Fans waited a long time to see AJ Styles join the WWE roster, and in 2016 he made his debut at the Royal Rumble.
The Phenomenal One has come a long way since then, and it’s clear from the opportunities he’s been given that Vince McMahon knows he can count on AJ Styles.
AJ got a solid reaction from the fans in attendance during his Royal Rumble debut, but during a recent Twitch stream the former WWE Champion explained that Vince McMahon thought it was a fluke.
“You’ve got to find a way to make a name for yourself and everybody has to do it. It’s when you get an opportunity to get into the ring, you hope that Vince is watching or someone else. You hope that there is a reaction, right? That was the great thing that I had… the reaction that I got at the Royal Rumble 2016 was awesome. It was amazing, but Vince didn’t really believe that – [he thought] that it was a fluke, basically. That’s what he thought it was.”
Styles went on to say that Vince McMahon was unimpressed with his match on Raw the next night, but after the Chairman of the Board explained what he wanted from AJ that’s when they got on the same page.
“I wasn’t even going to be on RAW the next day, but they convinced him otherwise. I had a match and I think he was [unimpressed], like, ‘Whatever, I’ve got guys that can do this’. And he literally told me that. But once Vince sat me down and said, ‘This is what I need from you’. After he told me what he needed, I had one chance to show him exactly who he wanted. And that’s what happened.”
What was your reaction to AJ Styles’ debut at the Royal Rumble? Sound off in the comments below.
H/T Wrestling Inc.
