When you look at the history of Impact Wrestling, there was a lot of former WWE & WCW stars who made the company their new home – but only one man was the heart of the company. AJ Styles was someone who worked his way up the card from the early days, and became their biggest name by the time he would leave the company in 2014.
Styles would go on to have a great run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, before signing with WWE. However, the details of his Impact Wrestling were always a bit messy – but Jeff Jarrett has now set the record straight.
AJ Styles Had To Be Forced Out Of Impact Wrestling
While speaking on his podcast, Jeff Jarrett would reveal the following about the exit of both himself and AJ Styles from Impact Wrestling around 2013/2014.
“I resigned December 21, 2013. In early December is when the Carter’s put the nail in the coffin for me and Toby Keith to acquire majority interest. We knew it was game, set, match. It was not happening. I knew I had to go. I knew Dixie’s position on all of it because of the, for lack of a better word, the financial de-spiral the company was in.
AJ’s money was getting cut. They wanted to cut AJ’s money but not dates. He said, ‘If you cut my money, I’m cutting my dates.’ It was not just AJ’s contract. It was everybody’s. He was a complete, utter mess. AJ was so willing to commit to the product that he was willing to re-sign. I found this out later.
They said some awful things and had devalued AJ. They basically forced AJ against his will to leave. That’s how committed AJ Styles was to the brand. He was TNA through and through – he had to be essentially forced out.”
Impact Wrestling Floundered For A While Without Styles, Who Was Completely Fine Without Them
This move is something that would really harm Impact Wrestling in the mid-2010’s. They would manage to keep afloat, and are back to building themselves back up show by show in 2022. The rift left in the company due to the exit of AJ Styles was never truly filled, but Josh Alexander has the best chance to finally filling it – nearly a decade later.
Styles would be 100% fine. From the moment he left Impact Wrestling, he had offers from all around the world. Styles would go on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in NJPW, before making his way to WWE where he would claim the WWE Championship on numerous occasions, becoming one of their most dependable names in the process.
Should Impact Wrestling have kept AJ Styles around? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AHPMF97fFg
