WWE superstar AJ Styles answered so more pro-wrestling related questions during a stream on his Twitch account where the Phenomenal One discussed one of the worst bumps he’s ever taken in his career, as well as detailing the events of him signing with WWE and breaking the news to NJPW, whom he was working for at the time. Highlights are below.
On getting knocked out in a match with D-Lo Brown in TNA:
I was talking about this the other night, and I actually had forgotten about it until someone brought the match up. The guy had said, ‘I remember your match with D-Lo Brown in TNA where he Frog Splashed you from off a ladder and put you through a table.’ It made me remember laying there and seeing D-Lo jump off the ladder, and then it just went blank. I don’t remember anything else until I came to and was just laying there. I just remember being in like a dream state. I remember telling myself like, ‘You got to get up!’ It was weird. I got up and everything was ok to finish the match. I don’t remember bumping my head or having a knot, and I don’t know if it was just the impact knocking the breath out of me and losing consciousness for a second. I don’t know what happened, because I remember what we were supposed to do and everything. D-Lo was probably 250 at the time, coming from an 8 foot ladder to the outside, so that’s probably at least 10 foot for a big man coming down to the floor. That was not fun. It wasn’t a concussion though; I think it just knocked the breath out of me or something.
Finding out he was signed by WWE and having to break the news to NJPW:
I actually had to go over to Japan to do Wrestle Kingdom right after Christmas,” Styles continued. “It was then that I told them. And despite what you guys think, contracts were not a big thing over there. It was actually more of a handshake deal, and you honored that handshake. There’s nothing wrong with that. Problem was, if I wanted to leave, I could. I kind of let them know that. And this was me, Gallows and Anderson, so that was tough. We already knew that Shinsuke [Nakamura] was on his way out. I had to let them know, and I gave them time. They wanted me to win the – I forget what it’s called, but it’s basically the Intercontinental Championship of New Japan. But anyway, I couldn’t do that because I was leaving, and they told me I was signing a contract and that’s not how it works. Literally, I flew home from Japan and ate dinner with my family, and flew out that same night,” Styles added. “I flew to Pittsburgh to do all my testing to go to work for WWE. That’s how quick it was. Then, boom boom, I was at the Royal Rumble. It was that quick.
Check out Styles’ full Twitch stream here. (H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.
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