Crown Jewel Introduction Caught AJ Styles By Surprise (WWE News)

AJ Styles was surprised by his John Cena-penned introduction.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Crown Jewel 2025 AJ Styles
WWE

For those wondering, WWE's AJ Styles was indeed caught a little off-guard by his ring introduction at Crown Jewel this past weekend.

Of course, Crown Jewel saw the Phenomenal One attempt to "beat up John Cena" for one final time, with that match described by some as a "love letter to professional wrestling" as Styles and Cena not only played their own greatest hits, but also played tribute to so many of the greatest rivals of their storied careers, not to mention Styles' attire paying homage to his early TNA days. Ultimately, it was Big Match John picking up the win, pinning AJ after hitting him with a tombstone piledriver and an AA.

Before the match started, John Cena handed ring announcer Alicia Taylor a note, which turned out to be a Cena-penned introduction for AJ Styles. There, Styles was referred to as "the definition of Total Nonstop Action" and "the ace and total boss of the Bullet Club", as John stated how it was his "honour" to share the ring with P1 one more time.

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This introduction appeared to catch AJ Styles by surprise, and Fightful Select reports that this was indeed the case, with the two-time WWE Champion and five-time TNA World Champion totally unaware that he'd be getting such an intro. And for those wondering, there's not expected to be any issues over the Bullet Club namedrop.

Fightful also adds how, unsurprisingly, John Cena and AJ Styles received a standing ovation when they headed backstage after the match.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.