Ring Rust Radio: I’ve been a huge fan of yours since I first saw you in WCW and was excited when you joined TNA in 2002 and they quickly pushed you as one of the top talents. Do you recall knowing TNA would look to make you the face of the company when you signed with them, or were you surprised when this happened since you were still just a few years into your career? Also, what are you fondest memories of building TNA in its early years?
AJ Styles: It’s funny cause when it first started I thought it was just another indie. I didn’t worry about what they would do with me; I just knew I was there to put on killer matches. As it grew, I had to ignore rumors that they were going out of business and that I might be done there after I felt like I was part of the company. I don’t know that I was shocked that they were giving me a title. Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, and myself were always having the best matches on PPV. So it wasn’t a surprise they wanted to put us in the main event. As many bad things that did happen at TNA, there were plenty of good things as well. As I walk down to my man cave, I have old posters of TNA. Sometimes I think I should take them down, but then again I’m not ashamed of what I accomplished there. It is what it is and despite where TNA is now, when I look back it was a very positive thing for me and I learned a lot there.
Ring Rust Radio: You have spent almost two years wrestling in New Japan. What has it been like working as a top heel in front of the Japanese fans?
AJ Styles: You try to be the biggest turd you can be over there. The fact of the matter is if you put on a good show they are going to respect you either way. While they are going to go crazy for Tanahashi, Okada, or Nakamura, it’s funny that I still get praise in the same light as them even though I am a heel. It’s because they respect wrestling so much and they really enjoy it. So it’s really fun being over there and you try to be the best heel you can be, but sometimes you just give up and are this grey area of the wrestling world.
Ring Rust Radio: Wrestling from America and Japan is very different. How have you managed to find so much success during the transition to the New Japan’s unique style?
AJ Styles: I think it’s not really a style I wasn’t accustomed to; it’s the same style I have always wrestled. You get in there and do your best and do what you can go entertain the people in front of you. They respect that over there. They are quiet and you can hear everything, but that’s great because I can tell the little girl a couple of rows back cheering for Okada to shut up. I get such a reaction from that. It really is a great place to work from the talent to the office.
Ring Rust Radio: You’re perhaps best known for your long, successful stint in TNA. A lot of fans feel like the TNA product has been moving in the wrong direction for the past few years. As someone who was there for the ups and downs, where or why do you think things might have started moving in the wrong direction, and what ultimately led to your departure?
AJ Styles: I think around 2009-10 they were headed in the wrong direction. They were trying to be WWE-lite and you can’t do that, you have to be different. I think that’s where the biggest mistakes were made and they didn’t trust the guys that got them to the ball game in the first place. They had all the talent they needed and didn’t need to bring in other talent. I think people were misinformed about what they could get out of it. The dial never changed when they brought in this higher talent as they thought it would. I will say Christian Cage when he came over was such an asset; he was the start of it. Then they brought in Kurt Angle, which was unbelievable, and they could have stopped there and we would have been fine. They have got to be different and turn it up. If WWE can’t do something because they are publicly traded, then there is your advantage. That just doesn’t apply to TNA, that applies to ROH as well. Everybody can do something different than WWE. I will say ROH wrestling is out of this world and nothing can compete with that. TNA they just have to change it and be different.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
