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Alex Marvez interviews A. J. Styles

Posted: Mar 9th 2007 By: CMBurnham

A. J. Styles is hoping that his Elimination X match against Rhyno on Sunday?s Destination X pay-per-view show doesn?t eliminate him. The scaffolding will have both performers roughly 18 feet above the mat and is only 20 inches in width along the legs of the ?X.?

In the following telephone interview conducted Monday, Styles discusses Elimination X, his heel turn in November and his short- and long-term career goals. A copy of my column on Mr. Backlund can be found at http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=PROWRESTLING08-03-08-07.

Q: How do you think things are going in TNA for you right now?

Styles: ?I would say they?re going great. I like my position and I like what I?m doing. I like my character and I?m having fun as a heel. It?s totally different, but it?s so much fun.?

Q: Whose idea was it for you to go heel?

Styles: ?Mine. Actually, I told [TNA bookers] I was ready to be bad guy here months and months ago. It finally came across like, ?I guess we?ve got to let him be a heel.? Maybe because we went to Mexico and I was a heel down there and they thought, ?Wow, this guy turned out to be a jerk.??

Q: Why did you want to go heel?

Styles: ?I thought it was time. I thought the fans were ready for someone other than goody two-shoes A.J. Styles. You can only have so much of a good-guy run. Who knows? If I ever turn back, I could be like the good guy they used to love but they would probably like me even more because I had an edge.?

Q: You?ve probably added years onto your career with the heel turn. How much does it allow you to work a safer in-ring style?

Styles: ?It?s definitely safer for me. I don?t have to keep coming up with creative stuff. It also gets the fans angry because they know I can do these moves but I won?t. It?s like the more I keep doping less, the angrier the fans get. It makes people mad when they want to see what a guy can do and then he doesn?t give it to them.?

Q: Did you model yourself after any heels?

Styles: I can?t say I have. It?s just one of those things that came natural. It?s sad but true.?

Q: You?re considered one of the sincerely nice people in this industry. How hard it is for you to play a heel in the ring?

Styles: ?They always say a part of you really wants to be like that of your character. It comes pretty natural for me. It?s like I picture someone driving slow in the fast lane when you want them to move over. If you can imagine how angry you are then, I have the opportunity to show that. It?s a lot of fun.?

Q: What?s the biggest challenge about working a scaffold match [i.e. Elimination X match] against Rhyno on Sunday?s PPV?

Styles: ?The fact [the scaffolding] is only 20 inches wide makes it really hard to get up there. It?s not as stable as I would like. It?s scary. I?m not going to lie. It?s a challenge. I?ve just got to make sure I keep my footing. I?ve talked with guys who have had scaffold matches and theirs was at least wide enough so they could get their footing. Ours is only 20 inches.?

Q: Whose brilliant idea was to make a structure that gives you such little space to balance?

Styles: ?The problem is Elevation X is like being up on an X. If you make it too wide, there?s no place to fall into the ring. It?s kind of the nature of the beast.?

Q: Is this your first scaffold match and have you asked Jim Cornette for advice? [Editor?s note: Cornette blew out his knee falling from a scaffold in 1986].

Styles: ?This is my first one. [Laughs] And no, I?m not asking Cornette about how to fall. I remember watching those [NWA scaffold matches] but there was not much for those guys to do up there but hang. Hopefully, we?ll be a little more creative and still be safe. It?s hard to say what?s going to happen. I hope it?s entertaining enough.?

Q: I saw an advanced copy of your new DVD and the behind-the-scenes segments were pretty cool. What was it like to return to where you grew up and your old high school?

Styles: ?It was weird to go in and look at my old house. It was really cool to go back to my old high school [Johnson High in Gainesville, Ga.]. They still had my photo in the trophy case and I met up with one of my teachers who?s still there. It was really cool. I could see things hadn?t changed enough to the point where I wouldn?t recognize them.?

Q: How is being a father again for the second time treating you?

Styles: ?My new son is Avery Allen Jones and I can tell you this was the easiest pregnancy yet. It was only my wife?s second one, but it?s been so easy. I?m not the worrisome dad like I was on the first kid. Every time he makes a sound, I?m not getting up right away. I may let him cry a couple more times. I?m a lot more relaxed, although I did forget how hard it was changing little-bitty diapers.?

Q: After the scaffold match, what are your short and long term career goals?

Styles: ?My short-term goal is just to make sure TNA keeps growing. My long-term goal would be to be able to be a man who retires from wrestling and is still able to walk and not have any regrets.?

Q: Finally, I understand you took part in the making of the new TNA video game. As a big gamer, how much fun was that?

Styles: ?I went out a couple times a couple weeks ago with Chris Daniels, Senshi and myself. We did the motion capture for them. There?s still a lot to be done on this game, but I played it a little and it?s a fun game and easy to play. All the people who want a great wrestling game, this one will be it.?

Alex Marvez's weekly pro wrestling column can be found in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Biloxi Sun-Herald, Abilene Reporter, Boulder Daily Camera, San Angelo Standard-Times, The Oklahoman, Honolulu Star-Bulletin and other select newspapers that subscribe to the Scripps-Howard News Service.