nature Boy mantle to and use it to build him up as a star in his own right, like when he adapted Buddy Rogers' Nature Boy persona early in his career.
Problem is they did it with arguably the biggest name in the company in AJ Styles and it came off as AJ Styles cosplaying as Ric Flair instead of making the Nature Boy persona his own. Made it really hard to buy.
|
|
|
Post by Mister Pigwell on Aug 28, 2019 13:45:05 GMT -5
Unfortunately yes, and it's example 1A on why I'm hesitant about 4H revivals or tributes. The need that people feel to have a Flair clone in them is an instant countdown to disaster. Any group formed in that image should lean heavier on the Arn side of things, and less on Ric's.
|
|
|
Post by kingoftheindies on Aug 28, 2019 13:48:03 GMT -5
Aj hated it. Said they actually wanted him to go all out with it including bleaching his hair and growing it out like Flair
|
|
|
Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 28, 2019 13:56:50 GMT -5
Unfortunately yes, and it's example 1A on why I'm hesitant about 4H revivals or tributes. The need that people feel to have a Flair clone in them is an instant countdown to disaster. Any group formed in that image should lean heavier on the Arn side of thngs, and less on Ric's. Look at the bright side, AJ's Nature Hoot impression is funny as hell so being around Ric Flair did provide something
|
|
markymark
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 18,389
|
Post by markymark on Aug 28, 2019 14:27:09 GMT -5
Thats one of the many reason why Russo is still unemployed.
|
|
Ben Wyatt
Crow T. Robot
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
I don't get it. At all. It's kind of a small horse, I mean what am I missing? Am I crazy?
Posts: 41,514
|
Post by Ben Wyatt on Aug 28, 2019 14:29:06 GMT -5
One of many examples of TNA having no f***ing clue how to book Styles correctly
|
|
|
Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Aug 28, 2019 14:36:29 GMT -5
The main thing I remember about it is the robe AJ had looked like what you'd get at a dollar store if dollar stores sold Ric Flair robes.
|
|
|
Post by sportatorium on Aug 28, 2019 17:00:44 GMT -5
Happily married Christian family man AJ Styles cosplayjng Ric Flair was a perfect idea...except it wasn’t
|
|
|
Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Aug 28, 2019 17:18:42 GMT -5
Happily married Christian family man AJ Styles cosplayjng Ric Flair was a perfect idea...except it wasn’t Yeah, I am interested in how AJ felt morally/ethically about doing this angle, if anyone has any info on that other than him hating doing the gimmick generally?
|
|
|
Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 28, 2019 17:27:48 GMT -5
Happily married Christian family man AJ Styles cosplayjng Ric Flair was a perfect idea...except it wasn’t Yeah, I am interested in how AJ felt morally/ethically about doing this angle, if anyone has any info on that other than him hating doing the gimmick generally? I don't think he commented on it from that perspective but I would guess to say he was uncomfortable. For as young as he was in the business and his looks in general he could have been paired with a thousand women and been made to kiss them and all of that but that was never the case with him so that in itself tells you his perspective The craziest thing besides this was the whole Claire Lynch angle which was originally supposed to be him and Dixie and even then that got brushed to the side real fast
|
|
|
Post by Jacy Jayne Atomic Dog AMV on Aug 28, 2019 17:35:36 GMT -5
And yet it was still a better casting than the guy they turned in to Hulk Hogan
|
|
|
Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Aug 28, 2019 17:37:34 GMT -5
It was a terrible fit and also took place before AJ had really come into his own on the mic and as a character, so every way it was a poor fit and uncomfortable just looked even worse because of it. All the magic in Flair's gimmick is in how genuine it is, because he dials himself up to the point of caricature but still has the inclinations to be convincing with it. Trying to do it again just doesn't feel worth it; it's one reason I'm glad Charlotte's stuff is so shallowly just robes, wooing, and her theme song, rather than being the whole character. Very, very few could pull it off and promotions like to cram Flair into a teaching role for guys who don't fit it at f***ing all.
|
|
|
Post by 111111 on Aug 28, 2019 18:06:43 GMT -5
I went to a house show when AJ was doing this on Tv, they completely ignored what was going on on tv and had him work as a face not doing the flair gimmick which was probably for the best.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2019 18:08:23 GMT -5
One of the worst things I ever seen in TNA.
AJ Styles was nothing like Ric Flair. So pairing the two made zero f***ing sense.
If they wanted Flair to manage somebody, why not Roode? He’s got the robe now and would’ve pulled it off.
|
|
|
Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Aug 28, 2019 22:10:25 GMT -5
I remember Scott Hall's old youtube vlog mocking him MSL: AJ was calling everyone a f** backstage. Hall: Is that like a defense mechanism?
|
|
Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,125
|
Post by Mozenrath on Aug 29, 2019 0:54:17 GMT -5
It contributed to the problem TNA AJ Style always had, which is that he looked like a frat boy playing a wrestler. Only near the end did he finally actually look the part.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2019 2:24:25 GMT -5
I went to a house show when AJ was doing this on Tv, they completely ignored what was going on on tv and had him work as a face not doing the flair gimmick which was probably for the best. I remember going to a house show after they turned Jeff Hardy heel and he was just a total babyface on the show.That was very common Borash was usually in charge of the house shows and if the tv booking was bad(which 99.9% of the time it was) he’d just ignore it put the people in the positions they should be and put on a fun show for the fans and the house shows were alot of fun because of that.
|
|
|
Post by Yamashita Enforcement Division on Aug 29, 2019 2:31:28 GMT -5
And yet it was still a better casting than the guy they turned in to Hulk Hogan Oh no! Abyss created a dangerous pit!
|
|