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AJ Styles looking to do great things in WWE

Posted: Aug 27th 2016 By: Brian Fritz

The sky is the limit as to how far A. J. Styles will go in the WWE.

He does have a big notch on his belt after defeating John Cena at SummerSlam this past Sunday in what turned out to be the show-stealing match of the event.

“I didn't know what I'd be doing here in the WWE, but the cream will rise to the top,” Styles said. “You have to put guys in position to make WWE great. I'm not saying I'm that guy, I'm just saying I'd like to be that guy to make it better. It's already great. I'd love to make it better. I love being on 'SmackDown.' I want to make it the flagship of the company. There's a lot of great things and it's great being a part of the WWE.”

The 39-year-old has already made quite the impression during his short time in the WWE. After debuting in January at the Royal Rumble to a huge ovation, he’s had exciting matches and feuds with the likes of Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns.

Still, what stands out to him the most is that first night at the Rumble.

“I mean, how can you forget something like that?,” Styles said. “Your debut and not only did you debut in WWE, but it was at the Royal Rumble and the WWE Universe went nuts for it. I don't know if I can ever top that. I'm going to give it a shot, but I don't know if I can ever top it.”

Maybe he can with the WWE Championship now in his sights after defeating Dolph Ziggler this past Tuesday on "SmackDown." With the victory, Styles earned a match against Dean Ambrose for the title at the upcoming "Backlash" event.

After making a name for himself in TNA Wrestling, where he worked for more than a decade, Styles took his game to another level in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he became a two-time IWGP heavyweight champion.

After his two years with the Japanese promotion, he wanted to be closer to home. Plus, the lure of the WWE was something that Styles couldn’t pass up.

Another perk for the avid video gamer is being in the upcoming "WWE 2K17," which hits stores in October for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One systems.

“I think my son is more excited about it than I am, and I'm pretty freaking excited about this,” Styles said. “Being in a game like '2K17' is unbelievable. The stuff you can do in this game, the soundtrack that it has, the characters. So many great things about this game and now being a part of it, I'm on cloud nine.”

Styles didn’t make the transition to the WWE alone, as his friends Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows — who together were part of the ultra-popular Bullet Club faction in NJPW — made the jump as well, debuting in April.

The trio were put back together as The Club and starting gaining plenty of traction in their quest to beat up John Cena every chance they could. But when the WWE draft came along, they were split apart with Anderson and Gallows going to "Raw" and Styles over to "SmackDown." The move legitimately caught him by surprise.

“I think it's an opportunity for them to do something special and an opportunity for me,” Styles said. “Who knows what the reasoning is for the draft and going separate ways that we did, but we're going to make the best of it. It was shocking because I didn't see that coming. It literally came out of nowhere.

“But everything happens for a reason. I'm not sad about it. They're going to do their thing, I'm going to do mine and we'll met up later.”

Styles still keeps up with what happens over in New Japan, where his former Bullet Club running mate Kenny Omega just made history, becoming the first non-Japanese wrestlers to win the G1 Climax.

“I think Kenny was always capable of doing it. I don't know if they didn't see it at the time or maybe the group was so big that we were in that it was hard to see how great Kenny was. I'm so proud of him. I texted him to tell him how proud I was of him. He's got a first under his book; he's the first gaijin to ever win the G1. That's huge. Everybody, we're all so very proud of him.

“He got me on his one. Trust me, I wanted that bragging right, but I'm glad Kenny has it.”