By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

TNA World Hvt. champion A.J. Styles said in an interview promoting the Bound for Glory PPV that there were moments playing a goofball character when he thought to himself that some of his storylines were "just dumb."

"You know, I went from a turkey to a reindeer. ... Sometimes I’m like, 'This is just dumb. This doesn’t make any sense,'" Styles told Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun. "But after a while, I was like, 'If they want me to be this character, I’m going to be the best and I’m going to have fun with it.' And I did."

After the "character development attempt" phase, Styles's character returned to being a serious act that TNA fans wanted him to be. He says being "real" is what the fans appreciate about him.

"I just see myself as a normal guy, but apparently people see me as something different. So that’s a lot of pressure, just trying to figure out, 'OK, what do these people like about A.J. Styles? Why am I so different?' In talking to people, I think it’s the fact that I’m real," he said. "I'm not trying to be something that I’m not, and I think a lot of people can relate to that. They want something that's real and I think I give that to them."

Styles also talks about TNA content, being the World champion and face of the company, and a number of other subjects in the in-depth interview.

Link: Styles interview with Kevin Eck.
Caldwell's Analysis: I selected these two quotes from the recommended interview to reinforce that Styles has that "it" factor just being himself and TNA wasted so much time from 2007 to 2008 trying to make him this silly, goofball character when all they needed to reinforce was that he's A.J. freakin' Styles. TNA didn't need to dress up the franchise. The franchise player is just the franchise player.

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