The current status of AJ Styles in TNA has been of hot speculation in the internet wrestling community. Here are the two rumors that are floating around. He is not going to sign and will go on the road in the independent circuit until he plots his next move. The alternative is that Styles has already signed with TNA and all of this is a work. I tend to believe the latter. If he has not signed then, he and TNA are still in negotiations.According to Styles legal agent Bill Behrens (NWA Anarachy) –
We [Styles and Behrens] continue positive discussions with TNA but not exclusively. AJ has not yet agreed to a new deal nor signed a contract with anyone.
The fact of the matter is that both parties need each other. Yes AJ could go out on the road but how long will that last. You value on the indies diminishes the further you get away from being on television. Styles could go to the WWE but not sure how interested they are in a TNA wrestler in Stamford. Not to mention if money is his main concern they are not going to pay as much as Impact Wrestling. Not to mention who knows how much time he will have to spend in NXT because the big wigs won’t respect his experience. These are the same people who sent Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Antonio Cesaro to developmental for a long period of time.
No don’t get me wrong I think AJ could bring a lot to WWE if used properly. The amount of guys he could have great matches with is limitless. The problem is the company is not focused on anything that hasn’t come from NXT. This is not like the old WCW days where the WWE considered them equal competition. They look at what’s going on in Orlando as almost a high profile independent company. How many people from TNA whom were not ex WWE wrestlers that have be signed and showcased?
Through all of this TNA needs AJ Styles also. He is one of the company’s building blocks. With him being the world champion he would have to come back to at least drop the belt. No champion that you could crown would be credible until they faced AJ. There are a lot of good matches that he hasn’t had yet and still have a lot left in the tank. Impact Wrestling needs to stop putting over old mid-card WWE guys and pay attention to the faithful homegrown talent. AJ should be the start. He should be your John Cena but a little different of course.
