AJ Styles WWE debut could very well be taking place within the next week, but a new report by Bryan Alvarez of f4wonline.com states that AJ’s first WWE appearance might not be taking place at the Royal Rumble, as most fans are expecting.

After dropping the Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Undisputed British Heavyweight championship to Zack Sabre Jr. on Saturday night, Styles addressed that crowd in the UK and teased a potential appearance in Sunday’s Rumble match. While AJ Styles would make for a very satisfying unannounced Rumble entrant, Alvarez says WWE has different plans for the former TNA Champion.

While an appearance in the Rumble is possible, WWE is reportedly planning for Styles to debut next Monday night on RAW from Miami, FL. WWE is working on a vignette that will air on RAW next week in an effort to introduce Styles to the audience.

Additionally, AJ Styles will be the only newly acquired talent from NJPW that will not start out in NXT. Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson will all be heading to NXT for at least a few months when they sign with WWE.

Comment on this article and tell us when you think the AJ Styles WWE debut should take place.

Join us here at SEScoops.com this Sunday night for Live Coverage of the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. I will be attending the Royal Rumble in person and will be live tweeting from the event, so make sure to follow @SEScoops on Twitter if you don’t already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lK8THFknsA

(Note: The title of this above video is inaccurate, despite the relevance of the footage)

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated AJ Styles for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Undisputed British Heavyweight championship at Saturday night’s “High Stakes 2016” show. After the match, Styles gave a farewell speech to the rowdy UK crowd.

Styles said he’s not sure what’s next for him and was met with a loud “Royal Rumble” chant. Styles said if there’s a spot available for him in the Rumble, we could be seeing him again very soon. The place went nuts and Styles said that if he does appear in the Rumble, he’s going to kick some ass for the fans.

At this time, there are no indications that AJ Styles has actually signed with WWE. The former face of TNA has been doing some of the best work of his career over the past 2 years and looks to be capping it off with a run on the biggest stage of them all. Sean Radican and James Caldwell of PWTorch.com published a report on Saturday detailing Styles’ road to WWE with exclusive details about how it all went down. There was of course strong interest from NJPW and ROH to continue featuring Styles in main events for months to come, but WWE is said to have offered a “blow-away” deal.

When asked if he would be available for bookings on the night of the 2016 Royal Rumble, AJ Styles answered: “Sure.” The former TNA champion was interviewed by WhatCulture after a 5* Wrestling event in Newcastle, England and touched on the subject of WWE, where Styles is rumored to be signing a contract. Here’s what AJ had to say when asked who from the NXT roster he’d like to work with:

“Finn [Balor], I think that’s the one most people would like to see me wrestle,” Styles said. “There are a lot of guys I haven’t worked with [in WWE], and hopefully one day I’ll get to wrestle them before it’s over.”

Styles is either currently in negotiations with or signed with WWE. WWE reportedly offered him significantly more money than they had before, after Styles left TNA and “raised his profile” in Japan.

Related: AJ Styles Royal Rumble Appearance Teased By Finn Balor

When asked “what’s next” for him, AJ didn’t make any mention of his potential new employer, but did say he plans to wrestle as long as he can without seriously injuring himself.

“I love what I do,” Styles said. “I’m going to do what I do the best I can. I’m definitely not an artist but I can paint with the wrestling brush. I think I got some kind of thing going on with that. And I’m going to keep doing that as long as I can. Keep in mind, still gonna be able to walk away from this business. Will I have surgeries? Of course I will because I’m going to get old and I’ve hurt myself, but that’s just the nature of the beast. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Related: AJ Styles Says Hulk Hogan Was Embarrassed By TNA During His Time There

WWE’s raid of the New Japan Pro Wrestling talent roster kicked off 2016 in a big way, but it’s worth noting that the negotiations with Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were each handled individually and things just happened to work out around the same time.

Nakamura had talks with WWE in early 2015 but wound up re-signing with NJPW for another year. What many people don’t know is that Nakamura speaks English pretty well. He’s known for his showmanship and charisma and this apparently translates to his English promo ability.

WWE was planning to have AJ Styles debut in the Royal Rumble and we haven’t heard anything about that changing. The AJ Styles situation is an interesting one because he received an offensively low offer from WWE when he left TNA. He decided to work the independent scene and head over to Japan, where he raised his profile and was able to get considerably more money from WWE this time around.

Gallows and Anderson are expected to debut on NXT TV in early March. As we’ve covered previously, NJPW owns the name “Bullet Club” so they won’t be using that in NXT.

• VIDEO: Ronda Rousey Practicing WWE Moves

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

WWE Performance Center head coach Matt Bloom recently spoke with WWE.com about the rumors of top New Japan Pro Wrestling stars coming to WWE. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On the rumors of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling to come to WWE:

“It’s about time. WWE is the largest platform in the world to do what those guys love to do. They deserve to be here because they paid their dues, they worked really hard, and they made names for themselves. The best of the best come here to flourish. They’re gonna take all those years of experience, hard work and dedication, and now show it to the world on an even grander scale.”

