The on-again, off-again negotiations between AJ Styles and TNA, the reports that Styles is booked solid with appearances at Ring of Honor and on the indy circuit, it’s all a work, right?
Give ‘em credit for doing what WWE should have done with CM Punk two years ago when creative tried to make Punk the anti-authority hero.
Everything worked out OK for Punk, who’s solid as a main-eventer in WWE now and apparently forever, but he’s not “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and never will be.
The idea that Styles can be TNA’s “Stone Cold” is a stretch, if only because of AJ’s weakness on the mic. But as far as selling an angle goes, hey, this one has played out about as well as it could.
If this is a work, as many are speculating, the veneer of reality to the angle goes away the instant that Styles appears in a tna ring on Spike TV and the signal doesn’t immediately fade to black, of course.
The smart fans will turn on tna and Styles in an instant. “It was a work!” will be the four most popular words on comments sections and message boards related to TNA in the days after.
Meanwhile, the average fan who doesn’t comb the Internet for the latest gossip and rumors will be lost as always.
This isn’t a slam on TNA creative specifically. Creative in TNA, WWE and elsewhere in pro wrestling is always trying to outsmart the smarts. Wearing my promoter hat, I can tell you that there are still plenty of fans who don’t wink and nod about wrestling being, you know, er, what it is, and if you even suggest that it’s anything but on the up and up, they go ballistic.
Call it reverse kayfabe, but it’s there.
I’m a fan of the worked reality angles. I’ve written them myself. That said, wearing my fan hat, just give me good in-ring wrestling. That’s what the drama is supposed to get our attention to. It seems too much these days that the wrestling is just something that fills the space between the drama.
AJ Styles doesn’t need drama to make me enjoy watching him in the ring. Use him accordingly.
Column by Chris Graham
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