A.J. Styles
By Adam Bernard
With the words “The Phenomenal” positioned right in front of his name it should be obvious from the outset that there’s something special about TNA Wrestling’s AJ Styles. Styles, the back to back Mr. TNA Award winner, has been the face of TNA since day one and with the company now airing weekly shows on SpikeTV, his popularity has never been higher. Knowing a star on the rise when we see one, Soak magazine recently caught up with Styles to discuss his ascent in the wrestling ranks, who he’d like to see come over to TNA, and his thoughts on TNA’s competition.
SOAK: Let’s start with the easiest question, when and how did you get “The Phenomenal” placed in front of your name?
AJ Styles: It was in Cornelia, Georgia, pretty much where I started. Dan Wilson was the ring announcer and also a commentator, and he came up with The Phenomenal AJ Styles and it’s just kinda stuck over the years.
SOAK: You’ve been in TNA since day one back in 2002. What changes have you seen in the company since then, other than the obvious TV contract?
AJ: And the obvious ring, six sides, that’s definitely a big change, but I think the caliber of talent. At first, I think it was based on a lot of name value, but when they realized people really want to see wrestling, they focused more on guys who could actually do that, and I think that’s what makes TNA better than our competition. We’ve got guys that can go, not only are they smart and very talented, but man, they’re just athletic and I think that’s a big part of wrestling. I mean anybody can get on the mic and talk to you at least some of the time, but it takes someone special to get in there and do the stuff that they do in this ring.
SOAK: You mentioned the competition. TNA is known as the up and coming wrestling company, do you feel you’re in direct competition with WWE?
AJ: I think so and I think Vince McMahon thinks so. When you’ve got guys coming over, wanting to come over from WWE to TNA, it’s obvious that we’re the competition. People see us as up and coming and we’re gonna be something.
SOAK: The fans have voted you Mr. TNA in back-to-back years, how does it feel to know you’re loved like that?
AJ: It’s definitely something that I think about. work hard for ‘em and I do what I can to make sure that they get what they paid for, so it’s a great feeling when people respect you and enjoy what you do.
SOAK: With you being so loved by everybody, could you ever see yourself as a heel?
AJ: Oh yeah, I’d love it. At the beginning of TNA, I actually kind of went to the heel side and enjoyed it, so that is definitely something I can do. I won’t have to get up there and do anything that your mom wouldn’t let you watch, but I could definitely make sure that people hate me, that’s for sure.
SOAK: Recently quite a few big names have come to wrestle with TNA, including Christian Cage and Sting. How are the new guys fitting in and how much are you learning from them?
AJ: Christian’s definitely come in and done well, especially on the mic, and I enjoy him being there, he’s a great guy. Sting, of course, is super name value and I was excited that people were really into his match and him being there in TNA. He’s a great guy too, so I’m enjoying them both being there. I just hope that we don’t go overboard and get so many guys there that we lose the guys that made the company. I think that’s very important that we take care of the ones who got us to where we are at this point. I’m not putting Christian or Sting or Rhino or Team 3D down, because they’re great additions, I think we made good choices in getting those guys, but we can’t forget where we came from.
SOAK: Speaking of where you came from, on your profile on TNAWrestling.com, you say people don’t know that you grew up poor. Tell me a little bit about life growing up.
AJ: Growing up, I had three other brothers in a single wide small trailer. We were your poor, trailer park guys. Mom and Dad were working and we were one of those families where our parents supposedly made too much, so we couldn’t get on welfare, which makes no sense at all because we didn’t have anything. I remember my mom and dad sleeping in the living room and me sleeping with my brothers in the next bedroom, and the bedroom at the end of the trailer, nobody slept in, because it was so cold back there and all we had was kerosene heat. Growing up like that makes me appreciate what I have now.
SOAK: Your finishing move is the Styles Clash. I hear this was influenced in large part by a family member.
AJ: Oddly enough, I was sitting over at my mother-in-law’s on the porch, just watching my brother-in-law and his friend play on the trampoline next door. They were actually trying to power bomb each other. Now, they weren’t strong enough, so when he’d pick him up to power bomb him, like on his shoulders, he would just fall in front of him and dangle upside down, and I’m like, ‘holy crap!’ and actually walked over there and gave my brother-in-law the first Styles Clash on the trampoline.
SOAK: Of all the people you’ve worked with, including family, who do you feel you have the best matches with?
AJ: There’s two guys that I think it’s obvious that I have my best matches with, and I’ve had more matches actually with Christopher Daniels and every match we’ve ever had has been great. I’ve never had a bad one. And Samoa Joe. I don’t know, the three of us can get in the ring and just put on some of the best matches I think that any of us have ever had.
SOAK: What’s your proudest in-ring, or I guess for you we can include flying out of ring, moment?
AJ: The couple times that I’ve won the world title has been huge, just the fans response, beatin’ Jeff (Jarrett). I think that was one of my greatest accomplishments, because the fans were so excited that Jeff finally lost the belt. And just wrestling guys like Larry Zbyszko and Dusty Rhodes and getting ‘em to do stuff that they haven’t done in twenty years. That’s always fun, I love wrestling guys like that. I know with Sting, I said, “can you dive out onto me?” when we were in Nashville. I was like, “can you dive over the top rope? I’ll catch ya.” He goes,” AJ, I’m 45 years old,” and I said, “I’ll catch ya.” And he did, so I was like A-ha! I got him to do something he didn’t want to do!
SOAK: Finally, you’ve won all the major titles in TNA. What other goals do you feel you have left to accomplish?
AJ: I’ve had the tag belts in TNA, but I don’t think that I have really accomplished being in one of those most memorable matches in a tag team match. I think I’d like to have one of those. I believe I’ve been able to do that in the heavy-weight division and the X-division, but not in the tag division, so I guess all I gotta do is find a partner for one and see what happens.
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