AJ Styles On If He Carried Roman Reigns And John Cena To Great Matches, Ripping His Tights At TLC
Recently on Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast, 'Prime Time' Sam Roberts interviewed former WWE Champion, AJ Styles. Among other things, Styles talked about ripping his tights at WWE TLC (2016) and whether he carried fellow WWE Superstars Roman Reigns and John Cena to great matches.
On the subject of his ripped tights, Styles said his TLC opponent, Dean Ambrose, told him his ring gear was ripped during the match. Additionally, 'The Phenomenal One' said that he was proud that the match was entertaining enough to keep the focus of the audience on the in-ring product rather than his exposed butt cheek.
"Well, I remember going through those chairs and going, 'ouch, man, that really hurt my butt,' like, I remember thinking that and just going on with the match. And then, I think it was after Dean went through the table, he was like, 'oh, bro, you're going to need some new tights. You're going to need some new gear.' And I was like, 'oh man,' and I knew it was ripped. I didn't know how bad it was, but I was like, 'well, what are you going to do?' You've got to keep going like nothing has happened. And I think, even though there was this huge tear and my butt cheek was showing, people kind of forgot about it after what we'd done, and the finish, and whatnot, so I feel like I've accomplished something when I get people not to focus on my butt cheek hanging out and still be watching the match."
Styles clarified that the incident must not be considered a 'wardrobe malfunction' as his ring gear was functioning properly.
"A lot of people were saying it was a 'wardrobe malfunction.' Not true, not true. That would be saying that the guy that does my stuff didn't do it right and the seams popped off. No, no. A metal piece of the chair sliced my gear and my butt. My butt was bleeding, so [it was] not a wardrobe malfunction. I just want to make that clear."
During the podcast, Styles modestly stated that he does not carry any of his 'dance partners' and he did not carry Reigns in their fantastic matches of 2016.
"Listen, I don't carry anything. I just try to do my part. Roman Reigns, and I knew this going into it how great he could be and giving to him and trusting him with the spots we were going to do and I think that had a lot to do with it. And I really thought, 'holy cow, he's a lot better than anybody thinks he is.' Like, Roman Reigns is great!"
Moreover, Styles claimed that he did not carry Cena either and that 'Big Match John' is willing to do anything to make a match great. 'The Georgia Pitbull' went on to say that a match between himself and a broomstick would probably fail to deliver.
"John Cena's great. John Cena is willing to do anything and everything to make sure a match comes out as good as it possibly could be. It always comes down to two people. I've heard it said, and it's flattering, if they put me in there with a broom, I can have a great match. And it's not true. It won't be entertaining whatsoever, but I'll give it my best shot."
Cheer the good guys here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast