DMJ Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Yeah, I was at Fastlane and they promoted a SmackDown taping in September. AJ Styles was featured prominently, right alongside Reigns, Ambrose, and Wyatt in the video promo. To me, considering he's only been in the company for a month and they've already edited him into promotional materials says a lot. People can talk it away like "They just put anyone in those things," but the fact is, someone designs promo packages and is given marching orders as to who should be put in and who should not. Those marching orders included "feature AJ Styles," not "feature Cesaro," not "feature Kalisto," not "feature the Usos," not "feature Ziggler." AJ will get an opportunity, I think, especially if they eventually do concede that Reigns is a heel in the summer/fall. Styles as the "savior" against Reigns isn't completely out of the question, though, if they do go that course, I'd be surprised if Rollins isn't shoe-horned into that role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woof Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I said it in December when the Philly fans popped huge for Vince's return, so I feel it bears repeating here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Just compare Styles' first month in WWE to his first month in NJPW. Its night and day. You do know these are 2 entirely different scenarios, correct? And I mean ENTIRELY different from every standpoint possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I think they've slotted AJ into the role they wanted for Bryan, but he was too over for. Plus his shirt has been the #1 seller on their website since he debuted so I think he'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 As disappointing as Reigns is, I'll be way more deflated if Triple H walks out of Wrestlemania with the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 so does everyone think this will be the end of the Authority at mania? Listening to Dave on WOR he seems to be doubting Shane is beating Taker unless they do a deal where he lays down for them for the good of the business also Vince said "fuck" in his promo last night. Yet Brad Maddux was fired for saying "prick" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo-Yo's Roomie Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I was at Raw. Pop for Shane was insane. The reveal of Shane/Taker at Mania seemed to get a bit of a WTF reaction. There was a 'holy shit' chant, but also a lot of people seemed to see it as a letdown. People around me were commenting that it was a waste of Taker. Reigns was heavily booed all night, even when he appeared on the video screen in like promotional stuff. Easily the most hated guy on the show. He did have pockets of support around the arena though, and I probably saw more Reigns shirts than of any other wrestler. Some of the anti-Reigns sentiment was so obnoxious that I was cheering for him, even though I'm not a fan really. HHH's response was depressingly positive. New Day were very over, and there were a lot of unicorn horns in the crowd. Sasha got a pop for her entrance, but the crowd didn't seem too interested in the match. There were people around me acting like it was a Torrie Wilson match or something, which makes me think it's going to take a lot to really get these girls over to the general audience like some of us here would probably like. Nobody really liked the 6-man either. Jericho and AJ were both really over. It seems like all of this was evident from watching on TV, but just thought I'd share how it came across in the arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I think the Sasha match issues have as much to do with WWE not being good at disguising which matches are supposed to be "good matches" and which matches are just a means to an end to advance an angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Would Shane vs the Undertaker be any more ridiculous if Stephanie and Vince controlled the Undertaker via an urn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Then Bray turns face by bringing back the hologram of doom, and helps Shane win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I stand by the statement they don't want Styles to get over. They signed him to see some New Japan/ TNA guy fall on his face, not to have him make money. He's already lost in a singles match. His finisher has been kicked out of. Everything about his Jericho feud is shit, there is absolutely no heat in it at all. They have pointed out how short and how southern Styles is in the first month. Two things that if you want him over, you don't fucking point out. If you want somebody to get over do you put them on TV within a million miles of the Miz or the the crew from the social outcast? They've spent the entire first month making him to be some mid card guy. Every time they mention his accomplishments else where, Cole or Jericho or whoever deminishes those accomplisments. None of those things is something that you do if you want to make a guy successful. They see him as a midcard guy, they have spent the past month treating him as a midcard guy. his career there will be as a midcard guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I stand by the statement they don't want Styles to get over. They signed him to see some New Japan/ TNA guy fall on his face, not to have him make money. He's already lost in a singles match. His finisher has been kicked out of. Everything about his Jericho feud is shit, there is absolutely no heat in it at all. They have pointed out how short and how southern Styles is in the first month. Two things that if you want him over, you don't fucking point out. If you want somebody to get over do you put them on TV within a million miles of the Miz or the the crew from the social outcast? They've spent the entire first month making him to be some mid card guy. Every time they mention his accomplishments else where, Cole or Jericho or whoever deminishes those accomplisments. None of those things is something that you do if you want to make a guy successful. They see him as a midcard guy, they have spent the past month treating him as a midcard guy. his career there will be as a midcard guy. Agreed. AJ should've won the Rumble and then went on a gauntlet at Mania beating HHH, Reigns, Cena, Rollins, Hogan, the Rock, Austin, Punk, Bryan, Orton and Batista... That's the only way they could've possibly booked him into a credible main eventer from the get go, amirite? Seriously though... If the deal he signed for was as much money as it's rumored to be, how is he not making money? He a lost 1 match to a guy he beat twice, once before and once after that loss which pretty much put over he won the series and it's his only loss in about 10 matches. How's that going to hurt him? When has the Styles Clash been kicked out of? I don't watch SmackDown! and didn't pay that much attention to Fastlane, but I don't remember Y2J kicking out of it or anyone else kicking out of it on RAW. Bryan was small