AJ Styles says he wondered how much John Cena knew of him when they first wrestled each other.
After AJ Styles’ stunning WWE debut in 2016, it wasn’t long before he was standing across the ring from John Cena. With ‘The Phenomenal One’ having come from successful spells in both TNA and New Japan respectively, many never thought we’d ever see the two icons clash in the ring, but the pair shared a trilogy of memorable matches within around 12 months of Styles coming into the company. Now, the star has looked back on wrestling John Cena for the first time.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Undisputed, Styles discussed feeling unsure on how much John Cena knew of him before their first match, particularly as it’s hard to keep up with the wider wrestling world from inside the WWE bubble.
“When you’re in the WWE bubble, it’s very difficult to keep up with anything else, so I wondered how familiar he was with it. My thinking is that, over time, he heard more and did more research. Before our first match, he told me that he was trying to find stuff on me to cut a promo, but he couldn’t really find much. I’m assuming a lot of his research came from the Bullet Club, and that’s what he knew about it.”
-AJ Styles
Giving a nod to Styles’ past before their most final match together, John Cena instructed Alicia Taylor to announce his Crown Jewel opponent as ‘The definition of Total Nonstop Action’ and ‘The ace and total boss of the Bullet Club’. On this, AJ recently revealed the custom ring introduction was a total surprise to him. You can read more about that here.
Similarly, Styles previously told Justin Barrasso there may not be anyone he trusts more in the ring than Cena. You can read more about that here.
Regarding getting to WWE in the first place, Styles has credited his time with NJPW for helping him become who he wanted to be. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on AJ Styles and John Cena as we hear more.
