AJ Styles Thread *Spoilers*

hufpc8w3adnk65

Personal opinion lads is his Rumble debut couldn't have been any better handled. I like the entrance music with the organ. It may not be Aj's old style but it's quite unique and instantly recognizable. He's most defiantly been made too look like a big deal and if WWE had any doubts about hard too push him the last two nights should show them he's up too been a big player.

Omackeral

I said this in another thread.

I thought the commentary team did an immense job of selling him as a big deal that night. From Cole's ''could it be?!?'' to JBL touting his IWGP Championship win ''just like Brock Lesnar'' thereby placing him in a top tier, to Byron Saxton saying Styles is an exciting innovator of offense. It was presented as a major big deal. Couple that with an Orlando hometown-like pop and the rumours, not to mention going one on one with golden boy Reigns, and I don't see how they could've done it any better.

The next night they started with their ''he's in the big leagues'' talk though so I dunno what they'll do from here.

brianregan09

I saw a lot of people have issue with the big leagues comment too, But in reality isn't WWE the big leagues ? where the big money is to be made , and you can be a indy superstar go there and sink ask Chris Hero or ask to a lesser extent Sami Callihan or go back even further Colt Cabana all big indie names, obviously not as big as AJ but the point still stands

But AJ isn't going to flounder the match against Jericho was ok but you can clearly see AJ is a guy who has just been brought in and is clearly still getting used to the WWE ring and style normally guys who debut straight on the main roster have months of NXT behind them , IF you look at Mistico look what happened him , I think he was the last guy to debut straight on to the main roster

AJ if he continues the way he's going is going to be massive for WWE , All his merchandise sold out of WWE shop the night he debuted that speak volumes

Bounty Hunter

He did get a really good response from the crowd at the Rumble and on Raw but his Merch selling so well is perhaps even more important in regards to the guys backstage's thinking. Thats what got Samoa Joe signed to a full time contract and if the sales keep going well could be what gets AJ pushed into a top position.

This Wrestlemania is too early for him to be in a main event position imo but after Mania season when HHH & Taker probably aren't wrestling and Brock is only around sparodically You would think he might have a good chance to get pushed up into a main event position, that is if things continue to go as well for him and you can not guarantee that.

At the moment I wouldn't be shocked to see him fighting over the IC title at Mania after maybe facing someone like Owens at Fastlane.

A Primal Nut

I dunno, after hearing the commentary on Raw I can't shake the feeling that he's been hired to make WWE look better than everywhere else, and to be a decent hard-working midcarder, as opposer to the main event difference maker they need. Hopefully the fans create a Daniel Bryan situation where the pops are so loud and so much merchandise is sold that WWE can't ignore it. That said, the fans basically had to hijack Raw every week for a few months to get Bryan into the main event at WrestleMania.

Bounty Hunter

I guess it all depends on how hard WWE try to make new stars or wether once they are back to go back to relying on Orton & Cena at the top of the pile.

I would say that commentary was just them trying to highlight to everyone who doesn't know AJ (less people than they thought) that He was a big deal in other promotions but of course this is the WWE so when your saying such a thing Vince or whoever will feed you a line about how the WWE is the big time and if Vince is telling Cole and co to say something like that you better be sure it'll get repeated. The repetition was what annoyed me.

tbh if he is in the mid-card, they could have one hell of a mid-card in say a years time - Owens, Balor, Ambrose, AJ Styles, Cesaro plus the occasional Jericho, potential Nakamura etc and thats wihtout mentioning mid carders they have atm who are capable of great wrestling but maybe we are a little sick of like Ziggler, ADR (well all of the LONs really) or even people like Neville & Zayn if they use them to their potential

nasty_crash

they really need to be careful about how they book him - love jericho but i think that a fued with jericho is just boring! the problem that AJ and WWE have is that there is no top or mid level Heels that ppl want to see with the exception of Owens! Like think about the list of ppl that we want AJ to fued with - Owens, Balor, Joe, Sami, Ambrose, Cesaro, Ziggler, Rollins, Bryan, Neville (obvs injuries to Rollins, Cessaro & Bryan) - all the rest are either in NXT or Faces - or both!

I dont want to see AJ vs Big Show - or Ryback!

I just find Jericho stale and like he is trying too hard.... you know that he is not going to get a run - like 50 mins in the rumble was wasted on jericho cos you know he definately is not going to win! Where Ambrose, Owens, bray etc might/could win - but Jericho wont win!

