During a recent edition of his “My World” podcast, Jeff Jarrett stated that AJ Styles’ departure was the final nail in the coffin for the original TNA Wrestling brand.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his contract negotiations with AJ Styles: “At the end of the day, AJ Styles, every time he came to the table, he was never abrasive, but at the end of the day, you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, he had leverage because could he go somewhere else? Yep, all the time. He was very loyal to the brand, and I’m super grateful for that. But his skill set, every year, he got better. He got better on the mic. He got better on character development, his athletic ability; I’ll say, [he] continued to fine-tune it, and all that kind of stuff. But he was, from day one, the anchor of the X Division.”
On Styles leaving was the final nail in the coffin in TNA: “When he said, ‘I’m out,’ from a brand perspective, forward-facing, I would imagine that was the final nail in the coffin for the original OG TNA fan. The Hulk Hogan years were ball shot after ball shot after ball shot on that, but AJ leaving would be the final nail in the coffin for that brand.”
