AJ Styles On Hating "Styles" Name At First, If WWE Wanted To Change His Name, First Idea For Gimmick
Former WWE Champion AJ Styles was recently a guest on Atlanta, Georgia's Rock 100.5's Bailey And Southside program. Among other things, Styles shared his first idea for his professional wrestling character, how he got the name 'Styles' as a ring name, and whether WWE wanted to change his ring name for WWE programming.
During the interview, Styles divulged his very first idea for his own pro wrestling persona. Given 'The Phenomenal One”s aerial artistry, he wanted to be a luchador called 'Velocity'.
"I wanted to wear a mask! I loved those [luchadors]. I'm so glad that didn't happen." Styles continued, "I wanted to wear a mask and call myself 'Velocity'. What a terrible name."
According to Styles, he was given the last name 'Styles' by a pro wrestling promoter on the spot and it stuck. Apparently, 'The Georgia Bulldog' hated the name.
"I didn't have a name. Everybody always called me 'AJ' anyway, so I stuck with AJ. And then, [the promoter] is like, 'yeah, you're tagging with Damien Still. We need a last name. Styles! Go!' That's it. That's how the name [came] about. AJ Styles. I hated it. I hated Styles for a really long time."
Also, the one-time 'Air' Styles said he would have changed his ring name if WWE wanted him to, but using his name has worked out best for everyone
"[WWE] didn't say anything about changing it. I just assumed it would probably happen, but a year prior, maybe a couple of months prior, Samoa Joe had went to NXT and they didn't change his name, so I thought, 'well, maybe there's a chance'. But, at the same time, I was like, 'ah, I don't care what they call me, Velocity, if you want to call me that, whatever.' But I'm glad they stuck with AJ Styles and it actually worked out for everybody."
Check out the interview here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Rock 100.5's Bailey and Southside with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Bailey And Southside