I apologize for this not being posted yesterday and I apologize for there not being a “Stars in Progress” column this week. However, the last 48 hours have been inexplicably miserable for me (and everyone within my household that had to put up with me). I hardly get sick, but when I do, it comes down HARD.
My brain is only strong enough for one stroke of brilliance this week, and I choose this one. Plus, I got a few good contributions sent in through Twitter, so I didn’t want those to go to waste.
Let’s get to it. This is what’s bothering me in pro wrestling this week:
#3. A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels
I could watch these guys go at it in a wrestling ring for the rest of my life and be happy. Yet, I’m not.
On October 16th, 2011, I wrote the following in my “What’s NOT Bothering Me” column: “I could have Styles and Daniels every day of the week, every week of the year. They are THAT good. They bring out the best in each other and their bests are damn near flawless.”
Here we are in March and it’s STILL Daniels and Styles. Kazarian’s added to the mix, but that only helps him. He’s not good enough to add anything to Styles and Daniels’ feud. So, was I lying back in October? Did I not mean what I wrote? No, I wasn’t lying and I meant every word.
I STILL appreciate the greatness made when Chris Daniels and A.J. Styles are in the ring together. The part that bothers me is that TNA apparently doesn’t. The two of them are no better off than they were six months ago.
It seems as if these two men together are an easy crutch for TNA when Creative has nothing better for them. “Well, we haven’t had our annual dose of Styles and Daniels yet. Let’s go with that!”
Styles is the one hurt the most here. He’s the one that deserves more. Much more. No offense to Daniels, but for some reason, the crowd hasn’t connected with him on the same level.
I remember back to 2009 into 2010. THAT was a good period for Styles. He wins the World Heavyweight Championship, gets put over by Sting, turns heel, gets put over by Flair, gets put over by Angle, and breaks Sting’s record for “Longest Reigning Champion in TNA History”. Since then, it’s been back to the mid-card. It’s been back to Christopher Daniels.
I understand room needs to be made for others occasionally. Even WWE does it with John Cena. But stars should still be treated like stars when they aren’t competing for the titles. And TNA has so few to choose from as it is, you would think they’d nurture the ones they do have a little more.
