AJ Styles isnt holding back about his TNA departure in 2013, and hes got plenty to say about what went wrong behind the scenes. While Jeff Jarrett once claimed Styles was essentially forced out, The Phenomenal One recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet to share his side of the story.
According to Styles, things started going downhill when TNA brought in Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. I believe Eric was trying to do the right thing, to see where were at as far as getting more eyes on us that were growing. Unfortunately, it didnt work out the way it was supposed to. We lost a lot of money, he explained.
But Styles had a specific issue with Hogan, who he felt wasnt doing enough to promote TNA. I think I was kind of pissed at Hogan at the time, because I was like, why doesnt he talk about TNA? Why is he not helping us? Hes not advertising at all. He never talked about TNA. I was pissed, but I now realize I think he was embarrassed. It was embarrassing to him to talk about that, so he didnt.
As financial struggles mounted, the company expected Styles to take a pay cut when his contract was upsomething he clearly wasnt willing to do. That decision ultimately led to his exit.
Styles also shared his thoughts on TNAs signature six-sided ring, which gave the promotion a distinct look but came at a painful cost. The six-sided ring was different. It made us different. It sucked as a ring, he admitted.
He recalled a brutal experience wrestling Kurt Angle overseas, where Angle hit him with a belly-to-belly off the top rope. I remember taking that. I go Im never taking that again. Dont ask me Kurt, its killing me, Styles said. But when they switched back to a traditional squared ring, everything changed. He gave it to me in a squared ring and I was like, Oh. I landed and it was like nothing compared to what it was.
Even though he initially resisted the change, Styles admitted that TNA lost part of its identity when it ditched the six-sided ring. But when you saw TNA and you saw a six-sided ring, you knew that was TNA. No one was doing that, maybe in Mexico, but we made it who we were. I think they lost their identity to a certain extent when they went to just a regular ring, just like everybody else.
With Styles now a Grand Slam Champion in WWE, its safe to say his decision to move on paid off. But looking back, its clear he has strong feelings about TNAs best and worst days.
Do you think TNA bringing in Hulk Hogan is what ultimately killed their momentum back in the day? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
