AJ Styles is looking to put the controversy surrounding Arik Cannon and his son, Avery Jones, behind him.
Styles addressed the situation on The AJ Styles Show (see video below), offering his side of what happened after Cannon recently criticized Jones over not helping with the ring at an independent wrestling event.
According to Styles, Jones and Marcus Mathers, who were working together at the event, were never told they were expected to assist with setting up or taking down the ring.
“This is going to be real quick,” Styles began. “Again, I don’t want to harp on this. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s all silly. The promoter that was talking, at least he thought he was a promoter, was not the promoter of the show that my son was at.”
Styles continued, “He was there to set up the ring. He got paid to do this with his crew. Ave (Avery) never heard anybody say anything about this. In fact, the guy that he was working with, Marcus Mathers, was like, ‘Yeah, no, we never heard anything. All we did was worked on our match.’ They drove from Missouri to Minnesota. They slept in their car. They didn’t get a hotel, they made the drive and made the show the next day. It was an early show. So, they wanted to get their match. Never heard anything. Both of them tell me the same story.”
Styles added that he was never expected to help with ring setup when he was booked to wrestle on independent shows.
“So, with that being said, take it for what it is, whatever you want to do with it. I’ve never helped anybody. They’ve never asked me when I was paid to do a show for them to help them set up. And furthermore, definitely the ring crew guy hasn’t said anything to me. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
The WWE Hall of Famer also defended his son’s character, encouraging anyone who has doubts about Jones to speak with him personally before forming an opinion.
“If you are on the fence on whether or not you like Avery and you see him in a show, go up and talk to him. Then decide for yourself. I have raised my kids to be polite and thankful and appreciative. I can promise you this, nobody’s been harder on their kids than me. I don’t play around. I don’t have sympathy for them, especially when it comes to wrestling. They’re not getting that from me. But I will protect their integrity.”
Styles went on to say he regrets that the situation became as public as it did, believing the matter could have been handled privately between Cannon and Jones.
“It shouldn’t have blown up like this. Be honest with you. It should have been two guys talking to each other like adults. But after the third time on the line, I was like, ‘Wait a minute. This guy’s trying to make this kid look bad. Let me say something.’ Maybe it wasn’t the best thing. Maybe I should have shut up. Probably should have. I didn’t need to bring it up, but I couldn’t help it. I’m a dad. I’m going to defend my son when somebody else is wrong. And believe you me, I checked on this first before I said anything.”
