{"id":95726,"date":"2021-07-09T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T17:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=95726"},"modified":"2021-07-09T09:31:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T13:31:08","slug":"a-j-styles-out-of-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/07\/09\/a-j-styles-out-of-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast Recap: A.J. Styles on Out of Character With Ryan Satin"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Wrestling Entertainment<\/strong> Superstar, A.J. Styles<\/strong>, is currently the Raw Tag Team champion, alongside newcomer Omos.<\/strong> However, the 2x WWE Champion hasn\u2019t put singles action behind him. In the lead up to the upcoming Money in the Bank <\/em><\/strong>pay-per-view, Styles has been featured heavily in qualifying matches with other contenders on Monday Night Raw<\/strong>. Although he hasn\u2019t qualified for the eight man ladder match yet, his heel character isn\u2019t above bending the rules and pulling a fast one.<\/p>\n

On the most recent installment of Fox Sports\u2019s podcast Out of Character With Ryan Satin, <\/em>Styles told host Satin that the key to being a good babyface was being a good heel first, and that when in heel mode, his character was \u201c25%\u201d him, while babyface A.J. Styles was \u201c100%\u201d him. Authenticity, comic timing, and a versatile moveset ranging from flying finishers to merciless submission locks are some of the defining facets of Styles\u2019s brand. In his 45 minute chat with Satin, Styles touched on aspects of his storied pro wrestling career, as well as his life out of character, such as his well documented enthusiasm for vintage arcade games. Here are some highlights from their conversation:<\/p>\n

On Being WWE Champion<\/strong><\/p>\n

To Styles, the WWE championship was never just a prop. \u201cWhen they put the championship on you,\u201d he confided to Satin, \u201cthey\u2019re saying \u2018you\u2019re our guy\u2019.\u201d Holding the belt means being a more heavily featured performer, and Styles stressed that it was a lot of work. He expressed especial pride at being part of a history making WWE championship moment with Jinder Mahal. <\/strong>Styles\u2019 second title run was the first time that the WWE championship had changed hands in the UK. To Styles, being champion meant \u201cwork(ing) your tail off,\u201d and he feels that current WWE championship and Universal Champion, respectively, Bobby Lashley <\/strong>and Roman Reigns, <\/strong>understand the work behind the belt.<\/p>\n

On the WWE Returning to Crowds<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ryan Satin asked A.J. Styles if he agreed with other WWE superstars that bumps hurt more without a crowd. Styles agreed emphatically, that the adrenaline provided by a live crowd cannot be replaced and is vital to pro wrestling. The feedback from a live crowd, Styles confided, also impacts the WWE\u2019s content direction, like \u201cwho\u2019s a babyface, and who\u2019s a heel.\u201d Styles was proud of the cheers that tag team partner Omos got at WrestleMania 37<\/strong>, <\/em>and is excited for more crowds to see him live.<\/p>\n

On his Boneyard Match with the Undertaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2020, Styles was honored to be the Undertaker<\/strong>\u2019s last scene partner, in his retirement match at WrestleMania 36<\/strong>. <\/em>Due to the needs of the global pandemic, 36 was the first WrestleMania<\/em> to be crowdless and pre-recorded. Styles and Undertaker\u2019s boneyard match was one of the show\u2019s most well received elements, a cinematic boneyard match that drew off different eras of the Undertaker\u2019s persona, leaving Styles to \u201crest in peace\u201d in an open grave whilst he rode off to his Metallica theme.<\/p>\n

Satin asked if Styles and the Dead Man talked about the match afterwards, and Styles revealed that he wanted to give Undertaker, AKA Mark Calaway, a meaningful gift. Styles consulted Calaway\u2019s wife, former WWE superstar Michelle McCool<\/strong>, for ideas. McCool suggested that a pair of Styles\u2019s gloves would mean a lot. Calaway sent Styles a pair of his own gloves in return, along with a heartfelt thank you note.<\/p>\n

On his Own Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

A.J. Styles admitted that certain stunts in the ring don\u2019t come as easy, and that some moves he wouldn\u2019t try not just for fear of hurting himself but someone else, as he ages. However, his original goal was to retire from WWE at 40, and he has already surpassed that timeline, at 44. Styles was nothing like definitive on the subject of retiring from pro wrestling, and it\u2019s easy to surmise why:<\/p>\n

Styles is a performer with much left to give the WWE universe. From his first, surprise appearance at 2016\u2019s Royal Rumble<\/em> to the current suspense about his character\u2019s role in the Money in the Bank<\/em> race, Styles is always full of surprises, and always one to watch.<\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n

Stay tuned to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Ultimate Warrior fan? You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0WWE Network<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Peacock<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World Wrestling Entertainment Superstar, A.J. Styles, is currently the Raw Tag Team champion, alongside newcomer Omos. However, the 2x WWE Champion hasn\u2019t put singles action behind him. In the lead up to the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Styles has been featured heavily in qualifying matches with other contenders on Monday Night Raw. Although […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3715,"featured_media":95731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,26,4,3],"tags":[145,183,730,7033,77,297],"class_list":["post-95726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raw","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-aj-styles","tag-bobby-lashley","tag-jinder-mahal","tag-omos","tag-roman-reigns","tag-the-undertaker"],"modified_by":"Niklas George","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3715"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}