On talking to Finn Balor about his former Bullet Club buddies possibly coming to WWE:

“He’s excited. He’s stoked. Finn is doing big things on his own right now, but I’m sure he knows that becoming the champion is difficult and staying the champion is even more difficult. He’s got an ace in his back pocket because he might have some friends coming in that have been known to watch his back. I’m sure that’s very comforting for Finn Bálor.”

On what to expect if The Bullet Club members show up in WWE:

“You hear the boss always say, “You need to reach for that brass ring.” The Bullet Club do things outside the box to continually reach for that brass ring. They’re not afraid to buck the system and be different. They’re not afraid of trying new things. The fans, the locker room, and us as coaches are very excited to see what The Bullet Club might do.”

• VIDEO: Ronda Rousey Practicing WWE Moves

Dean Ambrose recently spoke with The Independent to promote 12 Rounds 3, which was released in the UK on January 4th. Here are some highlights:

On AJ Styles possibly joining WWE:

“I’m down with that, this is where the best talent in the world is. I hadn’t heard about AJ coming in so that’s really cool. I think NXT has opened up the doors for a lot of guys to come in and create different opportunities.

In North America there aren’t too many big places to go, so you find that pretty much all of the best talent in the world ends up filtering through WWE. It’s a very exciting time.”

On who he would like to work with that he hasn’t yet:

“I’d love to wrestle Samoa Joe at some point, I’ve never been in the ring with him and I can picture that being pretty cool. Other than that I think I’ve wrestled everybody. That’s what comes when you’re a guy who has been around for a while and who can do it all.”

Related: AJ Styles Royal Rumble Appearance Teased By Finn Balor

An AJ Styles Royal Rumble appearance would send shockwaves throughout the wrestling world and NXT Champion Finn Balor is reminding fans that it’s a very real possibility.

• AJ Styles Talks About The Possibility Of Working For WWE

In a tweet sent out Monday night during RAW, Balor questioned what would happen if he entered the Royal Rumble himself at number #1 and AJ Styles entered at #2. It’s an intriguing prospect to say the least. Balor has yet to make his WWE main roster debut and Styles is the most likely of the departing New Japan stars to appear in the Rumble.

No matter how or when Styles, Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson debut in WWE, it seems apparent that they’ll be involved with Finn Balor in some fashion. Balor has ties to all four men from his time working for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He’s best friends with Karl Anderson and the two of them rode together in the Bullet Club along with Doc Gallows. AJ Styles took over as the leader of the Bullet Club when Balor departed NJPW and joined WWE. He’s wrestled Nakamura.

With so many of WWE’s top performers out of action for the next several months due to injury, there couldn’t be a better time for an influx of fresh talent. 2016 is already off to wild start and there’s a very strong chance that the complexion of WWE will be very different by the time WrestleMania season kicks into high gear.

What if..? #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/Tnrn3SBKgp

— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) January 12, 2016

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. In this installment, JR reacted to reports that AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and jumping ship to WWE:

“If WWE signs the NJPW talents that they are rumored to be romancing, it can be a HUGE development for WWE if they handle it efficiently and position these talents as top  hands from the get go. Impactful debuts should be the order of the day.

AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura can both be major, singles stars for WWE. WWE does not have two, better singles wrestlers currently  on their roster than AJ and Nakumura.”

• Related: Sasha Banks, Samoa Joe & More Comment On NJPW Stars To WWE

WWE.com published a new feature story on the rumors regarding top New Japan Pro Wrestling stars AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson possibly jumping ship from NJPW to WWE.

Their article, which they promise to continue to update with any new information that surfaces, mentions that the four are rumored to be WWE bound, however noted the following about Triple H “declining to comment” on the rumors.

“The office of WWE COO and EVP of Talent Relations, Triple H, declined to comment on the rumors for WWE.com.”

The official WWE website story also tells a bit of the story behind NXT Champion Finn Balor’s relationship with the aforementioned NJPW talents, including some of the history of the Bullet Club faction, as well as the Balor Club t-shirts.

“Additionally, the official Twitter account for the Bullet Club tweeted the NXT Champion Monday, telling him to keep more Bálor Club shirts on hand in case they need them. That tweet has since been deleted.”

The article ends with WWE.com pointing out the significance of the four NJPW talents possibly jumping to WWE simaltaneously to fans who might not be overly familiar with the international wrestling scene.

“The addition of Styles, Nakamura, Anderson and Gallows would represent one of the most significant bulk talent acquisitions in WWE history.”

• Update On CM Punk’s UFC Debut, Conor McGregor’s Next Fight & Rousey/Holm 2!

