AJ Styles reveals that he wanted former NJPW star in WWE a long time ago
WWE is rumored to be signing a top NJPW star. AJ Styles just revealed that he's wanted the veteran grappler to join him in the company for a while.
Styles and Tama Tonga were brothers in The Bullet Club while AJ was working for NJPW. The O.C. leader left the promotion for his current employer in 2016, and has been a top star ever since. Tonga is now rumored to be signing with WWE after finishing up with New Japan at the end of February.
The Phenomenal One appeared on the Battleground Podcast and praised his former Bullet Club stablemate. Styles was asked what the nephew/adopted son of Haku could bring to WWE, and he could not stop praising Tonga. Styles went on to say that he's wanted him by his side in the Stamford-based promotion for quite some time now and that the latter wasn't interested earlier.
"The sky is the limit. This guy can get after it, I know how good Tama is. The fact that he may be coming over would be awesome. I was hoping he would come over a long time ago, but he didn't have any interest back then. If there is interest now, he's making the right decision," Styles said. [From 7:46 - 8:02]
You can watch his comments in the video below:
Styles and Tonga have not worked together since November 23, 2015. Day Three of the NJPW World Tag League event saw AJ and Tama team up with Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, and Cody Hall, but they faced defeat against Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi, and Toru Yano.
WWE confirms AJ Styles' WrestleMania XL match
AJ Styles is set to compete at the 40th annual WrestleMania event.
WWE announced on SmackDown that the feud between Styles and LA Knight will come to a head at WrestleMania 40 as they do battle in singles action. This will mark the official 'Mania debut for Knight.
The official match preview for AJ vs. LA mentions how The Megastar has been hunting The Phenomenal One. Styles pulled a sneak attack on SmackDown last week, and then claimed Knight will not see him until WrestleMania.
"One Superstar is out to make AJ Styles' WrestleMania experience a hard day's Knight," WWE wrote.
The WrestleMania XL match between Styles and Knight will be a rematch from the January 19 edition of SmackDown. Knight won via disqualification that night due to interference by Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa.