Impact wrestling thread - It's a Don West tribute thread now!

[Doctor Whos Next]

CM Punk wasn't as famous as AJ Styles is, and they decided to keep his name. Sometimes they reckon that it's worth keeping a gimmick if it's individual enough.

 

CM Punk didnt change his name because he had Paul Heyman in his corner where it mattered - back stage.

 

Colt Cabana didnt have that, was a widely known contemporary of Punk, and was repackaged as Scotty Goldman.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

For what its worth, Chris Hero mentioned in his shoot interview that in 2010 they made the decision that everyones name was getting changed unless you were famous and being signed because of your name. If it was 2013, Bobby Lashley, Elijah Burke, Sylvester Terkay, Gene Snitsky and CM Punk would never have debuted with those names. They were either their real names or had them previously. Its only been recently where its been a guarantee your name was getting changed. Previously, it was pot luck.

[ColinBollocks]

Whether Styles changes his name or not, it won't matter. They're not signing Sting. However getting rid of the TNA stink is only a positive.

 

Anyway, I like the idea of Styles being a Wyatt, seeing as the group really needs a bloke that can go to current high standards. Also, I like the idea of Bryan having a series of matches with Styles before Bryan gets to progress to the big boss level or before he turns. Of course, you have Bray doing all the promo work too, which cuts out Styles' massive flaw in an otherwise World class package.

Edited December 13, 2013 by ColinBollocks

[PowerButchi]

I reckon it's all irrelevant anyway. I predict (probably incorrectly) he'll sit on the fence for a few months then take the TNA pay cut.

[ColinBollocks]

Meltzer was saying the WWE offer Styles received earlier this year was so low that he could make "a lot more" on the Indys and on international tours. Of course, that only stands if Styles doesn't receive a significant push where he's in a money making position, which is the risk.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

It wasn't especially low. WWE doesn't hand out big downside guarantees to anyone. The way WWE is structured, you make your money on the road and at the merch stand. Styles could make more than double what he does in TNA if he's on PPVs and had shit on the market. But he's not guaranteed to make that, because if he put pen to paper he'd only be guaranteed a low downside. And the big thing with him is, would he rather take the guaranteed money of the indy scene, work the matches he wants to work and then trot off back to TNA or does he want to roll the dice and go to WWE? Most expect the former to happen. If he was 26 and had no children, I'd be almost certain he would have signed with WWE by now.

Edited December 13, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[PowerButchi]

I don't blame WWE for lowballing him on the downside either. He's 36, his star is probably at the lowest it's been in years, it's not like WWE is suffering from a dearth of top flight working talent at the moment either, and a lot of those top flight workers are top flight talkers too so I think they don't really need him at the moment. If he wants to go aboard the McMahon train at present I think he'll have to learn to enjoy the taste of shit for a bit, as I really can't see him in too major a role for some time if he did go to New York. If it was a few years back he'd be an amazing pick up, but now, as undeniably talented as he is, he's been surpassed by many. If he takes the gamble I think he'll end up in the Christian-or lower role. Handy working veteran, good for 20 mins on Main Event, but not to trouble the top few echelons.

Edited December 13, 2013 by PowerButchi

[Loki]

It's a difficult choice.

 

On the one hand, if he goes to WWE and is successful, that downside will become a much bigger paycheck and he'll be quids in.

 

On the other hand, these are probably his peak years in terms of making money, if he's going to be sensible and retire before he cripples himself. If he were to go to WWE for 3 or 4 years and make less than the indies, that'd be something he might regret later.

[Ant]

My opinion is Styles made his bed many moons ago (10 years +).

 

In 2002 the $500 a week cheque was on offer. He decided to stick to the indies and TNA, knowing he had a bird in the hand. It's too late now to hope for special treatment. Who knows if he would have "made it" in NY.

[Vamp]

I don't think we should assume that the WWE audience is as stupid as you're suggesting. There are plenty of instances of the WWE crowds going off-message and chanting things from outside the WWE universe - the whole Matt Hardy thing for example, or people's indy names.

 

I'm sorry, the people who don't know who AJ Styles is or don't watch TNA are stupid? Why? Does that include the people who thought Nash, Angle and RVD had retired were stupid?

[Professor Paul's Bin]

Well the crowd have even chanted for Colt Cabana due to CM Punk mentioning him. Whether or not they know who he is, is another question. Then again if they've watched him before I doubt that many people would be chanting his name due to how shit he actually is.

[ColinBollocks]

He's in an odd position where he's a big enough name to tour the World and make a good living, but he's obviously not a face that will make any difference to what WWE are doing, or TNA for that matter.

 

Where you worry about Styles is his lack of promo ability. The likes of Punk and Bryan have managed to overcome some right nonsense because they are great all rounders. Styles has shown several times over that he doesn't have that in him; he could be reciting Lorca/Kafka and still sound like the biggest moron on the planet.

[Loki]

I'll rephrase - WWE audiences IMO don't seem to be as unaware of the existence of wrestling outside WWE as people might assume. Of course there are people that only watch WWE, but it's not a blanket deal.

[PowerButchi]

Yeah granted, but if you look at numbers most people who watch a lot of other wrestling watch WWE, most people who watch WWE don't tend to watch a lot of other wrestling. That's why WWE do as they do, for better or worse.

[King Pitcos]

I'll rephrase - WWE audiences IMO don't seem to be as unaware of the existence of wrestling outside WWE as people might assume. Of course there are people that only watch WWE, but it's not a blanket deal.

That's utterly irrelevant in the context of the tedious discussion, though. Unless you are claiming that these WWE audiences who are aware of other wrestling are not aware of one of WWE's most prominent characters.