ERG89

Hard to believe that Styles debuted in New Japan on the same show Devitt left. Happy for Styles as he deserves the best, hopefully he has a match at fastlane probably waiting until Mania for the Owens match. Or maybe a match/triple threat with Ambrose then.

Bounty Hunter

nasty_crash wrote: »

I just find Jericho stale and like he is trying too hard.... you know that he is not going to get a run - like 50 mins in the rumble was wasted on jericho cos you know he definately is not going to win! Where Ambrose, Owens, bray etc might/could win - but Jericho wont win!

I kinda agree about Jericho but think that a couple of week on Raw feud with Jericho would actually be perfect for his arrival to Raw.

Jericho still has name value even if he is past his sell by date in many ways, he will happily put AJ over and they will have good matches that will be given enough time before he moves on.

The following could very easily happen and I'd like to see it:

If say Jericho demands a rematch on the next Raw and AJ beats him again (Jericho this time shakes his hand in a moment of respect before moving on) before getting blindsided by Owens who is p!ssed that AJ eliminated him from the Rumble. This leads to AJ vs Owens at Fastlane (which makes sense for Owens as Ambrose is in the main event and Zayn wasn't on the Raw after the rumble). Then at mania I wouldn't be surprised if we AJ vs Ambrose or perhaps AJ vs Owens vs Ambrose.

johnnyryan89

Only good knows how WWE and Vince are gonna book him, they can have you go from World Champion one year to jobber the next. He got an awesome pop at the Rumble, his merch has sold out in hours and they've invested money in him apparently by supposedly having to pay to license his music because it samples DMX's "Ain't No Sunshine". Hopefully they've seen how fans have taking to him and realise "hey this guy can make us money lets not screw this up".

His matches with Jericho will be more warm up matches to get him over with the fans who might not be too familiar with him and Jericho is a decent worker whose been used a few times to put people over so can probley see one or two more matches with Jericho before moving him to possibly someone like Kevin Owens. If they can get the naming rights to the Bullet Club could see them having him feud with LON or Wyatt family. Also could use it to bump Balor up to the main roster as part of the Bullet Club before going it alone.

johnnyryan89

Only god knows how WWE and Vince are gonna book him, they can have you go from World Champion one year to jobber the next. He got an awesome pop at the Rumble, his merch has sold out in hours and they've invested money in him apparently by supposedly having to pay to license his music because it samples DMX's "Ain't No Sunshine". Hopefully they've seen how fans have taking to him and realise "hey this guy can make us money lets not screw this up".

His matches with Jericho will be more warm up matches to get him over with the fans who might not be too familiar with him and Jericho is a decent worker whose been used a few times to put people over so can probley see one or two more matches with Jericho before moving him to possibly someone like Kevin Owens. If they can get the naming rights to the Bullet Club could see them having him feud with LON or Wyatt family. Also could use it to bump Balor up to the main roster as part of the Bullet Club before going it alone.

A Brad Maddox Guy

I think Jericho's a great choice of opening feud as it gives Styles a win against a big name in WWE. I assume (hope) it would also let Jericho complete his heel turn that he has teased since the tag match with Reigns & Ambrose, which might give Y2J a much needed boost as he has struggled a bit since losing to Fandango.

Think we could get another multi-man match for the Intercontinental title, either the Triple Threat BH mentioned or Sheamus added in to make it a Fatal 4 Way. Though I'd prefer Styles vs Owens and Ambrose vs Sheamus in a street fight for the IC title.

Post-Mania I'd be pretty hopeful of a good year for Styles. Potential feuds with Owens, Ambrose, Rollins, Balor & Cena. And of course Big Show :pac:

CastorTroy

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

If say Jericho demands a rematch on the next Raw and AJ beats him again (Jericho this time shakes his hand in a moment of respect before moving on) before getting blindsided by Owens who is p!ssed that AJ eliminated him from the Rumble. This leads to AJ vs Owens at Fastlane (which makes sense for Owens as Ambrose is in the main event and Zayn wasn't on the Raw after the rumble). Then at mania I wouldn't be surprised if we AJ vs Ambrose or perhaps AJ vs Owens vs Ambrose.

