TNA World Champ AJ Styles Interview

Geek To Me: So right when I called you I heard you were dealing with some commotion and you said this was your chance to tell me about the life of a pro-wrestler.

AJ Styles: The life of a pro-wrestler once he gets home.  From being on the road so much, once he gets home, I have to become the law.  Especially if you have kids, you have to set the rules: No fighting.  No pulling hair.  No biting.  That's the stuff that goes on in my house.  'Give him the toy.  He had it first.' It's little things like that.

 G2M: Do you ever get the argument 'oh Daddy, but you do that you, why can't we?'

 AJ: (Laughs) Well I haven't gotten that one yet because they're 4 and 2 (years old). They haven't smartened up to 'but Daddy you do it why can't we?' But if they did say it I'd say 'but Daddy gets paid, so you guys can't do it.'

 G2M: (Laughs.)  That's a good answer.  You are the serving current TNA World Champion.  How does it feel being the top dog in the yard?

A.J. Styles - Photo courtesy TNA Wrestling

AJ: It's hard to believe, even now.  I get ready for a match and I look at myself in the mirror with the belt around my waist.  I go 'wow, I'm the world heavyweight champion!' I don't know if it's sunk in yet.  I'm the guy right now.  It's such an honor to hold this world title, although I've won the NWA/TNA title before, leaving the three letters off, now, means so much more to me because I thought we could stand alone without NWA.  And we have, we've done it well.  And to be able to hold that belt, it means a lot to me.

G2M: What was it like when (TNA founder) Jeff Jarrett came to you and said 'we want you to be our standard bearer.'  How did you come to that conclusion?

AJ: I didn't really come to that conclusion that was them.  Whatever they say, I do and I was like 'wow, they're gonna make me world champion.'  They think I'm the guy who's gonna make butts stay in the seats. And that's a huge honor.  (There's also) a lot of pressure, but I think I work well under pressure so I'm cool with that. I'm excited about that.

G2M: Have you had any say so in the feuds you've been involved in?  Anybody else in the locker room that you think you'd mesh really well with?

AJ: Well there's always Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, those guys are amazing, along with Kurt (Angle) and even Doug Williams, an English wrestler.  We've got a lot of talent on our roster and I'd like to see us lock horns.  I'd like to wrestle each and every one of them.  Who knows if I'll be able to hold onto the belt that long, because we have so many competitive wrestlers in TNA!

G2M: You've been matched up against Sting, one of the greatest icons in wrestling, in a long-running angle involving the Main Event Mafia and the Young Guns of TNA.  Any lessons you take away from your matches with Sting and the MEM?

AJ: The one thing about the Main Event Mafia is that they're very experienced.  Every one of them has been overseas, wrestling in Japan, England, you name it, and they've been there.  And they've been doing it at a huge level.  When they were going over there they were selling out the Tokyo Dome.  So the experience they have is the biggest thing about them.  They have a lot more experience than the so-called 'Young Guns' of TNA, but the thing about the younger guys is that they have a lot of heart.  They're very competitive; they want to have the best match of the show, regardless of where it is (on the card) and stuff like that.  That's the biggest difference about the Main Event Mafia, and the one thing you take away is that there are pluses and minuses to both the Main Event Mafia and the Young Guns.

G2M: What would you consider a minus at this point?  What are some of the lessons that some of the younger guys still need to learn?

AJ: I would say, that one of the things that the Main Event Mafia does is pace themselves well.  They don't do everything (all at once), where some of the young guys (don't) and put all out on the table, where it works and sometimes it doesn't.  The Main Event Mafia pace themselves so well that everything seems to work out perfectly, usually. I guess that's the biggest thing.

AJ Styles - Photo courtesy TNA Wrestling

G2M: You will be coming to Chicago and the Odeon at the end of the month for a house show.  What can fans expect from the 'Phenomenal AJ Styles' and TNA crew?

AJ: We are exactly what we say we are, we are Total Non-Stop Action.  Once we get in the ring, it's on man.  We have some of the best athletes in the world in TNA.  They're going to be - not surprised, because we've been there before - but excited about what we're doing in that ring, knowing that they're going to see something different and not the same old thing.  Not the same old generic body-slams and whatnot.  They're gonna see a lot more than that.

G2M: Anything about Chicago that stands out, that makes you enjoy coming to our city? Last year at Bound for Glory you had this great three-way match.

AJ: That was one of my favorite matches, with Christian and Booker T.  It was a great match and for shame that I can't remember anybody else's. (laughs) The crowd was into it.  That's what it's all about, going to a different venue and the fans being loud and crazy.  It adds energy, not just to the building but to the match.  We feel that, wrestlers, when we feel how live, how crazy the fans are. Man, it gives me more energy to go out and pull off more spectacular stuff.

G2M: What's the atmosphere of the TNA locker room like before a show?

AJ: Everybody's kind of bouncing around, getting ready for their match, and feeling the energy from the crowd.  Everybody's in good spirits knowing something great is going to happen.  Like I said before, when we hear that crowd, it changes everything.  It would be different if there were three people out there, and then we'd be walking around backstage instead of bouncing around.  But it's the crowd that makes the biggest difference.  And when they're as loud as Chicago was, it is so much fun and you get so excited about going out.

G2M: Okay, let's take it from the locker room and back to where we started.  What's life at home with AJ Styles like?

AJ: It's pretty simple.  The kids have fall break right now, they're at home and not at school.  We try to get some energy off them. Today we've got to ourselves, so today we're going to the pumpkin farm.  If it's a southern thing, I don't know if they have pumpkin farms in Chicago?

G2M: Oh, they do!  They're very popular!

AJ: We're thinking about going to the pumpkin farm, checking out some pumpkin pies and taking a hay ride.  That's it.  We've gotta get these kids out and try to do something when dad's home.

G2M: Awesome. You a big video game fan?

AJ: Huge, HUGE fan.

G2M: What game system do you prefer?

AJ: X-Box 360, by far.

G2M: What's your favorite game?

AJ: The game I'm playing right now, the most is Madden, just 'cuz I'm an idiot. I will play Madden then NCAA (Football), Madden then NCAA.  Go back and forth, do the rosters, have them graduate and go to the pros, stuff like that.

The game that I can't wait to come out, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I'm so stoked about that game.  My wife doesn't know it but I got the special edition so I can get the night vision goggles.  I am so stoked about that game, it looks awesome.



TNA Wrestling comes to the Odeum, 1033 North Villa Ave., Villa Park IL 60181 this Friday at 7:30 pm.

Click HERE for tickets!