‘Lot of things he could hate’ – Vince McMahon believed future Hall of Famer’s electric WWE debut was a ‘fluke’
There is little doubt that AJ Styles is a future Hall of Fame wrestler. He has proven himself a truly ‘phenomenal’ star since arriving in WWE in 2016, off the back of an already stellar career that saw him compete around the world for WCW, TNA, Ring of Honor and NJPW. Styles has revealed McMahon thought his electric WWE debut was a flukeGetty It took Styles just a matter of months to establish himself as one of WWE’s top stars, and he has since gone on to become a Grand Slam champion with the company, holding all the major belts. ‘The Phenomenal One’ made his debut at the Royal Rumble nine years ago, and the electric pop from the crowd should have been a clear indicator of the success he would go on to achieve. But it seems Vince McMahon didn’t quite see what all the fuss was about at the time. As he closes in on a decade with WWE, Styles has revealed that the former chairman and CEO was left rather unimpressed by his debut. “In his eyes, it was a fluke,” Styles said of McMahon’s mindset after his rumble debut. “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t going to be at Raw the next night. But somebody convinced him it would be a good idea if I came to Raw. “He did not care. A lot of people don’t know this, but he did not like AJ Styles for whatever reason. “I’m sure I gave him a lot of reasons. I’m not the tallest guy, I have a Southern accent. There’s several things that he could hate about AJ Styles.” Styles went on to discuss how his debut on Raw went, and suggested he wasn’t performing as the star that made him so good on the independent circuit, but rather a version of himself that he thought McMahon wanted. He continued: “I had a match and I was trying to give them what I thought he wanted. A babyface, smiling, doing all this stuff. Doing a cool little flip to the outside. Styles has revealed he was trying to be the character he thought McMahon wanted when he arrived in WWEYouTube: CVV Clips McMahon, however, urged him to be a pit bullWWE “But as I came back, he’s like, ‘I got a thousand guys that can do what you do.’ And he said he wanted to see a pit bull. “And that kind of got me excited… I know that guy. That’s going to be easy. I didn’t tell him that, but I know that guy and I can be that guy.” Styles then recalled attacking The Miz on an episode of Raw the following week, after a number of ‘higher ups’ had suggested he ‘lay into’ his fellow star. “I decided I wasn’t going to hurt him, but it was very intense, that moment we had together,” he said. “I think it was a test (from Vince) to see if I was going to be like a pit bull. That’s kind of what I gave him and it was at that moment, we just took off.” And take off Styles did, winning the WWE Championship in September 2016, just nine months after arriving. Styles won the WWE title just nine months after arriving He has gone on to become one of WWE’s most popular starsGetty He has since gone on to hold the Intercontinental title, the United States Championship three times and the Raw Tag Team titles. Those reigns made him WWE’s 15th Grand Slam champion (under the current format) and have helped him feature on an impressive eight WrestleMania cards.
There is little doubt that AJ Styles is a future Hall of Fame wrestler.
He has proven himself a truly ‘phenomenal’ star since arriving in WWE in 2016, off the back of an already stellar career that saw him compete around the world for WCW, TNA, Ring of Honor and NJPW.
It took Styles just a matter of months to establish himself as one of WWE’s top stars, and he has since gone on to become a Grand Slam champion with the company, holding all the major belts.
‘The Phenomenal One’ made his debut at the Royal Rumble nine years ago, and the electric pop from the crowd should have been a clear indicator of the success he would go on to achieve.
But it seems Vince McMahon didn’t quite see what all the fuss was about at the time.
As he closes in on a decade with WWE, Styles has revealed that the former chairman and CEO was left rather unimpressed by his debut.
“In his eyes, it was a fluke,” Styles said of McMahon’s mindset after his rumble debut.
“I’m pretty sure I wasn’t going to be at Raw the next night. But somebody convinced him it would be a good idea if I came to Raw.
“He did not care. A lot of people don’t know this, but he did not like AJ Styles for whatever reason.
“I’m sure I gave him a lot of reasons. I’m not the tallest guy, I have a Southern accent. There’s several things that he could hate about AJ Styles.”
Styles went on to discuss how his debut on Raw went, and suggested he wasn’t performing as the star that made him so good on the independent circuit, but rather a version of himself that he thought McMahon wanted.
He continued: “I had a match and I was trying to give them what I thought he wanted. A babyface, smiling, doing all this stuff. Doing a cool little flip to the outside.
“But as I came back, he’s like, ‘I got a thousand guys that can do what you do.’ And he said he wanted to see a pit bull.
“And that kind of got me excited… I know that guy. That’s going to be easy. I didn’t tell him that, but I know that guy and I can be that guy.”
Styles then recalled attacking The Miz on an episode of Raw the following week, after a number of ‘higher ups’ had suggested he ‘lay into’ his fellow star.
“I decided I wasn’t going to hurt him, but it was very intense, that moment we had together,” he said.
“I think it was a test (from Vince) to see if I was going to be like a pit bull. That’s kind of what I gave him and it was at that moment, we just took off.”
And take off Styles did, winning the WWE Championship in September 2016, just nine months after arriving.
He has since gone on to hold the Intercontinental title, the United States Championship three times and the Raw Tag Team titles.
Those reigns made him WWE’s 15th Grand Slam champion (under the current format) and have helped him feature on an impressive eight WrestleMania cards.