Since the initial post yesterday, some more details have come out with regards to the huge news that various wrestlers have given notice to New Japan Pro Wrestling and appear to be WWE-bound. As noted yesterday, the story first broke publicly via a paywalled posting to former indie promoter and WWE writer Court Bauer’s podcast network, MLW Radio, where Bauer announced that Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, and two or three of Styles’ Bullet Club stablemates had given notice to the company. Being that the Bullet Club’s Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Rocky Romero have a podcast on MLW Radio, they seemed like the obvious candidates.

The first update came from Wrestling Observer Radio behind the paywall at F4WOnline.com, with some additional details coming on last night’s traditional weekly post-Raw show. On the shows, here are some of the key details laid out by Dave Meltzer:

The wrestlers who gave notice are Nakamura, Styles, Anderson, and Gallows, and yes, they’re seemingly WWE-bound, though nobody has signed yet. All but Styles, who had no contract, were working on NJPW’s traditional one year deals, which always expire at the end of January. This is not the first exodus of this kind, as Hiroshi Hase helped engineer Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, and Kendo Ka Shin jumping to AJPW in 2002 when their NJPW deals were up. Styles had already been removed from ROH advertising and stopped accepting new indie bookings before Wrestle Kingdom, so it was kind of known within wrestling that he was done. He was seemingly written out of storylines at New Year Dash (full spoilers here) earlier today, with Mike Johnson at PWInsider confirming it was his last NJPW booking.

Meltzer made it clear that Nakamura won’t be leaving immediately, instead sticking around for a few months. He shot an angle setting up a new program for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship today at New Year Dash (again, the full spoiler details are here) so at the very least, it looks like he’ll see that through. There’s also the chance that NJPW could make him an offer to stay.

Meltzer made a point of saying that it looks like Styles and Nakamura aren’t earmarked for NXT, in part because of the money that they have to be paying to get them. Nakamura was believed to be making somewhere from a quarter to half a million dollars U.S. each year and Styles had a full calendar of well-paying indie dates (where his road expenses were also covered by promoters, unlike in WWE) on top of his NJPW tours. Whether making that kind of financial commitment means anything as far as WWE’s main shows changing stylistically is harder to tall. Also, as pointed out by Mike Johnson at PWInsider yesterday (before Meltzer’s confirmation that WWE was the destination of the wrestlers), Nakamura also needs to have a work visa secured by WWE so he can wrestle here legally, and that will take time.

Meltzer noted that rumors of Anderson leaving had been well known for a while (he’s right) but didn’t say much more about he and Gallows. While it was speculative on his part, he did throw out the idea of Anderson and Gallows being earmarked for a “Balor Club” heel stable, though that’s not necessarily the most wild guess. As for Gallows’ WrestleMerica indie promotion out of Barnesville, Georgia, which has become increasingly successful, there’s been no word on its status yet. Being that his wife, Kimberly Davis (Amber O’Neal/Amber Gallows/The Bullet Babe) is a wrestler, one would think she could take over the promotion unless it would still be seen as a political issue with WWE.

Earlier today (tonight, Japan time), New Japan Pro Wrestling ran what has become an annual tradition, the New Year Dash show at Korakuen Hall in the Tokyo Dome City complex. If Wrestle Kingdom is their WrestleMania, New Year Dash is their Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania, complete wth major angles to kickstart the year, and they definitely delivered on that front.

FINAL SPOILER WARNING:

If you haven’t watched the show yet on NJPW World (and for what it’s worth, Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker did stay in Japan to do English commentary on it) and you don’t want to know what happens, don’t read beyond this point.

Last night, the big angle was that AJ Styles was kicked out of The Bullet Club after Styles and Kenny Omega defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and YOSHI-HASHI when Omega pinned Nakamura clean with the One-Winged Angel. At first, Omega was celebrating the win, which should put him in line for a shot at Nakamura’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship, but then he attacked Styles and hit the One-Winged Angel on him. Next, most of the rest of The Bullet Club ran in. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Cody Hall tended to Styles, while The Young Bucks were holding back Omega in the corner. They teased a split of some kind, only for the Bucks to both super kick Styles, leading to everyone else joining in on the beatdown.

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/684393118095966208

Omega then announced that Styles was officially fired from The Bullet Club and now “had nothing” after “giving everything.” He then announced that he was tired of “pretending to b a junior heavyweight” and would be coming for Nakamura’s belt. Being that Styles was already removed from advertising for Ring of Honor dates already before giving notice to NJPW (we’ll have more on that in a bit), this appears to be NJPW’s way of writing him out of storylines. Earlier this morning, Mike Johnson reported at PWInsider that this is indeed the case, with New Year Dash being Styles’ last scheduled NJPW booking.

