Following around round of negotiations, AJ Styles is expected to return to TNA in the near future. As noted previously, Styles was seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000 per year, and while at first TNA refused to match that request, they have apparently given Styles what he is requesting in order to return to the company.

Bill Behrens, the agent for Styles, recently reached out to independent pro wrestling promoters and informed them that the talks between Styles and TNA were moving along, so if they wanted to book him for a show, they needed to get their deposits in soon.

– AJ Styles’ agent Bill Behrens released the following statement over the weekend:

“We continue positive discussions with TNA but not exclusively. AJ has not yet agreed to a new deal nor signed a contract with anyone.”

– Former Ring of Honor tag team champions Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, who have been wrestling in NXT as the American Pitbulls, are still not signed to WWE. There is some talk that TNA is interested in signing them if WWE does not get them under contract.

TNA is looking to sign a lot of indy talent in early 2014 to freshen up their roster, with company officials reportedly interested in Chris Hero and several NYC-based wrestlers.

CHRIS JERICHO & SHEAMUS Returning At The ROYAL RUMBLE?

(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)

Bill Behrens recently sent out the following list of dates, locations and opponents for AJ Styles independent wrestling appearances in early 2014:

As noted in the past, TNA star AJ Styles was receiving somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000 per year on his previous deal with the company. When that deal expired, TNA offered Styles approximately $200,000 per year, an offer which Styles subsequently turned down.

Furthermore, the $200,000 deal that TNA offered Styles wasn’t even a guaranteed deal. It was more along the lines of a “per appearance” type deal, one that would see Styles make even less than 200k if the company scales back on their live events schedule, which is something they are rumored to be doing in 2014.

Regardless, as noted earlier this week, TNA has finally offered Styles what he wanted, and it appears as though it’s only a matter of time until Styles returns to action with TNA.

Jim Cornette recently appeared on the 100th episode of the Inside The Ropes podcast. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

The AJ Styles Contract Situation:

“AJ is a great kid personally as well as professionally. Very talented. He’s been with the company for 11 or 12 years since the company started. I can understand exactly where he’s coming from. From what I’ve read, they wanna resign him for either the same or less money. Money being the root of most problems in the wrestling business. If I know AJ swell as I think I do, he doesn’t have any bad habits, he doesn’t spend his money frivolously, he’s saved his money wisely for the last decade. i think it’s a situation where he feels that if he’s not worth the money that he’s asked from TNA that he’d rather take a break or do something else or it might be a matter of principle. I can’t argue with that.

He’s been a main event guy, he’s been presented as a main event guy, one of the talents that you really identify with the TNA roster. I’ll go ahead an mention his name, Vince Russo, Russo was the booker for a lot of the 10-11 years of TNA. In that time,A lot of guys have been rendered meaningless in terms of draws. I was talking to Delirious one time during a Ring of Honor meeting and we were throwing out what if’s, you know what if we try to sign this guy or that guy, and we looked at Samoa Joe, one of the most recognized Ring of Honor champions of all time, a tremendous athlete and we both looked at each other and said with what TNA had done to him now, if we could get him, we’re not sure we’d even want him and that’s sad to say for a talent like Samoa Joe or an AJ styles. It’s not like I’m picking on those guys, Jeff hardy was one of the biggest start in wrestling and after 3 years with TNA he’s just another guy on the card.

I can also believe it or not, see TNA’s side of it, in that they don’t wanna pay him that much money since they don’t get the results at the box office but that’s their fault that they don’t get those results. That’s probably why AJ feels the way he does. There’s a lot of great talent in TNA. I almost think for most of them would have to go away not just from TNA but from the public eye for a while and get what down here in the south, we’d call, the TNA stank off of them.”

