Back in 2016 there was a lot of talk about AJ Styles possibly joining WWE, and he made a big impression when he debuted at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Styles has since gone on to become one of WWE’s top stars, but there were a lot of questions regarding how the company was going to book him when he first arrived.
Styles opened up about joining WWE during an appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, and he noted that he was willing to go to NXT when he joined the company.
“It was one of those things that I was like, ‘Hey, listen if they’re looking for an AJ Styles, I would be happy to give it a shot’’ and I was willing to go down to NXT for a couple of months to get my feet wet and then get to a main brand like a Raw or SmackDown.”
The Phenomenal One also said that there was talk of him changing his name, and he was concerned that Vince McMahon was going to give him a goofy gimmick due to his accent.
“I had no idea what was going to happen. There was talk of, ‘Hey, I don’t know if we can keep your name.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s fine, I’ll be whoever you want me to be but I have this huge tattoo on my side that says AJ, but you can call me whatever you want.’ Listen, I was worried about this southern accent that I can’t shake, that Vince was going to make me wear overalls and come out to a little country song or something with a banjo. I was more worried about that.”
Obviously things have worked out well for AJ Styles as he has since gone on to become a Grand Slam Champion, and he’s currently one half of the Raw Tag Team Champions alongside Omos.
H/T Fightful