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/684382382368018433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Here are the results for the whole show:

1. Shiro Koshinaka, Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Sho Tanaka defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, Cheeseburger & Yohei Komatsu
2. Ricochet & Matt Sydal defeated David Finlay Jr. & Jay White
3. Jay Lethal defeated Juice Robinson
4. King Haku, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & KUSHIDA
5. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin & Mascara Dorada (BUSHI challenged KUSHIDA for a shot at his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after the match)
6. AJ Styles & Kenny Omega defeated Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI
7. Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero & Barreta @ 13:19 via pin
8. Toru Yano, Jay Bricoe & Mark Briscoe (c) defeated Bad Luck Fale and The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) to retain the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship

Ring of Honor & New Japan Pro Wrestling star AJ Styles’ recently spoke with Donald Wood from Ring Rust Radio to promote NJPW’s upcoming WrestleKingdom 10 PPV on Monday, January 4th from the Tokyo Dome. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

His Back Injury:

“I’m not going to let it have an impact. I’m going to be wrestling at Final Battle and Wrestle Kingdom and I will find a way. I’m not missing these amazing events for anything. I am going to be there, I have been hurt before, and I just work through it. Everyone has at some point; it’s just what you do as a wrestler. You ignore the pain and when that adrenaline starts running it doesn’t matter what’s bothering you, you will put on the best show you can.”

If He Plans On Slowing Down His Schedule: 

“Maybe less dates because I have been going hard ever since I left TNA. I have been rocking it. Maybe less dates is something that I should look to, but as far as slowing down in the ring; no way. I have one gear and it’s all or nothing with me. That’s the reason why I came home early from the tag tournament over in New Japan. If I got back in the ring, I would have hurt myself worse because I just can’t slow down. It doesn’t matter how many people are in attendance, you are always going to get everything I have.”

TNA Making Him The Face Of The Company When He Joined in 2002: 

“It’s funny cause when it first started I thought it was just another indie. I didn’t worry about what they would do with me; I just knew I was there to put on killer matches. As it grew, I had to ignore rumors that they were going out of business and that I might be done there after I felt like I was part of the company. I don’t know that I was shocked that they were giving me a title. Jerry Lynn, Low Ki, and myself were always having the best matches on PPV. So it wasn’t a surprise they wanted to put us in the main event. As many bad things that did happen at TNA, there were plenty of good things as well. As I walk down to my man cave, I have old posters of TNA. Sometimes I think I should take them down, but then again I’m not ashamed of what I accomplished there. It is what it is and despite where TNA is now, when I look back it was a very positive thing for me and I learned a lot there.”

What Went Wrong With TNA & What Led To His Departure:

“I think around 2009-10 they were headed in the wrong direction. They were trying to be WWE-lite and you can’t do that, you have to be different. I think that’s where the biggest mistakes were made and they didn’t trust the guys that got them to the ball game in the first place. They had all the talent they needed and didn’t need to bring in other talent. I think people were misinformed about what they could get out of it. The dial never changed when they brought in this higher talent as they thought it would. I will say Christian Cage when he came over was such an asset; he was the start of it. Then they brought in Kurt Angle, which was unbelievable, and they could have stopped there and we would have been fine. They have got to be different and turn it up. If WWE can’t do something because they are publicly traded, then there is your advantage. That just doesn’t apply to TNA, that applies to ROH as well. Everybody can do something different than WWE. I will say ROH wrestling is out of this world and nothing can compete with that. TNA they just have to change it and be different.

If He’s Interested In NXT:

“I’m going to be honest with you guys: The thing that makes wrestling most interesting to me is going to be the business that occurs after the match is over. A lot of people frown on that and say money isn’t everything. Well I say it depends on how much you have saved. My goal when I retire is to not be in a wheel chair or walk with a limp. Wherever I go, I will do my best, work harder than anybody there, and that’s just what I do. I only have one gear and if someone is looking for that and I can support my family while doing it, then that is what I will do.”

Is Wrestling In WWE A Goal? 

“It’s not, it really isn’t. I get to work in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th in front of thousands and thousands of people. That’s pretty awesome. I don’t know about you guys, but the first time I watched New Japan and saw them walk down that long ramp to the ring it was unbelievable. The fact that I get to do that, that is my wrestling moment. I wouldn’t say I would never go to WWE, but if it didn’t happen I wouldn’t go, “Oh man, I missed out. I’m the one guy that missed out.”

If He Would Work For Lucha Underground: 

“Again, where ever the business takes me that is where I will go. Lucha Underground does great and crazy stuff over there, and it’s a little bit of what we talked about with doing something different. Where ever the business takes me, that’s where I am going to go.”

His Ultimate Dream Match:

“I think I am going to get the opportunity to have one of my dream matches. I have never wrestled Rey Mysterio one on one. We are going to be in England at Five Star and we are finally going to get the chance to lock up. I’m looking forward to that match, I think it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be entertaining. It’s Rey Mysterio, this guy is amazing. To be able to step in the ring with him, it’s kind of a dream come true for me. Not because I have watched him for so many years, but he is such a great guy and I never had the opportunity to have that match with him. I would have loved to wrestle Eddie Guerrero, but obviously that can’t happen. I think Rey Mysterio is definitely a big one for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfYd9fAZzPA

AJ Styles has a theory about Hulk Hogan’s TNA run, which went from 2009 to 2013 and gave The Hulkster and Eric Bischoff a lot of influence over the company’s television product. Styles recently appeared on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast and was critical when asked about the Bischoff/Hogan era in TNA.

