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AJ Styles ‘blown away’ by son Avery’s debut match

Posted: Jun 30th 2026 By: Joseph Currier

AJ Styles was “blown away” by how his son Avery handled his debut match.

Last Friday, Avery Jones had his first-ever match by facing off against Ashton Martin for indie promotion Squared Circle Action in Royston, Georgia. Styles was there and even counted the pin for his son after Avery delivered a Styles Clash for the victory. On his Phenomenally Retro podcast, Styles recapped the experience and shared how impressed he was by both Avery and Martin. It was a big spot with their match even being moved to the main event because of all the interest in it, but Styles feels they delivered.

“I don’t think they disappointed anyone whatsoever,” Styles said. “Ashton Martin, Avery Styles, it was the main event. Listen, dude, I’ve never been so impressed with two young guys. I mean, they’re young. I think Ashton’s maybe a year, a year and a half in. And then of course, this is Avery’s debut match. And there’s a lot of things that we do with all this energy when we have that young energy that is — we use it in the wrong way. They used it really, really well. They didn’t rush through anything. They took their time on things they should have.

“And listen, it’s not going to be perfect, but this is a debut match for Avery, and Ashton hadn’t had that many matches. So to see them do so well in a main event, both of them, I was blown away. If you would have seen my first match — terrible. Terrible. But these guys did really, really well. I am so impressed with everything they’ve done, their training. To see them put together that match and execute it so well — blown away.”

Styles pointed to a springboard Avery performed off the guardrail as one moment where he was especially impressed by Avery’s timing.

“Better than me, as far as his debut,” Styles said. “I’m not just saying that.”

When asked if video of the match would be officially released, Styles said he did not know but was sure it would find its way onto the internet somewhere. The promotion has not uploaded the bout to its YouTube channel but noted that it will be releasing matches from the show in intervals over the next couple of weeks.

Avery is the second-oldest son of Styles. Though the 49-year-old Styles is now retired from the ring, he isn’t ruling out the possibility that teaming with his son could someday entice him to have another match.

AJ Styles’ post-retirement WWE role —

After retiring from the ring, Styles remains with WWE in a behind-the-scenes role where he wears a “couple of different hats,” including helping out with recruiting talent and working with the WWE ID program. Styles reiterated on this Phenomenally Retro episode that he isn’t interested in becoming a writer for WWE.