AJ Styles is setting the record straight about his recent work at the WWE Performance Center.
After recently revealing that he helped produce the Tony D’Angelo vs. Naraku Street Fight that headlined the July 21 episode of WWE NXT, Styles addressed speculation about his role at the Performance Center during a new episode of The AJ Styles Show podcast (see video below).
According to Styles, he is not serving as a full-time coach in NXT. Instead, he is temporarily filling in while longtime coach Terry Taylor recovers from knee surgery.
“Well, so let me clear this up, by the way,” Styles said. “One of our coaches had to get knee surgery. I have now taken his place until he’s back. I am not a coach, per se, that’s down here every week. I am just filling in until he’s back. That’s it.”
While the arrangement is only temporary, Styles admitted he has enjoyed the opportunity and has been making some adjustments to the way talent train at the Performance Center. He explained that he wants sessions to be more practical and engaging while avoiding repetitive drills that can become stale over time.
“And I’m going to tell you guys, I’m actually having a lot of fun with it. And I’m trying to make everything that we do very, very practical. Because this is what I see going on, so we’re going to do this and this right here and make sense of why you’re doing it. I want to see your feetwork — feetwork or footwork, I’m not sure how you say that — but little things like that.”
He continued by explaining why he believes changing up the routine benefits the developmental talent.
“And I’m changing stuff up a little bit, because the more you do the same thing over and over, the less you want to come to class and work hard. Because it gets redundant. So I’m trying to change things up a little bit but not take away from what they already know. First of all, doing something you don’t know how to do is always harder. And so when we change it up, it’s harder for the talent — also a little bit more exciting and keeps you interested.”