AJ started by saying Hogan and Bischoff didn’t study the TNA roster before their arrival, and didn’t know enough about TNA’s homegrown talent.

“First of all, I just tried to stay positive. Pretty much anything Hulk Hogan touched at least at the beginning turned to gold,” Styles said. “But it didn’t obviously, because I don’t think he knew the roster that was in front of him and that was the problem. The names, the people who were the “brand names” of TNA that they had no idea who they were. If they didn’t know who they were they just did whatever they wanted with it. They wanted me to dye my hair blonde and be ‘Little Ric’ and just because they didn’t know me. Instead of being Ric Flair I needed to be AJ Styles with Ric Flair. Being with Ric I’ll hopefully get the rub from Ric there is no doubt about that and Fortune could have been great but they broke up Fortune a little bit too early and we were really getting some steam and they broke us up and noting came about it.

Styles feels Hogan didn’t use his many mainstream media appearances to promote TNA, instead discussing his personal turmoils. Styles believes that Hogan was embarrassed by TNA, and purposely didn’t talk about it much with the media.

“It was things like that that got weird, and Hogan seemed like he didn’t have much to do with TNA and seemed like he was embarrassed of the show because he never said anything about TNA at all,” Styles cotinued. “Even when he was on shows he just never mentioned it. I believe that he was ashamed of what was on TV. I believe if TNA were doing a lot better he would have been a lot more gung-ho about saying a lot more about it but he didn’t say a word and it bothered me but thinking back I understand it now.”

Styles has been on the injured list since 11/24 due to a bulging disc in his lower back.

Related: Recap Of Hulk Hogan On Ric Flair’s Podcast: “TNA Had Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen”

AJ Styles appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to clear the air about the rumors of his injuries keeping him from competing at ROH’s Final Battle and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 10. Other topics discussed include whether or not he’s been contacted by WWE, the infamous Claire Lynch angle in TNA, if he would work for Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling and much more. You can listen to the full episode at Podomatic.com. Here are some highlights:

Has there been a pursued interest by WWE to get you into NXT and join both Samoa Joe and James Storm:

“I haven’t had a call from someone who wants to hire me so nothing really and I’m okay with that and that’s not a big deal to me. I think it’s more of the fans wanting something like this to happen than what I am wanting to happen. I want to be able to retire in a couple of years so I am going to go wherever that takes me. But I have no problem doing the Independents, I love it. I have a great time on the Indies. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities to wrestle a lot of great wrestlers.  Also doing Ring of Honor and Japan that’s a good combination. ”

Before you retire do you even want a full time spot in NXT since that seems to be the gateway to superstardom in the WWE: 

“Like I said before, I want to support my family and I am going to go wherever that takes me. Would I like to have a “WrestleMania moment”? Sure. But I am very content with having a “Wrestle Kingdom moment” in front of 60,000 fans. I think that is pretty awesome walking down that long ramp of the Tokyo Dome in probably one of the bigger matches on the show. There is probably a couple other people out there that want to do the same thing.”

On the botched and now infamous Claire Lynch Saga in TNA:

“You’ve got to understand that it was going to be a great storyline and the little things that needed to be in the story to make it work weren’t. “Claire” had to be the niece of Dixie Carter, that was very important. Because why would AJ care? I would never stick my neck out for someone who was a family friend because what’s that got to do with me? Why would you just help them. Where if it was her (Dixie’s) niece that the key would be to keep her from bad publicity and I’ll make sure that no one knows about it. That was a big deal and also Claire had to be smoking hot. I mean unbelievably hot, to the point where you go “wow, if AJ did have sex with her I don’t blame him”. That’s what we needed to have but it was quite the opposite. So it was the little things that destroyed that momentum that we had and people thought I may be with Dixie and it was a great thing and we had all that momentum and “this Claire” comes out and screws it all up.”

How he approached the Hogan/Bischoff ERA in TNA and his reaction to Hulk Hogan’s lack of enthusiasm to promote TNA on outside media appearances: 

“First of all, I just tried to stay positive. Pretty much anything Hulk Hogan touched at least at the beginning turned to gold. But it didn’t obviously because I don’t think he knew the roster that was in front of him and that was the problem. The names, the people who were the “brand names” of TNA that they had no idea who they were. If they didn’t know who they were they just did whatever they wanted with it. They wanted me to dye my hair blonde and be “Little Ric” and just because they didn’t know me. Instead of being Ric Flair I needed to be AJ Styles with Ric Flair. Being with Ric I’ll hopefully get the rub from Ric there is no doubt about that and Fortune could have been great but they broke up Fortune a little bit too early and we were really getting some steam and they broke us up and noting came about it. It was things like that that got weird and Hogan seemed like he didn’t have much to do with TNA and seemed like he was embarrassed of the show because he never said anything about TNA at all. Even when he was on shows he just never mentioned it. I believe that he was ashamed of what was on TV. I believe if TNA were doing a lot better he would have been a lot more gung-ho about saying a lot more about it but he didn’t say a word and it bothered me but thinking back I understand it now.”

