Insight with Chris Van Vliet
AJ Styles On Retiring Soon, His Phenomenal Career in WWE & TNA, The Undertaker, John Cena
Tue, 4 Mar 2025
AJ Styles (@AJStylesOrg) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the DDPY Performance Center in Atlanta, GA to discuss his legendary wrestling career, saying no to WWE in 2001, his legendary matches in TNA, why he hated working in the six-sided ring, his shocking Royal Rumble debut that the cameras missed, being The Undertaker's final opponent, the John Cena retirement tour, coming back from a near career-ending injury, when he thinks his in-ring career will end and more!Quote I'm thinking about: "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today." – Franklin D. RooseveltPlease support our sponsors!PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibclouxTIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvvROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvvHUEL: Get 15% off plus a FREE Gift for NEW customers with the code INSIGHT at https://huel.comZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insightBONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvvBLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at https://bluechew.comRHONE: Rhone’s premium performance clothing is made to move you. Use code CVV to save 20% at https://www.rhone.com/CVVMANSCAPED: Get 20% off plus free shipping when you use the code CHRISVAN at https://manscaped.comPLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.comFor more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.comIf you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVlietTwitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVlietFacebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVlietYouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVlietTikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet
Chapter 1: Who is AJ Styles and what is his wrestling legacy?
Ah, yes. Welcome back to another one here on Inside. I'm CVV, Chris Van Vliet. Thank you for being with us on this one. And thank you for making Inside the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a phenomenal forum on that follow button on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. So you don't miss out on any of the phenomenal interviews that we have coming up.
How was your weekend? We have a lot to talk about on Ask CVV this Friday after Elimination Chamber. Oh, man. Who saw that coming? Wow. What a weekend back home in Toronto. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to the two Insight live shows that we had. It was an absolute blast with Natty on Friday and on Sunday with the Hurt Syndicate.
And if you're going to be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania, you don't want to miss our next live show. It's April 17th at 8 p.m. Grab your tickets at cvvtix.com. That's cvvtix.com. All right, today's guest has been a long time coming. If you've listened to the show for any length of time, you know I love me some TNA. Oh, so good.
I specifically love like 2005 to like 2009-ish TNA, and AJ Styles was my guy. He had a Hall of Fame career in TNA. He's having a Hall of Fame career with just the stuff he's done in WWE alone. Like it's two specific Hall of Fame careers. I love it. And he is one heck of a great guy.
And it was amazing seeing him return at the Royal Rumble after an injury that he told me could have been career ending. So we talk about his incredible career, some of his most memorable moments and matches. And just at the heart of it, like what makes AJ Styles tick? What is he all about? And I think you're going to love this. It's one of my favorite interviews that I've ever done.
Snap a screenshot. Tag us. Let us know you're listening. Let us know what really spoke to you from this one. He's at AJ Styles P1 on social media. I'm at Chris Van Vliet. And here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, the phenomenal AJ Styles. We are finally making this happen. Finally. Finally. Holy cow. It's more my fault than yours, obviously, but we were supposed to do a bad blood weekend. Yep.
And I got a text from you the night before and you're like, I think I've might've broken my ankle or foot or both.
Yeah. Little did I know it was, it was actually worse than breaking it. You know, I didn't know at the time, but yeah, that was like, oh crap.
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Chapter 2: How did AJ Styles get started in wrestling?
So how heartbreaking was it though? It's your return. And then you get put on the shelf again. Oh, man.
And I knew I'd broke it, right? Because if you've broken it before, same foot. Yeah. I was like, I broke it again. And I'm pissed because now I know how long it's going to take to get back. But like, again, little did I know, it's much worse than a break. What was worse about it? Because it's tendons. And my doctor, who is also my friend, was like, do not look this up.
I'm like, I'm going to look this up. And it's a career-ending injury. And it happens in car wrecks and in professional football mostly. That's usually when it happens. And in football, of course, it's one of those things, depending how severe it is. And I was literally by the skin of my teeth. I was able to, they were like, we can have surgery. We can do surgery on your foot.
And it will heal faster. But there could be complications as you get older. We don't know. If we don't have to have surgery, let's try to do some therapy and get it back to where it is. And lucky for me, man, I was able to get that therapy that I needed. It wasn't easy. It sucked. It's so crazy that you have to learn how to walk again to a certain extent. How did I forget how to run?
Little things like that because I was in a boot for six weeks. And I got six weeks in therapy trying to figure this thing out. It'll mess with you.
But three months after the injury, you're back. Crazy, right? Yeah.
And you haven't lost a step. You know, I think it's one of those things where I'm so afraid of losing a step, I'm doing everything I can to make sure it doesn't look like I've lost a step. Yeah. You know? But it took a toll on me. Like, there's... It's still... Because I go out there and... Listen, I got... Two gears, all or nothing. Is that one gear? I don't know.
But the fact that I'm going to go in there, I'm going to give it all, and then after the adrenaline wears off, I was like, oh, now it's sore a little bit. So you might catch me limping afterwards until I get used to this foot, stretching it out, all those tendons and stuff like that. But so far, so good.
Did you have a moment after that injury where you're like, this might be it?
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Chapter 3: What were AJ Styles' experiences in TNA and his thoughts on the six-sided ring?
Wow. That's kind of quick.
Yeah.
You know, so I was at the right place, the right time, the right guys watching.
How close were you at that point in time to maybe possibly going to WWE? Uh,
I don't think it was close at all.
Didn't they offer you a developmental deal?
It was after WCW went under. I'd been under contract with WCW for five months. Johnny Ace calls me and said, WWE's not picking up your contract. It freaking broke me. I went to and felt sorry for myself for about a good week. That was like, all right, here we go. I I'm trying to think how quickly it happened.
