During a recent appearance on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, AJ Styles discussed his debut in WWE in 2016 and what a time he had in the company since then. Below is what Styles said about his debut year in the WWE:
“Well, if they’re not saying Styles had the best 2016, something’s wrong because I did. I mean, this guy comes out of nowhere, comes from Japan, not sure what’s going to happen, even I’m not sure what’s going to happen, and one thing leads to another, and I get my shot at Roman Reigns the Monday after WrestleMania. I earned the shot to wrestle Roman Reigns for the world championship. It’s unreal, dude.”
Styles was then asked what led to his WWE debut and he said that perhaps injuries to multiple top stars before WrestleMania 32 created an opportunity for him:
“I don’t know if it was, ‘hey, we need something fresh and new’ or ‘hey, listen, everybody’s hurt – we need somebody to come in.’ And I think that’s what happened more than anything. There were a lot of guys hurt at the time and I was able to come in there and make the best of an unfortunate opportunity, but a great opportunity for me that guys were hurt and I needed to fill in, basically.”
