AJ Styles On How He Was Treated When He Signed With WWE, His Journey To WWE, Emphasis On Workrate
As previously noted, WWE SmackDown Live's AJ Styles recently spoke with Bailey and Southside on Rock 100.5 in Atlanta, Georgia. Among many other things, Styles talked about making it to WWE, WWE prizing workrate over size, and how he has been treated backstage since arriving in WWE in 2016.
According to Styles, WWE is the best place he has ever worked. Styles went on to explain that making it to WWE is like being a baseball player who started out in the minors, played in Japan, and eventually made it to the MLB.
"You can't compare the WWE to anything else. It's amazing. It literally is the best place I've ever worked and that's saying a lot because I've worked at a lot of great places, but there's just something special about the WWE." Styles said, "here's the way I usually explain it: so I played in the minor leagues. And then, I went to Japan and I also played there. And then, I came to the MLB. That's basically how it happened. You've got to show them what you can do. You've got to prove yourself wherever you go and work your way to the top."
In Styles' view, it is an interesting time in WWE because the current crop of performers are not immobile big men, but rather regular guys who can perform in the ring.
"Things have changed. Not everybody is 6'8" and 400 lbs. That's not the way we went. We actually went the different direction where normal looking guys like myself are getting in the ring and performing at a huge level. We're giving the fans what they want to see."
Although Styles admitted that he expected to be treated like an outsider when he got to WWE, 'P1' shared that a lot of the current WWE performers grew up watching and respecting his work, so he has been treated very well backstage.
"When you go from one locker room to another, everything changes because you're the new guy. It doesn't matter how long you've been in the ring or this whole [pro] wrestling thing. You're the new guy and I expected that when I came to the WWE, like, 'okay, I need to kind of keep to myself.' But what I didn't understand is a lot of guys were watching me when they were in their teens and they respected what I had done and treated me with respect right from the get-go, so I was a little surprised by that, but, at the same time, I'm happy that we have that kind of locker room."
Check out the interview here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Rock 100.5's Bailey And Southside with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Bailey And Southside