and they pointed it out many times. Do you think that's something that stopped him from being the most over star on the roster? It's also 2016. That mentally has changed a lot. If you don't believe me, look at their current roster and signees. Did you expect him to come in and become a main eventer from the get-go? Of course he wasn't going to be one. So it's no surprised he's been working the mid card for now. JBL is always putting over his credentials. Every single time JBL talks about him, all he does is glorify how he's a well traveled veteran who's a former IWGP champion. And one last time: Did you expect him to come in and become a main eventer from the get-go? Of course he wasn't going to be one. So it's no surprised he's been working the mid card for now. With that said, I'm done. There's no valid argument you can bring up to justify your train of thought and there's no point in me or anyone else bringing up why you're wrong if you're just going to continue ignoring it because he's not getting booked how you wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Every guy Jericho feuded with in the past 5-6 years came out way worse off then they went in the feud with Jericho. Don't know how or why that happens it just does. They aren't setting Styles up in a position to draw money for them. They are setting him in a position where they can say "well we tried, we put the IC title on him off the bat and it just never worked out" Am I wrong or instead of funneling in crowd noise during his entrance like they do with a lot of people, they are tuning crowd noise down, the way CMLL does for some reason? At Fastlane, his first PPV match, his finisher was kicked out of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 They aren't setting Styles up in a position to draw money for them. They are setting him in a position where they can say "well we tried, we put the IC title on him off the bat and it just never worked out" His t-shirt has been their #1 best seller for a while and they even did a "5 dream matches for AJ Styles" article on their website and there's a very, very, VERY high chance they'll try and put all of those matches together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 they are running an angle where Reigns had surgery to repair his nose after the beatdown last night. Most likely to give Reigns time off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 ...they even did a "5 dream matches for AJ Styles" article on their website and there's a very, very, VERY high chance they'll try and put all of those matches together. There's always been a vast disconnect between the website and the actual product. I don't think a fantasy piece on .com indicates anything about WWE's plans for Styles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 After his incredible heel run in NJ, I would have thought that they would have brought Styles in to be a top heel to feed to Cena or Reigns or whoever. Instead they have positioned him to be at best the #5 babyface. This is my point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 Reigns was heavily booed all night, even when he appeared on the video screen in like promotional stuff. Easily the most hated guy on the show. He did have pockets of support around the arena though, and I probably saw more Reigns shirts than of any other wrestler. Some of the anti-Reigns sentiment was so obnoxious that I was cheering for him, even though I'm not a fan really. You should have asked them if they were REALLY fans of Roman Reigns or if they just bought his shirt because it looked cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 After his incredible heel run in NJ, I would have thought that they would have brought Styles in to be a top heel to feed to Cena or Reigns or whoever. Instead they have positioned him to be at best the #5 babyface. This is my point. So then you wouldn't have complained about how he was fresh out of his "incredible heel run in NJ" and then lost in his first feud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 ...they even did a "5 dream matches for AJ Styles" article on their website and there's a very, very, VERY high chance they'll try and put all of those matches together. There's always been a vast disconnect between the website and the actual product. I don't think a fantasy piece on .com indicates anything about WWE's plans for Styles. Considering how they've been pushing social media and stuff in recent months, I would say things are changing in that aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 I do think his long-term calling is as a heel given the WWE landscape, but I also think there's a lot of newness that has to wear off before it would work. There is a happy medium between trading wins with Chris Jericho and going over every single top star in the company in a gauntlet match, by the way. Owens is a very good WM opponent for him if that's where they're going, and it would be nice to see them given time to steal the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 I stand by the statement they don't want Styles to get over. They signed him to see some New Japan/ TNA guy fall on his face, not to have him make money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 I stand by the statement they don't want Styles to get over. They signed him to see some New Japan/ TNA guy fall on his face, not to have him make money. He's already lost in a singles match. His finisher has been kicked out of. Everything about his Jericho feud is shit, there is absolutely no heat in it at all. They have pointed out how short and how southern Styles is in the first month. Two things that if you want him over, you don't fucking point out. If you want somebody to get over do you put them on TV within a million miles of the Miz or the the crew from the social outcast? They've spent the entire first month making him to be some mid card guy. Every time they mention his accomplishments else where, Cole or Jericho or whoever deminishes those accomplisments. None of those things is something that you do if you want to make a guy successful. They see him as a midcard guy, they have spent the past month treating him as a midcard guy. his career there will be as a midcard guy. I'll stop short of calling you an idiot and just say......you're wrong Are you even watching the TV? The best stuff they're doing right now IMO is the AJ Styles push. Will he be a main eventer? He's AJ F'n Styles. He gets over. And if we've learned anything from recent WWE......they can't deny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 I stand by the statement they don't want Styles to get over. They signed him to see some New Japan/ TNA guy fall on his face, not to have him make money. hahahahahha that was way better than my response to this joeg fella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 It really wasn't. I'm thinking of banning GIF/photo replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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