Jericho&DB should be a tag-team!
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TNA star A.J. Styles on dropping the Claire story, on the best TNA Champion in company history, resolving his differences with Hulk Hogan, the difference in going live
Jul 5, 2012 - 02:17 PM
Busted Open satellite radio show with A.J. Styles
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On if there was any thought to dropping the storyline with Dixie Carter after the appearance of Claire: "Absolutely. I thought, 'This did not go as planned and didnt come out the way we wanted it to.' But theres a backstory to it. Its almost a blessing in disguise, and I wish I could tell you what hopefully is going to happen, and youll be a lot more excited about it because its more than you know. Theres so many unexpected things that are about to happen that you never wouldve thought A.J. Styles may have done."
On the storyline in general: "People can say what they want like, 'Oh this storyline sucked.' You watched it. And the thing is, trust me, theres been a lot worse storylines than this one. At least these guys who are in it, and the women that are in it, are really into it. We believe it."
On Claire: "Heres the problem: Nobody knows who Claire is. Shes not important to anybody. Weve invested zero time in her, but thats going to change. You will get to know her, as you should. Like I said, theres a backstory to everything thats going to happen and has happened. Were not going to leave any holes. The only hole that I need to address is Serg punching me in the face, which is fine because he punches like a little girl, so Im OK with that. We never did address that, the fact that it came out and I still havent received an apology from him on the phone, text, or anything like that. But like Ive said, he might as well have hit me with a cotton ball."
On storylines having holes: "I think that was TNAs biggest problem in the past; that we always left holes, we left doors wide open. Whatever happened to Samoa Joe and the abduction? Theres a lot of stuff like that that was left open, and thats unacceptable. I think weve done things now to change that. Thats whats so great about storylines. When you tell them the whole story and you leave nothing out, when it finally comes together at the end, its perfect. At least you have the answers to the questions."
On going live this summer: "Live has made a huge difference. When you go in to the Impact Zone, yeah its still the same Impact Zone, but its different. Thats what we needed. Honestly, I was getting to where I hated the Impact Zone because it was the same people who were coming who werent enjoying it. Or the fact that so many fans who didnt know about Impact were just there on vacation and were like, 'Oh, I know Jeff Hardy.' There was no time invested in the characters that weve put so much time into and whove been here since the beginning. But now, its different."
On the biggest difference in TNA besides going live: "The communication between the higher-ups and the wrestlers has changed. There was a big deal between Hogan and I, and even Bischoff and I, but thats all been squashed. Thats in the past. I am so grateful that I get to work with these guys now and understand where theyre coming from and can see this vision. It was just a growing process and getting to know each other and being able to talk to each other about whats going on and whats important. Its a good relationship."
On resolving his conflict with Hulk Hogan: "We talked about it like men. We got it out of the way. At some point you have to grow up and say, 'Listen, we have to talk about this,' instead of avoiding each other, which did happen. A business cant grow when theres animosity and friction. We just went out there and worked and tried to make TNA what it is right now, a better company. I think it was a growing process. Did he know A.J. Styles very well? Probably not. And I think that had a lot to do with the problems that we were having in the beginning, because he didnt know the talent very well. Thats all changed. I dont want to say something now that will make Hogan think, 'Oh come on Styles.' I dont want to do that. We have a great relationship right now, and I dont want to do anything to ruin that. Its a good thing right now."
On his tag team title match at Slammiversary: "With the talent in the ring at Slammiversary, you cant go wrong. Kurt Angle suplexing everybody, Im surprised he didnt suplex me just for the fun of it! It was amazing, everybody was busting out stuff they havent done in a long time, including myself with the shooting star press. I havent done that in years, but that was the time to do it. Im lucky I didnt kill myself. It was such an awesome match.
"For the first time in a long time, when we were walking to the back, there were people standing up clapping. To get the respect from your peers and the people that you work with, it doesnt get much better than that. I really enjoyed that match, its one of those matches where youre involved in it, and its magic."
On if we could see him and Daniels back in the X Division vying for the title: "To tell you the truth, nope. Im not saying its a lesser title, but its doubtful that youll see guys like that in the X Division. I hate to put these guys over, but its almost our Intercontinental Championship. A lot of the guys who are really great would wrestle with this belt and make it what it is, but then theyd move on to the heavyweight division and thats where theyd stay. But Im not saying its not an important title, because it will always be important to me. Being the first guy to win the X Division title, I take pride in that belt."
On Bobby Roode: "Bobby Roode is probably the best champion weve ever had. I think he looks the part, he acts the part, and hes very good in the ring. Hes got everything you need to be a great champion, and he should be the longest-reigning world heavyweight champion. He does it well, and that belt is bigger than it has ever been because of Bobby Roode. Thats just my opinion, but I think hes definitely the best world champion weve ever had. And dont get me wrong, I was a world heavyweight champion; hes good."
On how much longer hell be wrestling: "I would love to give you a specific date, but if I can make it five more years, Ill be a happy man. I dont know. My bodys really starting to feel it now. All those bumps and the bumps that Im going to continue to take are taking their toll on me. Everybody talks about a 'bump card.' Im getting close to the end of my 'bump card' but hopefully, I can keep it up for a little bit longer."
Jericho&DB should be a tag-team!
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Shows been good for the most part.
I don't know if King joined TNA but he was there and just had a match.
This is probably the first time I've watched Impact more 2 weeks in a row. Several factors behind that:
- Everybody here says it's gotten a lot better
- Nothing good is on TV in the summer
- My work friend's husbands a big TNA fan, so I have to watch so I can know what to talk about
- Cool.![]()
Anyone else think James Storm looks like HBK and Undertaker in a weird way?
Anyone else think James Storm looks like HBK and Undertaker in a weird way?
I always thought Bobby Roode looked like if Triple H and Chris Benoit had a baby.
On the storyline in general: "People can say what they want like, 'Oh this storyline sucked.' You watched it. And the thing is, trust me, theres been a lot worse storylines than this one. At least these guys who are in it, and the women that are in it, are really into it. We believe it."
What is weird here is that this seems to be a shoot interview, and yet the comments on Serge seem like a work.On Claire: "Heres the problem: Nobody knows who Claire is. Shes not important to anybody. Weve invested zero time in her, but thats going to change. You will get to know her, as you should. Like I said, theres a backstory to everything thats going to happen and has happened. Were not going to leave any holes. The only hole that I need to address is Serg punching me in the face, which is fine because he punches like a little girl, so Im OK with that. We never did address that, the fact that it came out and I still havent received an apology from him on the phone, text, or anything like that. But like Ive said, he might as well have hit me with a cotton ball."
On if we could see him and Daniels back in the X Division vying for the title: "To tell you the truth, nope. Im not saying its a lesser title, but its doubtful that youll see guys like that in the X Division. I hate to put these guys over, but its almost our Intercontinental Championship. A lot of the guys who are really great would wrestle with this belt and make it what it is, but then theyd move on to the heavyweight division and thats where theyd stay. But Im not saying its not an important title, because it will always be important to me. Being the first guy to win the X Division title, I take pride in that belt."
Not many that I can think of lol.
What is weird here is that this seems to be a shoot interview, and yet the comments on Serge seem like a work.
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I've noticed in a lot of interviews with TNA wrestlers and some WWE workers, they go in between work and shoot comments. It kind of drives me nuts. Of course in some cases it is the guys wth their tongues planted firmly in their cheek. That isn't always picked up in type.
I know WWE and TNA want their workers to use their twitter accounts to push the storylines.
I believe the comment Styles made about putting these guys over was in reference to WWE. I think he was trying not to compare their TNA titles to theirs, thus putting them over.