17 Things We Learned From AJ Styles On Stone Cold's WWE Network Podcast
13. Growing Up An Athlete
Steve assumes that AJ was a pretty good athlete as a kid based on some of the stuff he's able to do in the ring, and he replies that everything he achieved was due to how hard he hustled for it.
He played football, basketball and baseball as a kid, adding that his elementary school had no football team so he didn't play organized until 9th grade. Steve asks if he played to escape his father but he responds that it was because he loved sports, and his dad supported all his endeavors.
AJ also has a background as an amateur wrestler, and says that he initially hated it because the conditioning was so hard, adding that some of the best athletes in the world come from the sport of collegiate wrestling.
Stone Cold takes this chance to mention that Kurt Angle puts over Styles as one of the best wrestlers he's ever worked with.
AJ says he wasn't wrestling opponents to beat them, he wanted to hurt them. "You decided to get on the same mat as me, and now you've got to pay the price."