WWE Championship Unification at TLC

“I think it would be best to have one champion and make it feel more special but I also think the horse has left the barn, cowboy. I hate to be negative Nancy or Debbie Downer but you can see why when I watch the current product it gives me gas because for years in wrestling everyone knew who the World Champion was. Of course it depended what part of the country you were. For most of the country, the NWA champion was the champion people knew. Harley Race would hold the title for 3 years, Dory Funk Jr. would have it for 3 years, Ric Flair would hold it for an amount of time, Lou Thesz, you know, practically lived with the thing. Everybody knew he’s the champ. in the AWA it was generally Verne Gagne, home are hero.

In the northeast it was Bruno Sammartino, no matter who came and went, everyone knew, Bruno’s the champ. Well now the problem is, the title instead of being viewed as the prize in sports, the titles have been used as props. Oh lets switch the belt onto this guy or that guy, oh let the guy cash in a briefcase and cover the dead guy that’s just been beaten up, it’s just been turned into a prop, it’s been devalued, it’s been prostituted. Besides that, now that everyone pretty much knows pro wrestling is choreographed, pre-determined, whatever you wanna call it, everyone knows you’re not really the champion and someone just awards you it.

The only thing that ever annoyed me about the Bret Hart screwjob in Montreal is Bret called the newspapers in Montreal to tell them he’s been screwed and hadn’t really lost the title, well he didn’t call them when he won the thing and say oh I didn’t really win it, someone just gave it to me. Now, It’s a shiny belt that people can buy a replica of and it’s another tool in our toolkit that we’ve devalued to the point where it doesn’t make us any money anymore and it’s sad.”

AJ Styles and TNA are officially back in negotiations for Styles to sign a new deal with the promotion.

Apparently there is some talk that Styles may have already signed a new deal at some point in the last 48 hours.

As noted earlier today, Styles has at least nine known bookings with independent pro wrestling promotions between now and March, so if he were to re-sign with TNA, he is already committed to those appearances.

We should have more on this story in the near future as further information surfaces.

AJ Styles Says He’s A Free Agent & Talks About His TNA Departure

Following his announcement on Monday that he is officially a free agent and done with TNA, AJ Styles has been booking a lot of independent dates.

Smash Wrestling has announced this week that AJ Styles will face former WWE developmental star Chris Hero on 1/26 at their “Any Given Sunday 2” show from Toronto,  Canada. 2CW also announced that Styles will face Eddie Edwards on 3/14 from Binghamton, NY.

Here’s an updated look at AJ Styles’ upcoming schedule, through March 2014:

• 12/28: Anarchy Wrestling (Cornelia, GA).
• 1/19: Premier Wrestling Xperience (Winston-Salem, NC)
• 1/26: Smash Wrestling (Toronto, Canada) vs. Chris Hero
• 2/1: Dreamwave Wrestling (Chicago, IL)
• 2/7: Deep Southern Championship Wrestling (Blue Ridge, GA)
• 2/28: PCW (Preston, England)
• 3/1: PCW (Preston, England)
• 3/14: 2CW (Binghamton, NY) vs. Eddie Edwards
• 3/15: Ultimate Wrestling Experience (Harrisburg, PA) vs. A.R. Fox

AJ Styles posted the following statement on his official website and Facebook page this morning:

MY STATEMENT ON TNA CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS 12/16/13

Today for the first time in 11 years, AJ Styles awakes to find himself without a professional wrestling contract. I can’t help but think how did I get here, what must I have done wrong, did I not deliver in the ring, etc. All of those are pertinent questions that any man or woman who finds himself or herself unemployed would ask.

I have always prided myself in being the wrestler that stays away from the things in this business that could easily destroy myself, my family, my marriage, and even my career. A wrestler who goes above and beyond to give the fans what they paid to see.

I move forward not bitter, but better for the blessings and memories that I have been a part of since TNA’s inception.

When this contract renegotiation journey started several months ago, my wife and I began praying for God to close doors that needed to be closed and to open the doors that He wanted us to walk through. We asked him to prepare us for this journey and to help us to have the faith to be obedient to what He would have us to do. I am assured by the name Immanuel in Matthews 1:23 that I will never be alone. Hebrews 13.5, says He will never leave us or forsake us. There is a lot in this world that I am unsure of, especially in this moment, but there is one thing that I am certain. Contracts may expire, but the promise of Immanuel will never expire.

