AJ Styles In WWE - What Went RIGHT?
In a recent interview with Dirtfork, AJ Styles spoke about a exact moment he shared with Vince McMahon that resulted in him becoming one of WWE's main men.
He said; "From my understanding, I was looked at as a mid-card at best in the WWE. That was the plan and I was okay with that because it was still a great job, a great payday and a great way to take care of my family. I didn’t necessarily think that’s where I was going to be but there was that time when I made my debut and fans knew who I was in Orlando. They made some noise and it was pretty great. Vince [McMahon] assumed it was a fluke. He didn’t think too much of AJ Styles.
I don’t even think I was supposed to be on Raw that next Monday. But the turning point where Vince really saw something in me was when I had a regular match, a babyface match, went out and did my thing. I came back to gorilla and Vince says, ‘Come here for a second. I’ve got other guys who can do exactly what you just did out there. You didn’t do anything special. I need a pit bull. I need a guy who just attacks. I need a guy who gets after it.’
I said, ‘Well, I know that guy. I know exactly who that guy is’ and there was the opportunity to be on Miz TV and I handled it just like I was ready to eat this guy’s lunch and basically, I think the way that turned out was the turning point for Vince. The next thing you know, after WrestleMania, I’m beating Chris Jericho and I’m the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship against Roman Reigns where we had a couple of fantastic matches. That was the turning point. That’s when things changed and that’s how I became the AJ Styles that you know now."
To credit a single moment with transforming Styles from "midcard at best" to SmackDown's longest-reigning WWE Champion underserves the work 'The Phenomenal One' has put in. But it's just another element of his subversively excellent run with the company that's so challenging to reconcile.
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