WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles appeared on an episode of his Phenomenally Retro podcast, where he discussed various topics, including his visit to the WWE Performance Center.
Styles said, “Well, I would love to tell you that him and I were working together, but we were just dabbing each other up for the most part. Seeing him there and stuff like that was — there’s so many guys down there, I was so happy to see how well they’re doing. And man, I probably had a lot more fun than I should have. I had really enjoyed it, just going down there. So I went down there and watched the the NXT show and then I was able to say, ‘Hey, I’m down here now Wednesday, Thursday — I’m going to come to class. I want to see how everything works, everybody do their thing. And if there’s something that you need to work on or you want to work on, I’m here for you.’ And then get to share a little bit of the knowledge and why we do things the way we do them, and explain to them what it is and why we do it this way. So just being able to be there, and the coaches were so great. They let they didn’t mind me getting in and spreading my two cents. So I was very thankful with that because I don’t want to step on any toes. They’re doing their job and they’re doing a great job. But for me to be in there and and hang out with them and again, give my two cents was pretty awesome.”
On attending EVOLVE:
“The EVOLVE show, I was able to see that and work with them. I wasn’t an agent, or a producer as we call it now. But one of our producers needed a little help because he was doing a lot. So I was like, ‘Dude, if you want me to, I’ll do it. I have no problem doing it. And that includes putting the headset on, and calling the match to the TV,’ which I had no idea how to do. But I think — they came to me and was like, ‘Actually dude, you did a really good job because you didn’t say too much. You said enough, you told us where to be, what was about to happen, where you need cameras.’ I was like, ‘Oh man.’ Made me feel like a million bucks. And dude, I’m watching this match and I didn’t realize, I became a huge cheerleader, because I’m like, ‘Go, yes! Yeah! Oh, pin, pin, pin!’ I’m talking to the TV. Nobody can hear me. You could see me reacting but, like — I got to be a fan again. And they had a great match. Man, I was super happy with that. I’m biased because I’m the one that helped with it. But a lot of those guys, they’re indie guys so they’ve been there and done that a couple of times but this time it’s on television. They’re hitting their time perfectly, they did a lot of stuff really well.”
On whether he’d be interested in taking on more producing roles:
“Nope, nope. Although I said, ‘Listen, I don’t wanna be an agent. That’s not what I wanna do.’ Then they go, ‘Yeah? Well, Shawn said the same thing, Shawn Michaels said the same thing. He did the exact same thing you did. Now, he’s running NXT.’ So if the opportunity comes and there’s — you know, wherever we are. The possibility of running a show sounds pretty awesome and exciting. You know, Undertaker’s doing that for AAA. And mind you, he’s got a lot more — he’s very smart and understands that very well. And it’s cool to see what Triple H is doing and how big it is right now. Like, I’ve been to a show. It is good. It’s really well done.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