As my family and I move forward with my wrestling career, we will turn to Jabez’s prayer found in 1 Chronicles 4:10.

Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil.

My family and I are both grateful for the platform that TNA has allowed me to experience. TNA has been a blessing to our family for many years. We have made many friendships and many more memories. While you may not be seeing AJ Styles in TNA, you can be sure that he will be traveling the world and delivering many more Phenomenal matches. Visit AJStyles.org for a complete list of bookings.

Sincerely,

AJ Styles

The following are highlights of last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling:

– Austin Aries defeated Chris Sabin to become the new TNA X Division Champion.

– AJ Styles returned to Impact in a serious of segments where Rocktar Spud traveled to Styles’ home in Georgia to reclaim the TNA World Heavyweight title. After a confrontation between the two, Styles still retained possession of the belt.

– Former TNA Knockouts champion Madison Rayne returned.

– Ethan Carter III, Zema Ion, Gunner and Chavo Guerrero captured “Feast or Fired” briefcases in the main event. The contents are a TNA World Title shot, Tag Title shot, X Title shot, or pink slip firing.

– The following matches were set up for next week’s “Final Resolution” edition of Impact:

* TNA World Title Tournament Finals: Magnus vs. Jeff Hardy in a “Dixieland Obstacle Course (Cage Match with Ladders)

* Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode (Best of 3 Falls Match)

* Knockouts Champion Gail Kim & Lei’D Tapa vs. ODB & Madison Rayne

*SPOILERS* For The Next Several Weeks Of Impact Wrestling

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

The #1 Thing Wrong With WWE Commentary: ” My ‘issue’ with today’s wrestling commentary, in general, is the lack of documenting what one’s seeing in the ring to the degree that as a viewer that I can ‘feel’ it therefore better emotionally invest in it. That’s ultimate in story telling in my humble opinion. Nonetheless, talented talkers like Cole and Layfield do as they are instructed to do, which is actually a great philosophy for one to follow if they care about job security, and who doesn’t? If one cashes their companies checks, then do what the company wants.

The game has changed, by and large, at the announce tables of pro wrestling which adds another log to the fire as to why I feel that I’ve called my last match. My style and today’s trend of broadcasting likely isn’t a compatible fit….and that’s not a bad thing.”

Dolph Ziggler’s Position In WWE: “Is WWE “punishing” Dolph Ziggler? No. If WWE wanted to ‘punish’ Ziggler they would simply not use him on TV and allow him to fade into obscurity. More fans should use their common sense on this one. Dolph is hugely talented and, generally, athletes who are on Ziggler’s level overcome any perceived obstacles. The key is to not check out and to keep turning heads.

If WWE Will Sign AJ Styles “Will WWE sign AJ Styles? I’d have zero clue on that one but I would say it’s a long shot at best. Not because AJ isn’t an outstanding talent, because he is, but I get the feeling WWE wants to create new stars and those new stars are going to come from the WWE Performance Center exclusively.”

The following are highlights from a recent interview with TNA Wrestling tag-team Bad Influence:

On their favorite TNA theme songs of all-time …

Kazarian: “Currently, our song is my favorite because Chris Daniels and I had a lot of input on that. We knew exactly the feel of the song, we knew exactly the rhythm. We knew exactly, exactly what we wanted and Dale OIiver was gracious enough to really hear us out. He’d give us something and we wanted a couple things changed and he changed them for us and the finished product really, really suits our characters. Over the years, there’s been many, many songs that have been either mocked or sung in the locker room or just the rhythm of it, sung along. There’s been some pretty memorable ones like Abyss’s famous one. There’s been so many ones that have stuck with us over the years.”