See, I want to say that at that moment, I believe the NWA was having their 53rd anniversary, and I believe that was in Petersburg, Florida. Does that sound right? Peterburg? Anyway, somewhere down in Florida. And some Japanese guys were going to be there. And I was like, I'm going to go down there. I'm going to wrestle. They're going to want me. I'm going to go to Japan and wrestle.
That's how I'm going to make it back. Wow. I went down there. I wrestled Christopher Daniels for the first time. First time we met, first time we wrestled. And we connected, man. It was perfect. Our timing was the same. Everything was, you know, and Christopher Daniels at that time. It was like, if you can't have a good match with him, you might as well quit. And we gelled so well.
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Chapter 4: How did AJ Styles transition from TNA to WWE?
Yeah.
That doesn't sound as cool, I know, but I think it was the style in DDT. Maybe that's what it was called. But, you know, I had a couple moves where I've told, you know, guys the name of it. They were like, what? Why don't you, like, yeah, they wanted me to name it something else. I'm like, sorry, man. When was the last time you did that? I don't think you've done that in WWE, have you? Oh, yeah.
I've done it with, but there's guys that, are capable of understanding what it is. Some guys don't know. And so for those who know, it makes perfect sense. It's an easy move for them to take. For those who've never, they don't understand it, it can get sloppy real quick. So you got to pick and choose who you do it with so it turns out right.
Not everybody can do these moves because they've not practiced them. If you came up on the indies, you had to be able to know how to do everything.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that's why so many of us, you know, in that era of, you know, we were able to do everything. We could take everything. We could do everything. And, you know, aside from Joe, you know, we were all kind of the similar size. You know, we weren't too big. We weren't too small. We were right there in the middle. Yeah. We could work anybody. Joe...
He's such an amazing athlete that he's not supposed to be able to do the things that he does. And he just is unbelievable. He's unbelievable. So not everybody's a Samoa Joe. There's nobody like him.
Nobody moves like him.
Man, he's amazing. And I remember people being intimidated by Joe. And I was like, have you ever worked him? They go, no, dude. I was like, he is so good. He has scared you. when he hadn't even touched me in the ring. But it makes it look like he's killing me. That's how good he is. So yeah, Samoa Joe is one of the best.
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Chapter 5: What was AJ Styles' WWE debut like at the Royal Rumble?
I was raised different. I'm not saying everybody was like that, but I've heard some of that stuff goes on. I'm not one of those guys that goes out and drinks with the guys. Nah, I'm not doing that. I don't think it worked out. It would have worked out for me. The time that I spent in Japan And the way that I wrestled there, I just brought that same guy to WWE, at least by the second match I had.
The first match, I was trying to be what I thought they wanted. And to Vince's credit, he told me what he wanted, and I was like, I know that guy. I know him. I'm going to give you that guy because that's who I wanted to be anyway.
It also felt like it took you a little while to find out who you were. Like the charisma you had later in your TNA run is a lot more of what we see now. Yes. Versus the promos you were cutting early in TNA.
Well, you know, because if you don't believe in what you're saying, it's hard to get into whatever that character is. Even when I was the Prince of Phenomenal, Like, I enjoyed that as much as people hated it because I was able to show a different part of AJ Styles. Be a little goofy, do a little goofy things, you know, with Christian and Kurt Angle and all that stuff that we did.
That was good television to me, you know, as much as people hate it. But, you know, turns into Lone Wolf AJ Styles, which essentially is who you got – In Japan, just turned up a little bit more, having a little bit more fun rather than being angry the whole time. You know, that's all that was. What's the scariest moment you've had in the ring? Oh, I can tell you.
Ultimate X, Chris Saban, myself, and Petey Williams, which I think is a fantastic match. It is. If you ever watch it back. Yep. For some reason, I thought it was such a good idea. If I could hang from the rope and Saban, I knew was very capable of springboarding drop kicking me to the point where I'll do, I guess it's an inside out swing front flip.
Like when he hit me, I let go and I go, Oh my God. As I'm coming down, I was able to think to myself, I'm about to land on the back of my head and I'm probably not going to get up from this. And I'm thinking about this as I go, I'm going down and I land perfect. And, uh, that I was like laying there selling going, I'm never ever doing that again, ever. We'll do that again. Yeah.
That was a, that was the scariest time.
That was your, you were heading on, like, it looked like you were about to land on your head. Oh man.
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Chapter 6: How does AJ Styles reflect on his wrestling career and future?
It is impossible to have a TNA Mount Rushmore without AJ Styles face on there. So please do not be modest for the next minute or two. Okay. Your face is on there. Who are the other three?
You know, I'm biased though. That's fine. Because I'm going to put my guys on there. The guys that I had unbelievable matches. You know, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe. We got one more spot and that's it. I know. See, that's the problem. You know, I think a lot of people would see Kurt because he was there for a long time.
And he had his best matches in TNA.
Well, you know, a lot of people don't know he was in TNA longer than he was in WWE.
It's so funny. It's a fun fact that people don't remember. It's crazy.
They don't know. I would throw Frankie Gazarian in that conversation, too. I mean, we're talking about low-key. It was unbelievable to see this guy. And there's so many, Chris Saban, James Storm, Chris Harris even. They were a big part of the growth. Think of the moments Elick Skipper had. Beer money. Beer money. I mean, Elick Skipper, I'll tell you this story.
I remember he walked the cage and done that. Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like that. to that point or ever again. Yeah. And he was going home the next day. And Jeff was like, are we going to really send him home? After that? After he did that? And he thought about it, I guess. He was like, so he looks at it and saying the next day for TV because it was just so unbelievable.
There's so many guys that made such a big difference I mean, it's hard to put a Mount Rushmore together because everybody has their moment and how they got there and how much they meant to TNA.
100%.
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