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TORCH QUESTION OF THE WEEK Reax #3: "It's time for A.J. Styles to once again become the face of TNA Wrestling." Nov 7, 2007 - 9:16:41 AM
For this week's Question of the Week, we asked Torch readers who should be the long-term TNA champion to carry the company. So far, responses have ranged from Kurt Angle to Matt Morgan, with readers going for my darkhorse "let's see what he can do in a singles run" pick of Hernandez. You can still contribute! Click on the "Contact Us" link above and send me an email with your response. To the responses...
Edward Reisinger, Torch reader: TNA's Title picture is a mess. Not just the World title; the longest current championship reign has been only since September. After some consideration, I decided that the World Champion needs to be different than both the WWE and Ring of Honor offers. However, they need to take what works best with both: ROH's focus on work rate and WWE's long consistent reign of a champ (e.g. John Cena). So, whoever the champion is needs to be able to carry some of bad top star workers in the company but will be able have 5* matches with the best workers. I came up with Samoa Joe and Homicide. I originally liked Homicide better, as it would be new, but breaking up an act like LAX this early might be a mistake. I believe it should be Samoa Joe, but after a long rebuild of what TNA has destroyed of him over the last two years.
Sam Robinson, Torch reader: I think the TNA champ should be either one of two people. When I first started watching TNA, the X-Division is what I watched for - it was exciting and action-packed, but it was a lure. Every week I kept going to their website and watching to see how Jeff Jarrett weaseled away with the title every week, or how he was going to get it back from Raven, or how could he let Christian walk right in and take it. The X-Division brought me to the dance but Jeff always kept my attention with that belt. So he is one of my votes, because he could bring much needed focus back to the belt. The other is the one person they have been slowly building around the entire time he’s been there, and I’m not talking about Samoa Joe (though he does deserve a run, even if short, for all the time he’s been wasting on TV the last 2-3 months). I’m talking about the Instant Classic and his Coalition. Now I don’t really agree with A.J. being his lackey, but you can tell that Christian has helped him with his promos. All of the skits with them are humorous, but not distracting like every last skit involving Kurt and J.B. They all have a clear point, and they throw some comedy on the side as bonus. Christian should definitely get one more long term run and have Tomko screw him out of his belt to start the feud that has been painfully slowly building come to its climax. I know I tune in each week to see if Christian and Tomko are finally going to come to blows, and I’m sure if it’s elevated to the title picture, others would too.
Christian Lee of Harrisburg, Pa.: Let's face it, with the exception of Christian Cage, TNA has now completely exhausted and/or misused all of their WWE, WCW and ECW "heyday names". Raven's days of being a main event guy are long gone. Rhino is now a glorified jobber thanks to creative. Scott Steiner is helping to develop the young tag team scene. Kevin Nash doesn't ever need to be in a wrestling ring again. Sting can definitely still go, but should only be used to accentuate the World Title scene. And I think I speak for the majority of TNA fans when I say that I'm on complete Kurt Angle overload. With all that being said, TNA desperately needs to get the belt on some homegrown talent. James Storm is a solid heel, who in time will absolutely be a quality candidate for a title shot. Robert Roode is a great heel and will no doubt be in the main event scene sooner than later. Abyss's creative direction right now is a complete joke. And as far as I'm concerned, it's just not Samoa Joe's time yet. Many of you probably believe I'm insane, but that's how I feel. He needs at least one more big time feud and possibly a diet plan before he becomes the face of TNA. So who's my pick? A.J. Styles.
It wasn't too long ago that Styles was TNA's showcase talent. Remember when you couldn't get through one TNA broadcast without hearing about how Styles was TNA's first (and at the time the only) triple crown champion? And how he did it 3 times over no less? He needs the belt. We all know what he can do in the ring. The guy can get a great match out of damn near anybody. He's in great shape. A professional look in terms of in ring attire. He's very good on the mic. All creative has to do is alter his current persona just a little and he'll go from Christian's goofy lackey, to cocky and impressive heel in no time. For four years, Styles was the face of a young and struggling wrestling promotion. Well things have changed and it's time for A.J. Styles to once again become the clear-cut face of TNA Wrestling.
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