Has Jeff Jarrett approached AJ about joining Global Force Wrestling and his relationship with Jeff:

“It’s a good relationship. I think a lot of Jeff. He put me on top in TNA, we’ve had our weird moments with Jeff being the boss but for the most part it’s very positive and I’ll never forget what Jeff has done for me and gave me an opportunity and gave me a stage to make AJ Styles a name. We had talked about it (competing in GFW) when it was first getting started but with Ring of Honor and New Japan I had no time for pretty much anything else. Just schedule wise it never really came about that I could be on it. ”

AJ Styles full career is chronicled in a FULL ONE HOUR interview with TMPToW. He covers all his feuds in TNA, NJPW, ROH and so much more. 

Former IWGP Champion AJ Styles missed yet another New Japan World Tag League tournament match today in Fukuoka, Japan. His team with Yujiro Takahashi forfeited their second match, this time to the team of Michael Bennett and Matt Taven.

Styles has been on the sidelines since last working on November 24th due to a bulging disc in his lower back. According to those in Japan, his injury appears to be very serious, with the description being that he seems to be in great pain with any movement.

AJ Styles went into the current tour injured after missing ROH bookings to rest up for the tour. The 38-year-old star has yet to return home, as he has major matches scheduled over the next several weeks. After the current NJPW tournament wraps up on December 9th, he has an ROH Title match against Jay Lethal booked for ROH Final Battle in Philadelphia, as well as an Intercontinental Title match against Shinsuke Nakamura at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom event at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th.

According to F4WOnline.com, Styles is resting and rehabbing as best as he can right now, and New Japan is being patient and not pressuring him to come back early.

• Photo: First Picture Of Ronda Rousey Since Being KO’d At UFC 193 …

It appears that the injury that has sidelined former IWGP and TNA Champion AJ Styles from the recent New Japan Pro Wrestling shows is the same one that kept him off of the recent set of Ring Of Honor television tapings.

Styles is reportedly dealing with a lower back issue, one that limited him to a non-wrestling appearance at last month’s ROH TV tapings. He took some time off to heal up for the NJPW Tag League, but has been held out of several days worth of shows. Styles continues to travel to the shows, however, as he has been spotted arriving at the venues by fans.

Styles told New Japan’s bi-monthly magazine that the injury he is dealing with was caused by overworking himself on the independent scene in 2015.

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Former IWGP Champion AJ Styles was pulled from his scheduled booking at the New Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag League event on Saturday due to an undisclosed injury. The severity of the injury is also unknown at this time.

For what it’s worth, Styles also missed some time last month, including a set of Ring Of Honor television tapings, due to a back injury.

Styles did, however, inform fans that he would be ready to go for the ROH Final Battle pay-per-view in December, where he is scheduled to go one-on-one with Jay Lethal.

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Although there has been speculation regarding AJ Styles and WWE after WWE.com linked to Styles in a web feature recently, as of this past Monday, the company had not made any contact with Styles.

The video feature, which you can check out here, was about recognizable talents that worked in WWE in the past that fans might not know about. In the video, you can see Styles work a match against The Hurricane.

Styles actually worked three matches for WWE between 2001 and 2002. He won a dark match at a RAW taping in Atlanta, Georgia over Rick Michaels on July 9, 2001, and lost to The Hurricane and Rico in dark matches at RAW and SmackDown tapings in South Carolina on January 21 and January 22 of 2002.

Styles’ current deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling is scheduled to expire after the Tokyo Dome event in January, and he has made it clear that he plans to go wherever he is offered the most money.

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(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– This past Sunday marked the ten year anniversary of WWE Hall Of Famer Eddie Guerrero’s final pro wrestling match. You can watch the complete Guerrero vs. Mr. Kennedy match above.

– WWE’s official Twitter account posted a link to a new WWE.com article dealing with surprise Superstar appearances in the past. Oddly enough, the one name WWE used to promote the article on social media was AJ Styles. Check it out below.

.@AJStylesOrg appeared in @WWE?!? Watch surprising stars compete in the squared circle! https://t.co/1Osk0dELml pic.twitter.com/v65Spbgjlw

— WWE (@WWE) November 8, 2015

– WWE Diva Paige will be the guest on Emma’s “Taste Of Tenille” cooking show on YouTube this week. Emma posted the following tweet to promote the show.