Not to be picky but slight problem with your scenario. :pac:
The elimination was the other way around with Owens eliminating Styles, since he was pretty much the only guy that could get away with it. Zayn eliminated Owens.
But yeah nothing to stop Owens attacking Styles for just coming directly in like he belongs there while Owens had to go through NXT first. Or just because he's Owens and just likes being a d!ck.

Bounty Hunter

CastorTroy wrote: »

Not to be picky but slight problem with your scenario. :pac:
The elimination was the other way around with Owens eliminating Styles, since he was pretty much the only guy that could get away with it. Zayn eliminated Owens.
But yeah nothing to stop Owens attacking Styles for just coming directly in like he belongs there while Owens had to go through NXT first. Or just because he's Owens and just likes being a d!ck.

Ah yes you are completely right good sir. Think it'd still work as you say with Owens doing the bit about AJ skipping NXT

A Primal Nut

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

tbh if he is in the mid-card, they could have one hell of a mid-card in say a years time - Owens, Balor, Ambrose, AJ Styles, Cesaro plus the occasional Jericho, potential Nakamura etc and thats wihtout mentioning mid carders they have atm who are capable of great wrestling but maybe we are a little sick of like Ziggler, ADR (well all of the LONs really) or even people like Neville & Zayn if they use them to their potential

I kinda agree with this actually. Let Vince have his Reigns-led heavyweight title division and have these guys compete for the IC title which is presented as a big deal with the occasional PPV main event. I'm not sure I want any of the guys you mentioned feuding with Reigns because we all know how that will end up.

jaykhunter

Bit worried about AJ. His arrival made me flip out the most in the last few years, not since the opening minute of Brock vs Cena! Absolute head-explode moment. I loved his entrance (albeit the theme being quite low energy/lowkey) and although he spent half an hour in the Rumble, he didn't have really anything to do beyond his initial exchange with Roman. Neither could eliminate the other so they just kinda stayed apart.
On RAW, The commentators kept bringing up parallels to Jericho's career, who wallowed in shít for almost his first year. A lot of "this is the big leagues, you need to prove yourself" sentiments. I saw that Jericho was very proud of his match, but I thought it was a poor showcase for AJ - as it was 90% AJ selling for slow Jericho offense. I don't think it showed the potential of AJ as an incredible talent - it wasn't spectacular, dynamic or anything memorable. I'm also concerned about the lack of reaction for his RAW entrance, despite a much bigger pop for the backstage bit.

I'm a massive fan of AJ, he's one of my favourite wrestlers - I'm worried they'll Alberto Del Rio him, in that they spent a lot of money but don't have anything huge for him to do, so he'll quickly gain a mid-card title and languish around the area. Hopefully I'm wrong on it but WWE aren't treating him like a big deal. His debut RAW match didn't open or close the show.

Reebrock

A Brad Maddox Guy wrote: »

which might give Y2J a much needed boost as he has struggled a bit since losing to Fandango.

No he struggled since that botched 2012 return which was so ambiguous, I still have no idea what the hell was happening. He hasn't really had a purpose on the shows since then, he's just "there".

Bounty Hunter

Even though I was a bit critical of him continuing to use it when there were a string of broken necks related to its use I have to admit I am glad to see they are letting him keep his Styles Clash.

It is the one thing they are def making a big deal of with the way they are teasing him using it. When he does finally hit it, it should be made into a big moment and get a great reaction if they keep that up.

riffmongous

A Primal Nut wrote: »

I kinda agree with this actually. Let Vince have his Reigns-led heavyweight title division and have these guys compete for the IC title which is presented as a big deal with the occasional PPV main event. I'm not sure I want any of the guys you mentioned feuding with Reigns because we all know how that will end up.

*cough* xdivision *cough* :pac:

ricero

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Even though I was a bit critical of him continuing to use it when there were a string of broken necks related to its use I have to admit I am glad to see they are letting him keep his Styles Clash.

It is the one thing they are def making a big deal of with the way they are teasing him using it. When he does finally hit it, it should be made into a big moment and get a great reaction if they keep that up.

Sorry to let you know but he used it on curtis axel during this weeks smackdown tapings. A big moment haha

A Brad Maddox Guy

Reebrock wrote: »

No he struggled since that botched 2012 return which was so ambiguous, I still have no idea what the hell was happening. He hasn't really had a purpose on the shows since then, he's just "there".

