Powerslam Radio Podcasts

Europe's #1 Wrestling Talkshow!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

The UK’s #1 Wrestling talk show Powerslam Radio (http://www.powerslam.co.uk) welcomed back NWA:TNA superstar AJ Styles to the show. AJ was the show’s inaugural guest back in 2002.

AJ Styles- Mr TNA AJ joined Powerslam Radio hosts Vikram Sangar & Lee "Freaky" Burton on their Christmas Eve special.

AJ spoke briefly about Christmas and how he was yet to find a present for his wife.

AJ described fatherhood as being "awesome" and went onto to describe some of the sleepless nights he’s been having after the birth of his son.

When asked whether his son would ever follow in his father’s footsteps and become a wrestler- AJ said he would only consider training his son "after he has finished college and has his degree."

AJ recalled the personal changes he has experienced with TNA. He says he gets noticed a lot more now by fans in his day-to-day life. AJ and the hosts exchanged stories about meeting famous people as fans. Vik described following Dean Malenko around a mall for 20 minutes in Canada trying to get his autograph. AJ says similar things have happened to him and sometimes wished fans would just come up to him and ask for an autograph instead of staring at him for ages.

Sting set for action in TNA AJ was asked specifically about the arrival of Christian Cage and Sting. AJ said the most important thing is that TNA gets more viewers and the new talent will help bring that. He described himself as being a "team player" and doing whatever was best for the company. AJ however said TNA must not forget "where they came from" and continue to build the X-Division. He said fans watch TNA for the X-Division and he hopes that the arrival of Christian and Sting does not affect the emphasis given to that division in any way.

Co-host Lee asked AJ whether any of the roster resented the WWE guys for coming in and taking their spots- especially since many of them have helped build TNA from the ground up. AJ conceded "That’s gonna happen" but the TNA writers should help expand the characters of the existing guys. He said fans already know what Christian and Sting can offer but it would be beneficial for TNA if the characters of "Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley" for example were expanded and given more mic time.

AJ was asked whether TNA was really competing with the WWE or whether it was merely an alternative. AJ said TNA are definitely competing. He went onto to explain the signings of The Dudleys, Christian etc showed that they meant business and said "the only thing we are missing is money." He said he understands TNA have lost millions, but they are all aiming to get those millions back.

AJ talked about the Spike TV deal. He said although Impact’s not on at the best time, at least "we’re on a network that cares about us." He also stated "word of mouth" as probably the biggest thing that will get fans watching the TNA product. AJ said he could ultimately see TNA appearing on prime-time, "…something like Tuesday at 8pm would be a lot better…" he commented.

AJ with the X-Division Title AJ was asked by Vik which he thought was the more credible in the eyes of the fans- the X-Division or TNA’s World Title. AJ personally felt "It’s the X-division…however the only guys who don’t see that are the office…" AJ felt that fans generally ordered the PPV to watch the X-division matches with exception of main events involving "the likes of Abyss or barbed wire matches." He said "it’s hard not to love the X-division…and the WWE doesn’t even have anything close…"

AJ was asked about the impact Samoa Joe has made in TNA. AJ said "it’s another great example of the X-Division" and explained how he was trying to bring Joe in for a long time but the office did not want to know. Now that Joe has made such a huge impression, AJ is almost left saying "I told you so…now if only you listened to me in the first place…"

AJ said there had been "serious talk" about TNA having house shows and PPV’s in different cities. He explained that the move had to make sense financially before going ahead with it.

Vik asked AJ about morale in the TNA locker room. AJ said everyone is still hungry for success in TNA but conceded many of the guys are "confused as to where our characters are going with all the WWE guys coming in and taking spots." He said "we are seeing a lot of Jeff Jarrett on TV which is confusing sometimes." AJ conceded "I don’t know how to run the business" but hoped the office would produce something great out of all this for everyone concerned.

AJ was asked about his own relationship with the TNA office. He said he feels he "can talk to them at any time" but wished he had more of a "creative input" into the product. He explained "there are five guys on the booking committee with Jeff Jarrett having the ultimate decision." AJ described Jeff’s position as being "tough" and personally felt that Jeff should leave the booking up to the other guys, merely to lighten the workload Jeff has -and to concentrate on being a performer.

AJ spoke about the likes of Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels having a great influence on his career. He said he has learned a lot from them and often tries to take in every comment he receives- unless it’s from Raven, "in which case it goes in one ear and out the other..." AJ said jokingly.

AJ was asked about wrestling in the UK and he described the British fans as "being the best" and said it’s "always a pleasure to wrestle there."

AJ was asked about 1PW and his upcoming booking in the United Kingdom where he performs at the huge double-header in January entitled "No Turning Back" at the Doncaster Dome. He said 1PW have been very professional and he enjoyed being a part of their first show a few months ago.

AJ spoke about the 4-way match where he is scheduled to face Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe and Charlie Haas on the first night. AJ said this would be the first time he would be in the ring with Charlie and would be interested to see what type of high impact moves he can do. He said Haas would be the unknown quantity in the match as his knows what to expect from the other TNA combatants.

AJ Fights Jeff Jarrett AJ was also asked about his second match at 1PW’s No Turning Back where he is scheduled to face "the boss" Jeff Jarrett the following day. He said Jarrett has been very lucky in his past meetings and he would try to resort to cheating if needed to get the victory over Jarrett and proceed in 1PW’s quest to crown their first champion.

AJ was also asked to clear up the confusion regarding his appearance for Vince Russo’s Ring of Glory promotion and not appearing for Ring of Honor last weekend. AJ said he had "Ring of Glory on the Friday and Ring of Honor on the Saturday" and "had tried to get out of doing both" as he had stitches in his face and the opening of the wound would result in him having plastic surgery. Vince Russo however managed to convince him that wrestling for Ring of Glory would be much easier for him to do as he would be wrestling Abyss; a guy who he knows is safe in the ring and who had stitches himself. He said in the end they barely done ten minutes. He wanted to let the ROH fans know it’s not because he didn’t want to be there, it’s simply because he didn’t want to take the risk of being hit in the face and having to go through plastic surgery. He says he "loves Ring of Honor and has the utmost respect for it and can’t wait to go back."

In the full interview, Vik asked some frank questions about AJ’s contract situation and possibly signing with the WWE. AJ was very open and honest with his answers and commented on what it would take for him to sign with the WWE, who he would like to wrestle there and about the friends he has in their locker room along with some of the stories he has heard about their morale.

AJ also talks about Vince McMahon, his love for computer games, the passing of Eddie Guerrero and his favourite wrestling moments of 2005.

The full 30 minute interview can be heard, uncut at

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