My guest on tomorrow's https://t.co/DYBjT74LMP… Last clue.. It's a tough one! ? @RealPaigeWWE they'll never guess! pic.twitter.com/wgVJJts3vb

— Tenille Dashwood (@TenilleDashwood) November 8, 2015

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WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins appeared on CBS Radio Dallas 105.3 THE FAN last week to promote WWE RAW in the city and during the interview, Rollins commented on possibly having a match with AJ Styles.

“I don’t talk to AJ on the regular, but I think he’s doing pretty alright in New Japan [Pro-Wrestling’s] Bullet Club and Ring Of Honor, so he [has] made a great career for himself just doing his thing, doing AJ.,” said Rollins.

“I mean, he’s someone I’d love to work with, especially at this stage of our careers. I think we’re pretty much at the top of our games, so it’d be cool, but you never know.”

Check out the complete interview at CBSLocal.com.

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Former TNA World Champion AJ Styles recently appeared as a guest on The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond podcast at Play.it, and during the discussion, Styles spoke about the possibility of joining NXT.

“At this point in my career, I’m going to go do what’s best for my family and I want to do what’s best to provide for them,” said Styles. “So, the business that we’re in, [if] the business could be better somewhere else, then that’s where I’m going to go. That’s what I’m going to do. So, like I said, it’s a business plan. Wherever the plan takes me, that’s where I’ll go.”

Later in the interview, Taz asked Styles about the possibility of going to CMLL in Mexico to wrestle Rey Mysterio.

“I’d like to wrestle Rey, Rey Mysterio, before he retires,” said Styles. “I think we could have a pretty cool match and it would be a pretty big match, the two of us, so I’d probably get that done.”

Styles continued, “I would imagine you would have to come off the hip with some money for Rey, but it would be fun! It depends where we do it. The problem is he works for AAA and I work for New Japan and New Japan works for CMLL, or works with CMLL, so that’s the big dilemma. It would have to be an independent [show] for us to meet.”

• WWE Looking To Book Ronda Rousey For Future Stone Cold Podcast! Full Story Here!

Former TNA and current Ring Of Honor performer Frankie Kazarian recently appeared as a guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On The Addiction as a team and working with Christopher Daniels: “It is hard to put in one short answer. The guy is my best friend, I’ve known him for pretty much the better part of the 17 years of my career. It’s great having somebody that you can rely on not just in the context of a wrestling match but also on the road, traveling here and there. We are best friends, tag team partners, our train of thought is very similar when it comes to wrestling matches and the whole business. It’s a real confidence booster knowing he’s there and takes a lot of stress off knowing how professional he is and knowing where we both are going to need to be. It’s almost like we are on cruise-control at this point, we know each other so well. When it comes to tag team wrestling all those thing make an awesome package.”

On being revealed as the KRD, what makes this story different: “If I can say that one thing Ring of Honor is not lacking, but is not necessarily focused on is angles like the KRD one and Ring of Honor is top notch in every aspect, especially match quality and there is nothing to compare it to. But, angles being played out like that is something you necessarily saw a lot on Ring of Honor previously and being a fan of cool well put together angles I was psyched to be a part of it. I was thrilled to become tag team champions that way and I hope that now on Destination America we can continue to do some outside-of-the-box kind of things in terms of Ring of Honor’s previous business model.”

On if he prefers to work babyface or heel: “Without question we are in our wheel-house when are bad guys. The act really got some steam when we were doing dastardly things over in TNA in 2012. It really fits our personalities so much better portraying the bad guys, it’s just right and it’s us. We got a lot of real positive reactions when we came to Ring of Honor and I think because people were happy to see us but after a while it’s going to wear off and if any team is going to be the working heels and the bad guys of the company I can’t think of anyone better then Chris Daniels and myself.”

On working Samoa Joe’s final Ring of Honor match in NYC with AJ Styles and Daniels: “Those three gentleman stood up with me at my wedding. That says it all right there. Those are three guys that I’ve traveled with and known longer than anyone else in the business and are my three best friends in the business. We all have come up together, all of our families know each other so it was a very special moment. The match we knew match quality wise was going to be there but it was afterwards really taking it in and I got to share the ring one last time with my three best friends in the business for Ring of Honor especially it was really cool and I was very aware because I used to take moments like that in my career for granted. The whole day was a great moment, especially after the match when Ring of Honor gave Joe the sendoff that he so richly deserved.

Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

• MMANEWS.COM: LIVE Coverage Of UFC 190 TONIGHT With RONDA ROUSEY vs. Bethe Correia!

Ring Of Honor issued a press release on Monday to announce the official date of their next pay-per-view event.

Below is details on the show, including a list of talent scheduled to work the event:

ROH returns to Pay Per View with ALL STAR EXTRAVAGANZA

The Best Wrestling on the Planet, Ring of Honor, returns to live Pay Per View on Friday Night September 18 with All Star Extravaganza VII. This even will emanate from historic San Antonio at the Shrine Auditorium.

