AJ Styles made his official WWE debut at Royal Rumble 2016.
During an interview on Fanatics Live, Styles revealed that Vince McMahon didn’t know who he was when he debuted.
The interesting part here is that Styles referred to McMahon as “redacted name”.
Here’s what The Phenomenal One said:
“I think I’m 37 when I come to WWE. The redacted name did not know me. He had no clue who I was. I think it was guys who had worked with me, probably with TNA and whatnot, that were able to say, ‘Let this guy come in third at the Rumble’. Finally, he’s like, ‘Fine, let him’.
Then, the reaction happened, but he still didn’t believe it. He was like, ‘it’s a fluke’. The next night, I had a match and it was okay but it wasn’t anything special. He’s like, ‘I have 100 guys who can do what you just did’.
What he was saying was true. I was trying to be something that is trying to be the babyface. I should have just been AJ Styles. He told me what he wanted and I was like, ‘I know that guy’.”
You can watch it below:
AJ Styles calls Vince McMahon "Redacted Name" pic.twitter.com/YThvklpcJT
— WrestleFeed (@WrestleFeedApp) March 30, 2024
As we have noted before, Vince McMahon is now banned from being mentioned on WWE programming due to his sexual assault allegations.
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