Daniels: “Yeah, I’m definitely a big fan of our stuff. I’ve been fortunate enough, not just with the current one that I have, but the last two themes that I had with Dale, I talked it out with him and sort of figured out what I wanted to do. The one I had before the one Frankie and I use now, I actually hummed the bars. It was a song that I had sort of come up with myself. I had sort of a theme that I wanted, so I basically called Dale up and hummed the bars over the phone and he played it on his guitar and that ended up being my theme song for a very long time. As far as other people’s stuff, AJ Style’s music has been pretty good as far as sticking with his character. And I was a big fan of D’Angelo Dinero’s music when he had it. I thought it fit his character and it certainly fit his entrance. Also, another one that sticks out, it’s one of those songs that gets an immediate reaction is the former Beautiful Peoples’s/ Velvet Sky’s music. When that hits, people know who’s coming. I think that’s a big factor when it comes to wrestling entrance music, knowing exactly what’s coming. I think that can be said for our music as well.”

On where Kazarian was the first time he did an impression of AJ Styles …

Kazarian: “Probably in the locker room or in a car or in a hotel room. And it was probably years ago. When you spend so much time with someone, you start emulating them, good, bad, or indifferent. We always just kind of crack on each other and AJ’s got that Southern accent, it was easy fodder for Chris and myself. So probably sometime in the early 2000?s in a locker room or a hotel or a car, I couldn’t tell you, man. But I guess just spending so much time with the guy over the years, I just kind of picked it up as a second language, really.”

On Billy Corgan …

Kazarian: “He was at a live event in Chicago this past March. I know Chris and I had a chance to sit down and chat with him and again, such a fan of our business that he actually started up his own promotion, which is doing very well. Billy, like me, his first passion is music and obviously, his second is wrestling. Both worlds are very and he’s done a great job with his promotion and he’s very knowledgeable, very respectful of us, and he’s a huge, huge musician. So that’s really cool for those worlds to mesh again.”

Daniels: “Yeah, he’s definitely somebody that you can talk the history of wrestling with and the stuff that got him involved as a kid. It still effects what he likes to do, what he watches today, and how he runs his promotion. So he’s definitely very knowledgeable about wrestling and you can tell when he’s sitting backstage at our show in Chicago this year, he was watching the show just very interested to see what everybody was doing, how the promos went and how the matches went. He’s definitely someone that has a real appreciation for wrestling.”

On the rumors that Hulk Hogan originally auditioned to be a bass player for Metallica …

Kazarian: “That’s as silly today as it is the first time I heard it. I think he had said something to the effect of Lars wanted him to replace Cliff on bass or to join the band. I can’t take that out of context. (laughs) I read an interview that Lars responded and laughed it off like, “No, that didn’t happen!” I don’t know why Hulk would say that. I mean I know Hulk did play bass, I’ve actually talked to him about that. But that’s about as ludicrous of a rumor as can be, but if it gets people talking about you, whatever. I’m all for it.”

Check out the complete interview online at JourneyOfAFrontman.com.

As reported over the weekend, AJ Styles will be a free agent on December 16th after he and TNA were unable to come to terms on a new contract.

Of course, it came down to money. As a TNA original, Styles was very frustrated several months ago with the company offering him much less than he’s been making. He signed a short-term contract extension, but TNA’s drastic cost cutting is the root of the problem.

Styles is now taking independent bookings and is reportedly looking for $3,000-4,000 per appearance.

With TNA letting AJ Styles go, there is now a lot of concern in the TNA locker room from other wrestlers whose contracts are coming up soon. The feeling is that if Styles couldn’t get what he was looking for, nobody will.

*SPOILERS* For The Next Several Weeks of TNA Impact (Including AJ’s Final Show)

(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)

As noted earlier, AJ Styles is not only accepting independent wrestling bookings in 2014, but is looking for regular bookings in the first quarter of 2014. According to reports, the reason for this is that AJ Styles will be officially parting ways with TNA next week.

The current contract that Styles is under with TNA right now is set to expire on December 16th. As of December 17th, AJ Styles will officially be a free agent.

We will have more details on this story on Monday morning.

