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| The wrong guy to be droppin' pipe bombs |
Punk's "pipe bomb" is arguably the most famous happening in the wrestling industry since the Attitude Era. More than two years have passed, and the bomb has left traces all over the WWE's current narrative, but there's a reason for this.
First, it had never happened before. Sure, worked shoots are as old as wrestling itself, but never to the degree of giving a guy five minutes to say whatever he wanted. I have never watched on in such disbelief in my 20-plus years when Punk sat Indian style in Vegas. I've always been the guy that watched on knowing that everything was scripted, yet Punk's spot was the first time I felt myself scratching my head to understand if this was really what they told him to say, especially in this day and age of sterile, prefab scripts.
The second reason that the "pipe bomb" worked was because CM Punk is arguably the greatest talker on wrestling television today. You do not turn the channel when Punk has the microphone in his hand because you WANT to hear what he has to say. He captivates you, and no one can touch him in this department. His delivery of the "pipe bomb" accentuated his abilities that much more extraordinarily.
TNA had both originality and execution working against them, but the latter hurt AJ Styles the most in his attempt to recreate magic. I can deal with TNA trying to make a pipe bomb of their own. But Styles simply leaving the company in a contract dispute does nothing to intrigue me because there's no drama of him leaving with the title.
But the biggest thing is that Styles is clearly clueless when it comes to execution in the wrestling world. The Phenomenal One is not better than the Best in the World. Styles might be a match for Punk in the ring, although I'd still give the edge to Punk. However, there is absolutely no way that he even closely compares to Punk on the mic. In fact, AJ's version of the pipe bomb left me wondering what he was talking about half the time, not leaving me captivated.
Styles is not the man I'd have put this mantel on right now. It fits right now given his contract situation, but the only thing that resonates with me about Styles's promo is how bad it was. If Austin Aries or Bobby Roode were the ones trying to catch Punk's fire, I'd probably fall for it. But all Styles did was make me want to see him shut up and get back in the ring to wrestle.
It's just another miscalculation on TNA's part. I hate to continue to be so negative about their product, but they really need to realize whom they can give the mic to and whom they need to put in the ring. AJ Styles is an in-ring guy. Bully Ray is a promo guy. Kurt Angle belongs in rehab. Find someone that can effectively evaluate the strengths of your roster because I put my faith in you to give me solid television every week, not once a month.