Top Smackdown Superstar almost chose TNA over WWE
WWE faces tough competition from a lot of its rival companies. Although the Stamford-based promotion is at the top of the pro wrestling food chain, many talents choose other promotions for a more star-studded career. Notably, SmackDown Superstar AJ Styles had almost left World Wrestling Entertainment to rejoin TNA.
AJ Styles carries a mountain of pro wrestling experience on his back. He made his name as a wrestler by fighting in TNA for 11 long years. Following this, The Phenomenal One transitioned to NJPW for a brief period. He almost returned to his roots and signed a new contract with TNA (fka IMPACT) alongside Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in 2016. However, he eventually chose to come to WWE.
Styles talked about this phase in detail in an interview with SHAK Wrestling:
"I mean we went and met with them, so it was that close and we talked about numbers, of course nothing was signed ... We kind of signed something but it wasn't anything that had any value or importance, so it was pretty close," Styles explained. "I'm very thankful that things happened the way that they did because we now know they didn't have the money back then either to have signed us and we'd be right where we started." [h/t Wrestling Inc]
AJ Styles made his WWE debut in January 2016, launching himself straight into a Royal Rumble match. He later followed with a feud against John Cena and rose to championship caliber and fame very quickly.
Today, Styles is a two-time WWE Champ, three-time US Champ, one-time Intercontinental Champ, and has even won the RAW Tag Team Championship once. Interestingly, while he cliched most of these belts in the first three years of his career in the company, this wasn’t the trajectory management had planned for him.
How AJ Styles cemented himself in WWE
Although AJ Styles carries massive popularity and star power, former WWE CEO Vince McMahon didn’t really know who he was. Styles noted that he wasn’t supposed to be on television the next day on Monday Night RAW at all. He said that McMahon thought the cheers he received at the Royal Rumble were a fluke and nothing more.
However, the two-time WWE Champion said that the scriptwriters must have put in a good word for him due to his success with The Bullet Club. AJ Styles said that Vince McMahon sat him down and said that he had several wrestlers who could replace him. But he also clearly mentioned what he wanted out of Styles: a pitbull inside the ring.
The Phenomenal One said that he could easily pull it off since this was exactly what he did in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Eventually, he cemented himself in the company and also gained enviable success.