>>11372448It ended up working well for him in the long run. He wouldn't have been able to get over in WWE with how much control Vince had over WWE. He'd probably have given AJ a shitty gimmick and have taken too long to realize AJ was good. By being in TNA as long as he did it made NJPW decide to push him to another level which then led to WWE signing him allowing him to completely skip NXT to go straight to the main roster. He's actually done extremely well for himself being Mr. TNA, a solid short run in NJPW even being leader of their most popular faction ever, then he goes to WWE and even taking just his WWE run alone he is worthy of being in their HOF now.
