17 Things We Learned From AJ Styles On Stone Cold's WWE Network Podcast
6. Thoughts On His Time In TNA
AJ says he spent eleven strong years in TNA, and for those first six months he wasn't invested because he viewed it just another independent that would probably soon go out of business.
But as the company continued to grow he realized that they had something, and he was having unbelievable matches with guys like Jerry Lynn who he learned a lot from.
Once Panda Energy came in, they started to grow even more. He calls it a slow build that took a surprisingly big turn.
Styles is asked to compare Dixie Carter to the Jarretts, and he kind of dances around the question, talking about how Jeff remained with the company in a creative capacity. Instead, he recalls the arrivals of Samoa Joe, Christian and Kurt Angle and how big those signings were for the promotion.
He calls it a great feeling that a bunch of guys who worked together on the independents - Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, himself, etc. - were doing something special. He says that at the time, everyone in the company viewed themselves as potential competition to WWE.