With the fall-out from our recent Death Before Dishonor XIII iPPV now in the rear-view mirror, all roads will lead to San Antonio and All Star Extravaganza VII. Will Jay Lethal make it to this event as dual ROH World & ROH World Champion? Will Roderick Strong be knocking on the door for another chance? Will Jay Briscoe be looking for his rematch? Kyle O’Reilly is telling anyone who listens that he has Jay Lethal’s number! And do not forget Bobby Fish’s recent win now declares him the #1 contender to the ROH World Television Championship! This is just a sample of the excitement heading towards All Star Extravaganza XIII. If you are in San Antonio, you will not want to miss out on the chance to witness the best wrestlers on the planet collide!

Ring of Honor is bringing a jam-packed lineup to San Antonio, Texas to celebrate a truly unique event. The stars in Texas sky will shine bright, but they will pale in compassion to the stars signed for this live Pay Per View event. This is an event you cannot afford to miss!

RING OF HONOR STARS SIGNED TO APPEAR

ROH World & World TV Champion Jay Lethal w/ Truth Martini
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Addiction
“Phenomenal” AJ Styles
Jay & Mark Briscoe
#Reborn Matt Sydal
Roderick Strong
The Young Bucks
reDRagon
Adam Cole
The Kingdom (Bennett & Taven) w/ Maria
Moose
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin

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Ring Of Honor TV Results
Taped at Ted Reeve arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Aired on June 25, 2015 on Destination America
Report by ProWrestling.net

[Q1] The opening montage aired… A graphic touted the replay of the Best in the World 2015 pay-per-view… The broadcast team of Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, and Nigel McGuinness spoke at ringside about BITW being in the rearview mirror without getting into any specifics since this show was taped long before the June 19 pay-per-view…

1. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong. Nakamura was over huge and he shook hands with Strong before the match. The “ROH On Tour” graphic listed upcoming dates as the match got underway. Nakamura controlled the bulk of the early offense. He took Strong to ringside and threw him over the barricade, then pulled him back over heading into the break. [C]

Coming out of the break, Strong and Nakamura traded blows in mid-ring. Nakamura got the better of it by knocking Strong down with a shot, but Strong got up and tagged Nakamura with a shot of his own. String performed a couple of running knees and then performed a double knee to the back of Nakamura for a two count. Strong set up for the Strong Hold, but Nakamura countered into a sleeper. Strong got back to his feet, but Nakamura put him down with a backstabber. Strong came back and targeted the lower back of Nakamura and got a two count.

[Q2] Nakamura came back with a leap off the second rope and a knee to the head of Strong. Roddy came back with another double knee gut buster. He applied the Strong Hold a short time later, but Nakamura reached the ropes to break the hold. Strong came back with a clothesline and a brainbuster for a very good near fall. Strong continued his offensive flurry with a big knee, but Nakamura caught a charging Strong with a kick and then pinned him clean…

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Roderick Strong.

2. Michael Elgin vs Gedo. Elgin and Gedo shook hands before the bell. Elgin ducked a charging Gedo and then powered out of his go behind waist lock. Strong held up Gedo for a long standing suplex and got a two count. Strong missed a flip off the second rope when Gedo moved. Gedo used striking to get a two count. Elgin came back with a buckle bomb and then performed a powerbomb to get the clean win…

Michael Elgin defeated Gedo.

Kelly hyped the main event heading into the break…

[Q3] [C] Mandy Leon hosted the Inside ROH segment and focussed on the ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling relationship… Ring entrances for the main event took place… [C]

3. A.J. Styles and The Young Bucks (w/Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero, and Trent Berretta. Kelly said the goal of The Bullet Club members was to soften up Okada heading into his match with Styles in Japan. Styles and The Bucks isolated Berretta in their corner throughout the opening minutes of the match.

[Q4] [C] Berretta made a tag to Romero, who eventually tagged in Okada at the same time Styles was in the ring. Okada got the better of Styles while they were in the ring together. The Vice members worked over Matt Jackson and performed a knee to the head into a Doomsday Device on the floor. Crazy.

Styles and Okada ended up going at it in the ring again. Styles went for the Styles Clash, but Okada countered into a tombstone, which was really cool. Later, Styles and The Bucks ended up working over Romero. Berretta made a blind tag and broke up More Bang For Your Buck. Okada and the Vice members performed rapid fire moves on Matt Jackson, but Styles hit Okada with a springboard forearm. Styles had Berretta up for a Styles Clash, but Okada broke it up.

The fans chanted “this is awesome” as all six men recovered form the previous sequence. They all traded shots, and Styles and The Bucks hit simultaneous superkicks. Okada fought all three men until they hit him with a combined double superkick and Pele Kick. Styles and The Bucks teamed up for the Meltzer Driver. Styles held him up in Styles Clash position, the Bucks performed a double superkick on Berretta, and then Styles performed the Styles Clash and pinned him…

BRAND NEW PHOTO GALLERY: Ronda Rousey In Skimpy Bikinis & Tight Outfits