Top SmackDown superstar reveals heartwarming reason he turned down WWE contract offer

AJ Styles has been a huge part of the WWE main event scene since his debut in 2016, but fans could have enjoyed him on Raw or SmackDown even earlier.

The Phenomenal One – who recently turned back the clock in an incredible match against Cody Rhodes at Backlash in Lyon, France – made a handful of appearances as enhancement talent in 2001, before signing with TNA Wrestling the following year and building his legacy as one of the best of all time.

He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘Timing was everything. Like, there was a time that AJ Styles could have took a developmental deal with WWE before TNA, which I turned down.

‘Based on the money that was gonna be given to me, [it] wasn’t enough to survive on – especially when I was married, I had to support my wife.’

Despite going onto have an incredible career around the world before joining WWE eight years ago, Styles admitted ‘it wasn’t easy to turn down’ such a move at the time.

‘At the end of the day, you want to be at the biggest wrestling company in the world. And I did,’ he explained.

AJ Styles could have joined WWE over a decade earlier (Picture: Getty Images)

He has gone onto become one of the biggest stars in the company (Picture: WWE)

‘But it was also the right thing to do. Yeah, I married this woman, it was my job to take care of her. And I was gonna do that. That came first.’

It took the former world champion another 14 years to join WWE, but he insisted he ‘wouldn’t have been ready to go into that environment’ so early in his career.

‘Everything happened for a reason with TNA, I got to wrestle a lot of legends there,’ he smiled. ‘And Japan, I got to wrestle a lot of legends there. So I feel very accomplished with everything that I’ve done outside of WWE as well.’

The Phenomenal One eventually joined the company in 2016 (Picture: WWE)

By the time he arrived in WWE, he was closing in on his 40th birthday, but his almost-two decades of experience as a wrestling didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous stepping into a new world.

‘I was 37 when I got to WWE. So you would think someone who had that had that much experience wouldn’t have the butterflies and the nerves,’ he said.

‘But not knowing how I was going to be treated when I got there… I was nervous about it.’

Styles is still proving himself even today (Picture: WWE)

It didn’t help that there was also some jealousy from other superstars at the time, who saw Styles step straight into a prominent role, with fears he would ‘take their spot’.

He explained: ‘You got to think that now there are some guys that thought that was coming there to take their spot. So they didn’t know, exactly, if they liked me or not when I first got there,’ he smiled.

‘I totally understand. But once they got in the ring with me, I think I found out pretty quick that I was a team player.’

Now, it’s a very different AJ Styles, as he finds himself trying to ‘prove’ to fans that he is still very much able to hang with the best the business has to offer, which he did against Cody last weekend.

‘I’ve got to prove that I can still get in the ring. I still can go with the bus best. And I know that I am getting older,’ he said candidly.

‘There’s no way of avoiding that. But I can still get the job done. And I want to prove that.’

WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on TNT Sports 1. Clash At The Castle tickets are available now.

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