AJ Styles recently made an appearance at the Wizard World Portland event, and during a revealing Q&A with fans in attendance, the WWE Superstar weighed in on the time he spent in TNA. After attempting to make a name for himself there, Styles found true stardom in Ring of Honor and NJPW before making his debut at the WWE Royal Rumble last year.
Now, finally recognised by mainstream wrestling fans as the best in the world, Styles looked back on his time with TNA and why he initially felt demoralised after departing the company.
"Ring of Honor treated me real well, and New Japan treated me like a superstar. So I've got to give credit to them, who helped boost my ego a little bit because it was definitely flattened due to TNA's service. But then — doing all that and then having the opportunity to come to WWE and… you know, whether people like it or not, WWE is easy, the biggest - you know, when it comes to wrestling, it doesn't get any bigger than the WWE. And being there means you've finally made it."
The former WWE World Champion also reflected on the classic 5* match he had with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, and why despite incredible work like that, TNA never viewed him - and others like him - as a star. Needless to say, it sounds like the blame lies squarely with Dixie Carter and the way she handled the day to day running of the company.
"Well, at that time Joe and I were hoping to make TNA a big deal. You know, that was what we wanted to do. The problem was, the person who owned the company, she didn't see that in us. She didn't see us as the stars that put TNA on the map and not just me but like, Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels, and Low Ki, all those guys who did great things and she just didn't see it. Go put it bluntly, she wanted to be WWE-lite and nobody wanted to see that. They wanted to see something different. And at one point in time, it was a great place to work."
Things ultimately worked out well for Styles, but you only need to look at the state of TNA to see just how many mistakes they've made over the years. Underestimating Styles might just be one of their biggest blunders to date, and with the likes of him, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode now finding success with WWE, at least their formers stars are flourishing.