Eric Bischoff reveals what AJ Styles was made to do 'without his will'
Eric Bischoff recently spoke about AJ Styles and his run in TNA on his podcast 83 weeks. The former RAW GM talked about why AJ Styles was paired with Ric Flair in TNA.
Talking about Styles and Flair, Bischoff revealed that even though AJ Styles was always one of the best in-ring talents, he was far from being great on the 'stick'. He added that in order to be the top guy, a Superstar needs to have the whole package and not just good athleticism.
He added that there was a belief that TNA needed to grow AJ Styles' character as he was getting stagnant. Having him paired with one of the most charismatic men in the business - Ric Flair - would help achieve that they believed.
TNA needed to grow AJ Styles as a character. I think AJ Styles probably hit his peak in terms of what he was able to contribute in TNA in the context of what TNA was able to operate at that moment. He was already as popular as he was already going to get. Keeping the belt on him and pushing him longer, you would have gotten the same results every single week. That is not growing your audience. That is not building the character. (H/t: WrestlingNews)
AJ Styles being paired with Ric Flair
Further talking about AJ Styles and his partnership with Ric Flair, Bischoff said that at that point AJ Styles had a one-dimensional character and needed to evolve. He added that while AJ Styles could compensate for his lack of depth with his in-ring prowess, that just was not enough.
When you got a guy like AJ Styles, who was amazing as you can get, but wasn’t that good on the mic back then. He just wasn’t. He had a one dimensional character. Yes, it was cool and he could compensate for his lack of depth as a character outside of the ring or on the mic. He could more than compensate by what he could deliver in the ring. But, guess what? That’s not enough. If you really want to get to that next level, you have to be able to do all of it. In AJ’s situation, we believed that hooking AJ up with Ric Flair, by giving him that Ric Flair rub, by allowing AJ to take advantage of some of that massive equity that Ric Flair had with generations of wrestling fans, in both WWE and in WCW would be the shot in the arm that AJ needed as a character and also would force AJ, to a degree against his will, learn how to become a different character than that wholesome, white bread, ass kicking, homegrown TNA talent.
AJ Styles was a former TNA World Champion and one of the most iconic TNA Superstars. His pairing with Ric Flair certainly helped AJ Styles evolve into the complete performer that he is today.