AJ Styles Addresses Whether He'd Consider Jumping Ship To AEW

While most people debate whether professional wrestling is a sport or entertainment, AJ Styles has made it clear he's always viewed and treated it as a business that it is. But while some have claimed that AEW pays wrestlers more than WWE does, it appears that the Phenomenal One has no interest in working for WWE's biggest competitor. "I want to be with WWE and as much as I'd like to be with my friends [who are in AEW], this is what I know, this what I know is expected of me, I understand what they need here in WWE, and I want to be a part of it," AJ Styles said during a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, while explaining that he exercised a contract option to extend his current deal and will be staying in WWE.

It's no secret Styles has an impressive résumé. His body of work boasts two reigns as WWE Champion — with his second reign being the ninth-longest in the history of the championship — as well as two reigns as Impact World Champion, the first of which is the second longest in the history of the championship. Styles also has two reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and he won the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. Suffice to say AJ Styles has been at the top of every major company he has wrestled for, and no doubt would be an asset to AEW as well. But his feelings on the matter remain the same as they were in an interview last year with Bleacher Report, in which Styles made it clear that, although there were those who believed otherwise, he was not close to leaving WWE.

"Like I said, this is a business," AJ Styles again explained. "I'm going to go where business is best for AJ Styles...Was it close? I wouldn't say it was close for me."