AJ Styles On Losing The WWE Title - "Thank God!" (WWE News)
"Dude, just take it". AJ Styles reminisces about "exhausting" year long WWE Title reign.
AJ Styles enjoyed a lengthy WWE Title reign that lasted for 371 days between 7 November 2017-13 November 2018. He won it from Jinder Mahal over in Manchester, England, then dropped the thing to a freshly-turned heel Daniel Bryan the following year in St. Louis, Missouri. Both title changes took place on SmackDown.
By the end, AJ said he found the whole experience of being champ "exhausting".
Styles told the 'Phenomenally Retro' podcast that he was like: "Thank God! Dude, just take it" when Bryan pinned him to win the belt. He said "the biggest weight was lifted off [his] shoulders" that night, because he'd been relied upon to carry the entire SmackDown brand for a full year and it was starting to take a toll on him.
WWE management were counting on AJ to elevate the brand, sell tickets to every weekly TV and house show, and to do a ton of media into the bargain. He relished the pressure and opportunity, and loved the benefits that came with being champion, but Styles would be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn't glad to drop the belt when he did.
Summing things up, he said "it was a lot".
Fans were thrilled to see AJ topple Mahal in the UK, because that ended one of the worst title experiments in company history. Immediately, Styles went full throttle into major bouts against some of the biggest names in WWE, and he was ever-present on house show loops (which were still prevalent at the time).
According to AJ, that relentless schedule "can get you".