– TNA wrestler A.J. Styles is taking independent wrestling bookings through Bill Behrens at showbis@aol.com. Styles is starting to look for regular work in the first quarter of 2014.

– In addition to the quotes we reported earlier today from TNA president Dixie Carter regarding the TNA sale rumors and Billy Corgan rumors, the Tennessean.com article also covers TNA planning 24/7 programming in challenging WWE. You can read the complete article online at Tennessean.com.

– As of earlier this week, AJ Styles had yet to sign a new deal with TNA. Both sides continue to negotiate a new deal, however as of a few months ago, the two sides were reportedly far apart on the financial side of the agreement.

– Former AAA Cruiserweight Champion Xtreme Tiger worked a match for the TNA Xplosion taping recently. There is no official word yet, however, as to whether or not Tiger, who wrestled Zema Ion at the Xplosion show, has been officially signed by TNA.

• Rob Van Dam Talks About If & When He’ll Return To WWE (VIDEO)

In a match taped for TNA’s “Final Resolution” edition of Impact Wrestling on Tuesday night, Magnus defeated Jeff Hardy in a “Steel Cage Dixieland” match to become the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

The rules of the match stated that the wrestler must escape the cape and advance to the TNA stage where a ladder was set up. The wrestler must then climb the ladder to retrieve the belt. As Hardy was going to do exactly that, Rockstar Spud came out and knocked the ladder over, which allowed Magnus to pick up the win.

With the victory, Magnus is now set up for a unification match against fellow TNA Champion AJ Styles whenever TNA decides to pull the trigger.

For those interested, full TNA Impact Wrestling taping results are available on the newsboard.

• Complete TNA “Final Resolution” Impact Wrestling Spoiler Results

– AJ Styles and Jesse Sorensen are now accepting independent bookings through Bill Behrens at showbis@aol.com.

-Aside from the Impact Wrestling episode that aired on November 20th, TNA announcers Taz and Mike Tenay have not been present at recent television tapings. TNA has been bringing the announcers to Nashville to do taped commentary for the shows.

TNA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles has been announced for a five-night speaking tour in Europe.

The tour, which is being dubbed, “An Evening With A.J. Styles,” is scheduled for March 6-11 in England and Scotland. Each show will include a meet and greet and Q&A with the fans.

Speaking of Styles, his autobiography, “Phenomenal,” has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2014 due to changes to the book content.

“The book was originally slated for an earlier release but was delayed so changes could be made in various chapters including the one dedicated to TNA,” said Styles’s representative Bill Behrens.

– TNA is reporting that AJ Styles is receiving booking requests from wrestling promoters in the UK, Puerto Rico and Canada following his “unsanctioned and unauthorized” TNA World Heavyweight Championship title defense at the Wrestle-1 event in Japan this past Saturday.

– Diamond Dallas Page recently spoke to the RCWR Show about what led to him leaving TNA back in 2005. DDP said the following:

“Uumm, money; hahaha. I came back for one reason, to show that I could still go at 49. I was 49 years old when I was bouncing around out there like that in TNA and I wasn’t about the same weight I was at 44, not the same but I wasn’t that far off. I just really wanted to come back for that one year, you know, rack it up, have some fun matches, you know, make some money and then when it came time to renegotiate the contract we just didn’t agree and I was like no big deal, thank you very much, I had a great time. I was really done. I didn’t have the run I wanted in the WWE, obviously. I did have a great little run with Christian, we had a great WrestleMania but you know, two and a half years later I wanted to show that DDP could still go and that was the only reason that I did it. It was more about showing that what was possible with DDP yoga than it was about being in the ring, so I obviously had lived the dream on a whole different level at WCW and I make a lot of money. I wasn’t going back for the money, of course you want to make a lot of money but I’m not going to beat up my body unless I’m making a certain number because for me to risk hurting my knees anymore or for me to risk hurting my back, my hips and my ankles, for me its pivotal that my body be in the best shape that I can be in. I don’t want to be broken down and beat up like so many of my other brothers.”