Current reports coming out of PW Insider are that AJ Styles contract with TNA is set to expire on December 16 and the two sides have not come to a new deal. Styles agent Bill Behren’s has been open to Styles taking independent bookings in 2014.
TNA has already taped Impact episodes in January with Styles involved in the storyline of who is the real TNA World Heavyweight champion. It’s good to keep in mind that the entire storyline in TNA (kayfabe storyline) is that Styles is gone from TNA and defending the TNA World championship outside of the company. If this isn’t a part of that angle, TNA has had quite a few “down to the wire” contract signings, including Bully Ray and Bobby Roode. They have even let talent’s contracts complete expire and brought them back soon after like Velvet Sky and Ken Anderson. This is nothing new in the chaotic year that is 2013 for TNA Wrestling.
But if it is the last of Styles in TNA and the company is going to move on without the 36 year old, one must ask, is it time? For many, Styles is at the end of his wick and the twilight of his career. Healthy and still capable of great matches, Styles could easily have another decade of his career. But with TNA, he’s been there done that. In the 90s he would have bounced between the Big three multiple times in the time he’s worked in TNA and stayed fresh. Had WWE pushed harder for AJ he might have found a home in the company but the contract offer they gave him before he signed a temporary extension with TNA Wrestling was said to be insulting. This is one of the highest paid wrestlers in TNA, not to mention one of the best known homegrown talents. Word is that the WWE looked at him much like they would the American Wolves or Tyler Black (now Seth Rollins). Just another indie guy who would have to be re-packaged. For one of the best wrestlers in the last 15 years, you can imagine the kind of slap to the face that would be.
If AJ Styles isn’t moving to the WWE, where would he go? Japan could surely use him. Prince Devitt is probably the wrestler who took up Styles pedestal as the best light heavyweight in the world. A match between the two in New Japan Pro Wrestling would be huge for pro wrestling, especially for light heavyweights. If you wanted to recreate the buzz of Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid (Okay, some hyperbole there I know) for up and coming young wrestlers, that’s the match to do.
The independent scene all over the world could use AJ, but much more than AJ Styles could use it. Much like John Morrison’s bookings on the Indies (Oh hey, I just mentioned Morrison. Cue thoughts of Styles vs. Morrison), it has hurt his profile as a major wrestler while bumping indie attendance by a little bit. Probably not worth the price tag. Styles would be a major get for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla or Ring of Honor but after a few dream matches (Styles vs. Cole, Styles vs. Elgin, Styles vs. Steen) you’ve exhausted much of what he could do.
That’s what unfortunately makes this a rock and a hard place for AJ. He’s the one guy the WWE couldn’t get for years. He turned down a development deal back when he was a young kid becoming unemployed due to the sale of WCW in 2001 and now he’s turned down going into their development system in 2013. If the WWE isn’t going to give him respect, he might as well not go. But aside from hitting the indies temporarily or having a run in Japan, AJ just doesn’t have much choice other than finishing his career in TNA. It’s where he’ll get paid close to fair, where he’ll be respected (not to ignore all of the times he has been disrespected by the company) and where they’ll use him as a top star. Familiar chains might be the best ones for the Phenomenal One.
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