I’m normally not a fan of reviewing shoot interviews given the number of wrestlers or promoters who do them because they have an axe to grind or need to get a quick paycheck. For me as a wrestling fan, I am curious to hear what talent has to say about certain situations and matches they’ve had. For someone who has been in the TNA bubble for 11 years such as AJ Styles, his first interview with Highspots was a chance to hear about TNA from his perspective. It should be made clear right from the start that I am not a fan of the company, nor do I watch a lot of their programming. What I was curious about from Style’s perspective was would he sugarcoat certain angles and try to defend everything TNA has done over the years.
I’m not sure if this metaphor works, but to me, Styles comes across like someone who just got out of a break-up. Given this interview was taped weeks after negotiations with the company allegedly ended, there’s a couple of directions Styles could have taken. He could have easily played political games and been the ardent TNA defender who didn’t say a single negative thing about the company. Another direction could be what I deem “The Jim Cornette Way.” That means torching every bridge and leaving none around to cross back. This is a bitter way of conducting business where you take no responsibility for how business was conducted in the promotion you work for and bury everyone under the sun, particularly office boys who have no means of defending themselves in such a widely seen forum.
My gut says Styles’s attitude in regards to TNA might be healthier. For someone who’s literally put his body on the line and been able to take care of his family because of his association with TNA, I can’t imagine the emotion of being told my value isn’t x amount of dollars when that’s what I’ve been paid for a number of years and my performance remains top notch. It’s easy to write this off as “just wrestling,” but at the end of the day, this is also a business whereby people support their families. Styles sounded more hurt than angry throughout the two hour and twelve minute interview and wasn’t afraid to take TNA to task for some of the awful decisions they’ve made over the years.
I have to give Highspots Owner Michael Bochicchio credit for being a significantly better interviewer than someone like Rob Feinstein because he at least asked follow-up questions and also showed his work by proving he did real research before the interview was conducted. I appreciated that even he seemed cynical toward the idea that Styles and TNA didn’t have a secret agreement in place and Styles wasn’t merely doing a tour of the indies before going back. I myself am a bit dubious of this point as well, but until the time comes, the only thing I can do is enjoy (or not) his work on the independent scene. Styles sounded genuinely excited about returning to the independents and specifically to Ring of Honor. Styles did not ever want to be considered the old guy coming in and taking spots as this has obviously occurred throughout TNA’s history.
Without giving too much away, the discussions I appreciated the most as a fan concerned the creative and business end of wrestling. Styles was prompted into talking about the difference between making 100k in WWE, TNA, or the indies. There were a number of financial issues he brought up, particularly as it related to taxes, which I would have never thought about and Styles has clearly taken these issues into consideration. Overall, Styles didn’t seem too concerned about never going into WWE but obviously isn’t foolish enough to completely close the door. He has come away from the negotiations hurt and insulted because despite some of the heavy hitters being disposed of in recent months, he expected to at least be making a similar salary as before because of his contributions and being a TNA original.
One of the saddest images Styles describes is telling Samoa Joe that they would both be the top stars of the company within a couple years. Sadly, this has never come to fruition as both men have had their talents squandered so consistently over the years, ROH management (justifiably in my view) questioned the value of even signing these two men if they ever became free agents. Just the imagery of Styles and Joe talking about their futures and knowing that TNA would bring in guys like Hogan, Bischoff, Nash, Hall, Sting, and even the Nasty Boys to try and recapture the glory days of the mid-90s reads like a tragedy.
TNA in so many ways is WCW’s bastard son. The stories Styles tells of celebrities coming and going in combination with the lack of a real authority figure to put certain people in their place reads like the second coming of WCW. No one wants to see a true alternative on national television as far as wrestling goes more than me, but I also live in the real world, and if after 11 years, TNA can’t get its house together enough to even insure one of its most loyal soldiers can get taken care of, then the company deserves to die, so that from the ashes something hopefully bigger and better can rise.
Styles talks a lot about the great matches he’s had, but I don’t think there’s much to substantially discuss. It’s tough to even look at Styles as some kind of fall guy when the company does a bajillion other things wrong. There’s a difference between someone like Styles who wrestles and has been under the system for 11 years and Jim Cornette, who has run multiple promotions but won’t take responsibility for anything that’s happened under his watch. Styles was frustrated by what he saw in everything from Vince Russo’s questionable decision making to the awful Clare Lynch storyline which won awards for how terrible it turned out. I don’t buy Styles alternative ideas for making it work, but at least he didn’t try to sell the current version as more than cow dung.
Styles talks extensively about the numerous names who have come and gone over the company’s history. Besides the Clare Lynch storyline, Styles seems most appalled when he was asked to lose the world title to Rob Van Dam , someone known more for his WWE and ECW work and who was just coming off two years of doing a sparing amount of wrestling. He seems to respect Sting, doesn’t understand why Mick Foley was even around, and confused about what Hulk Hogan’s responsibilities actually were in relation to the advertising and marketing of TNA.
For 14.99 on MP4, you certainly couldn’t go wrong purchasing this interview. I think Styles is an interesting character who’s been on the front line of one of the biggest disasters in pro wrestling history. Part of me feels bad for all the hard work he’s put in and lack of return in that the company still can’t draw well enough to justify doing television on the road weekly or draw a buyrate to save their lives. I would recommend giving this a shot both for Styles’s attitude and the newsiness contained.
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