I meant in terms of reaction mostly. Jericho still got a massive pop when he entered #2 in the 2013 Royal Rumble. He hasn't gotten a reaction like it since he lost to Fandango a few months later

Bounty Hunter

ricero wrote: »

Sorry to let you know but he used it on curtis axel during this weeks smackdown tapings. A big moment haha

but If it doesn't happen on Raw or a PPV it doesn't count!

ahh boo, they had actually done very well teasing that. Hopefully they still play it up as a huge move anyway and make comments like "They tried to ban this move in Japan" etc and whatever they do don't mention Michelle McCool!

riffmongous

ricero wrote: »

Sorry to let you know but he used it on curtis axel during this weeks smackdown tapings. A big moment haha

But that makes no sense, unless they were scared it would be botched and didnt want to risk it on debut? And why is he fighting Curtis Axel? :pac:

CastorTroy

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

whatever they do don't mention Michelle McCool!

Taker vs Styles at Mania confirmed!

Angron

I was half sure it was going to be like Itami and the GTS.

Reebrock

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

but If it doesn't happen on Raw or a PPV it doesn't count!

ahh boo, they had actually done very well teasing that. Hopefully they still play it up as a huge move anyway and make comments like "They tried to ban this move in Japan" etc and whatever they do don't mention Michelle McCool!

God, I completely forgot she used it.

Stereomaniac

Owen Hart has invented all of these holds McMahon, and people just keep stealing them.....

johnnyryan89

brianregan09 wrote: »

I saw a lot of people have issue with the big leagues comment too, But in reality isn't WWE the big leagues ? where the big money is to be made , and you can be a indy superstar go there and sink ask Chris Hero or ask to a lesser extent Sami Callihan or go back even further Colt Cabana all big indie names, obviously not as big as AJ but the point still stands

In terms of money yes, no other company is gonna be able to offer you the big money that WWE could offer you but in terms of the actual art of wrestling and technical wrestling then I think other companies can blow it out of the water at times. Guys who are gifted in the ring are often over looked for glorified bodybuilders, but if you're small and good on the mic then you might get some success by given a title run here and there but you're never gonna be pushed to heights that you're actual in ring ability deserves.

J. Marston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLA5WJ6IQEA

hufpc8w3adnk65

Is that his tron or Is it one a user made?

Lord TSC

I was thinking about the whole Styles Clash issue, in terms of how it was protected on Raw and then used on Smackdown, and how people were annoyed it a "given away".

The thing that hits me though is that it probably wasn't a case of them wanting to tease the move long term, as much as it was protecting the move in the match vs Jericho. If he hit it, then it was either have a clean pin over Jericho (which they obviously didn't want to do) or have Jericho kick out which hurts it on night 2.

So I guess it was a better move not to have him hit it on Raw. Meanwhile, they can start building it as a one-and-done move now with him using it on lesser guys and build it up better that way; that when it hits, it's game over.

Pentecost

They could have teased him hitting it for a while and still have it as a "one and done" when it's finally used. It would actually make it seem like a huge deal if it was an important PPV match. But as you say they could still make it seem like a big deal if they have him finish everyone he faces with it.

The Ayatolla

Lord TSC wrote: »

So I guess it was a better move not to have him hit it on Raw. Meanwhile, they can start building it as a one-and-done move now with him using it on lesser guys and build it up better that way; that when it hits, it's game over.

Can't wait until Cena kicks out of it

johnnyryan89

riffmongous wrote: »

But that makes no sense, unless they were scared it would be botched and didnt want to risk it on debut? And why is he fighting Curtis Axel? :pac:

He eliminated Axel from the Rumble after he lasted nearly 365days in it. I wonder was that a one off with the social outcast or they gonna play the numbers game and then have him team up with Jericho for a tag match where Jericho turns heel on him.

Loughc

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Can't wait until Cena kicks out of it

Or Reigns kicks out of three of them.

jaykhunter

Loughc wrote: »

Or Reigns kicks out of three of them.

Reminds me of Scott Hall when he returned to WWF in 2002. He introduced himself to the Dudleys and "that's a great move you have (the 3D). I can't wait to kick out of it". What a d*ckhole!

Blue_Dabadee

The best reaction video of AJ Styles debut:

I wished stayed off the internet prior to Rumble.

Stereomaniac

A.J Styles vs. The Miz has been announced for SmackDown this week after they ended up brawling (surprise) on Miz TV tonight. Should be able to make a pretty good match together.

Reebrock

Miz SPRINTING up the ramp was a wonderful sell for AJ.