AJ Styles recently spoke with The Boston Herald for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling and WWE.
During the discussion, “The Phenomenal One” spoke at length about his memorable showdown with John Cena at the WWE Crown Jewel: Perth premium live event in Australia earlier this month, something he thinks fans might be surprised to hear about the match, the gesture of Cena surprising him with a special custom ring introduction that made the match about them ending their respective careers, and not just Cena ending his own, as well as feeling like he and Cena delivered on their pre-match goal of delivering something special for the fans.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On how he was happy to have one final match with John Cena at the WWE Crown Jewel: Perth premium live event, and how Cena is someone he trusts more than anyone else inside the squared circle: “I’m not sure there is anyone in the ring I trust more than John Cena. He’s incredible at understanding what the fans need when they need it. He’s even more incredible with the way he treats people.”
On something he thinks fans might be surprised to hear about his match with Cena at the RAC Arena in Australia back on October 11 at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth: “During our match at Crown Jewel, which is the last time we’ll ever wrestle each other, I was in the moment. I embraced and enjoyed it — I mean, it’s hard not to love what you do when you’re having so much fun doing it. People might be surprised to hear this, but for John and myself, it was another match until it was over. Afterward, we were able to reflect on its significance. In the moment, we were doing what we do to entertain people.”
On the gesture of Cena surprising him with a special custom ring introduction that made the match about them ending their respective careers, and not just Cena ending his own: “It definitely caught me off guard. When I heard ‘The definition of Total Nonstop Action,’ I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute.’ He took this from just being about John to making it about John and AJ Styles. It’s something he didn’t have to do, but that’s John. That’s just who he is.”
On feeling like he and Cena delivered on their pre-match goal at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth of delivering something special for the fans: “We’ve been doing this for decades, this is what we do. The greatest part is it meant a lot to a lot of people. We wanted to give wrestling fans something special, and I think we accomplished that.”
As noted, AJ Styles recently confirmed his WWE retirement. On Monday’s episode of WWE Raw in Sacramento, CA., AJ Styles and Dragon Lee captured the WWE Tag-Team titles with a win over the now former champions from The Judgment Day, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh.
