Tag: AJ Styles

WWE Star AJ Styles To Face Japanese Legend At Upcoming Pro Wrestling NOAH Event

Pro Wrestling NOAH teased a major announcement throughout last week, and the details have finally come to light. “The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles will return to Japan this summer to face Naomichi Marufuji at the company’s Destination event on July 13. The news was revealed via a video announcement from this weekend’s NOAH Grand Ship event.

“This is WWE Superstar, the Phenomenal AJ Styles, and I am here to announce that I will be coming to Japan to face Japanese legend Marufuji at the Budokon for the NOAH event on July 13,” Styles said in the announcement.

Styles revealed that he’s familiar with his opponent’s work and understands how talented he is as a performer. However, the WWE Superstar fully intends to pick up the victory, though he hopes it’s in a show-stealing match. “You’ve been doing this a long time, and your resume speaks for itself, but I’m not coming to Japan to lose. Let’s tear the house down on July 13.”

This isn’t the first time both companies have worked together. WWE star Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Keiji Mutoh at a NOAH event in 2023, marking the beginning of their working relationship. Elsewhere, WWE has entered into an agreement with Marigold that will see former Women’s Champion IYO SKY visit Japan to face Utami Hayashishita at Rossy Ogawa’s promotion’s Summer Destiny event, which also takes place on July 13. This also comes after WWE’s recent collaborations with TNA Wrestling, suggesting that the sports entertainment giant is open to more cross-promotional opportunities.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AJ Styles Returns, Attacks Roman Reigns (But Also LA Knight) On WWE SmackDown

After LA Knight defied Randy Orton’s wishes, expressed near the beginning of Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown,” by coming down the ramp to thwart an attack from Solo Sikoa, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns took matters into his own hands, smashing Knight and hitting the ring to attack Orton.

AJ Styles Returns, Attacks Roman Reigns (But Also LA Knight) On WWE SmackDown
Christian Bertrand/Shutterstock
BY JON JORDAN/DEC. 15, 2023 10:41 PM EST
After LA Knight defied Randy Orton’s wishes, expressed near the beginning of Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown,” by coming down the ramp to thwart an attack from Solo Sikoa, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns took matters into his own hands, smashing Knight and hitting the ring to attack Orton.

And then AJ Styles’ music hit.

“The Phenomenal One” emerged through the WWE Universe, dressed all in black, and hit “The Tribal Chief” with a Phenomenal Forearm. But what looked to be a simple evening up of the numbers game — as well as Styles exacting revenge by association for Sikoa’s taking him out last we saw him — turned sideways when the leader of The OC turned his attention toward Knight, obliterating him with a clothesline. Styles then exited the ring and walked past the battered Bloodline, all of whom ogled him awkwardly as he went to the back without any further interaction.

Orton, who challenged Reigns earlier in the night for the Universal Championship, looked confused as most onlookers probably felt throughout these events and once Knight came to off the mat, he looked equal parts perplexed and livid while staring down the departing Styles. Though there’s no official answer as of yet to Orton’s challenge, it seems reasonable that an Orton/Reigns bout will take place at Royal Rumble and now possibly Knight and Styles as well.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Tribute To The Troops Preview 12/8/2023, CM Punk, AJ Styles

WWE SmackDown’s Tribute to the Troops special will air live tonight on FOX from the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island.

AJ Styles Reportedly Set To Return To WWE SmackDown This Friday

This week’s “WWE SmackDown” promises to be a star-studded show, with Randy Orton now an official member of the blue brand, while CM Punk will be making his first “SmackDown” appearance in nine years. However, it appears that another former WWE Champion is also expected to turn up, as AJ Styles is set to return to television on Friday, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio.”

Styles was originally supposed to be back on television a couple weeks ago, but those plans ended up being scrapped. However, Styles is now back in the mix, with the veteran star returning just in time to kickstart the Road to WrestleMania. The “Phenomenal One” has been out of action since the start of September, written off after he was attacked backstage. That took him out of the Fastlane tag team match where he was originally set to team with John Cena, eventually being replaced by LA Knight.

Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso were the men responsible for his attack, therefore Styles could end up plugged back into that storyline working against The Bloodline, but that is unknown. Roman Reigns currently doesn’t have an opponent for the upcoming Royal Rumble, and while Orton has been discussed for that role, the creative team is also considering other ideas — possibly opening the door for Styles. It remains to be seen if Styles’ return will also lead to The Good Brothers coming back, which could help with the numbers game against The Bloodline. However, Luke Gallows has been on the sidelines after getting his knee scoped, so it will likely depend on his recovery.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AJ Styles Confirms He Suffered A Broken Ankle

AJ Styles has issued a statement on his injury status. 

The former WWE Champion teamed with Karl Anderson, & Mia Yim vs. Finn Balor, Damian Priest, & Rhea Ripley at Thursday’s house show in Hershey, PA. 

It ended shortly after Styles suffered an ankle injury, and he had to be helped to the backstage area. 

Styles issued the following statement today, noting that he has a broken ankle but won’t need surgery: 

“Just want you guys to know that I’m ok. Broken ankle is what I’m dealing with. No surgery, this just takes some time to recover. This will be the longest I’ve ever been out of the ring. Thanks for the prayers and get well wishes.”

Source: ewrestlingnews

AJ Styles Injured At WWE Live Event

Reports came out last night that AJ Styles suffered an injury during a live event in Hershey, Pennsylvania, as part of WWE’s holiday tour and PWInsider has confirmed that it is 100 percent legitimate, and isn’t part of any storyline. The situation is “likely” an ankle injury and the former WWE Champion is expected to be getting the situation checked out ASAP, but until that has taken place there is no way of knowing how serious it is, or how long he will be out of action. 

It was noted that Styles was having issues putting weight onto his left foot after the match, and he did have to be walked by WWE officials to get him to the back. Footage online from fans in attendance showcased the “X” symbol being flashed by the referee, which is the universal sign of a real injury in the wrestling business. 

Styles had been part of a six-man match that saw The O.C. (Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) compete against The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio), but it had to be stopped as a result of the injury. As of late, the Phenomenal One has been feuding against Balor and the rest of his group, with the two factions being at war which initially began because Styles didn’t want to join forces with his former friend, Balor. 

Neither Styles nor any other member of The O.C. has made any official comments about the situation, but further updates will come once Styles has been checked. He was originally expected to be facing Seth Rollins tonight at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada, but that is now likely to be changed. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tama Tonga Invites AJ Styles To NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, Vows To Dethrone Karl Anderson

Karl Anderson will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against Tama Tonga in two weeks at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17. This will be the first time that a WWE-contracted talent wrestles on the show.

Tonga took to Twitter to invite Styles to the Tokyo Dome show so that The OC Leader can watch The Good Bad Guy “smash” the WWE Superstar at the venue. He wrote,

“AJ can come too. He can watch me smash his boy. ( still got love for you #PhenomenalOne ) #Wrestlekingdom17 – January 4, 2023 #AndNew #NeverOpenWeightChampion.”

Earlier this year, Anderson defeated Tonga to win the NEVER Openweight Title at NJPW Dominion. It will be interesting to see if Anderson can retain the title in his second outing with Tonga come January 4th.

Source: ewrestlingnews

The Good Brothers Return To WWE On Monday Night RAW, Karl Anderson NJPW Update

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, known together as the Good Brothers, made their return to the WWE last night.

A lot of familiar faces have been finding their way back to the WWE within the last few months. Some of these names include Johnny Gargano, Sarah Logan, Dexter Lumis, Candice LeRae, and, most recently, Bray Wyatt.

Last night, two more former WWE superstars returned to the company: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, known together as the Good Brothers. Rumors flew about earlier in the day saying that the pair would be re-signing with WWE, but those rumors came to fruition much faster than anyone expected.

Finn Balor’s Judgment Day stable stood in the ring to cut a promo. Balor called out AJ Styles and told him to come to the ring; for the past few weeks, Balor had been recruiting Styles to Judgment Day with no success. Styles came to the ring and pretended to accept Finn’s offer. In reality, though, he was reintroducing his good friends and teammates, Gallows and Anderson.

They were among the crowd released due to “budget cuts” in 2020.

During their time away from WWE, Gallows and Anderson competed in AEW, IMPACT, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. They won the IMPACT Tag Team Championships. In NJPW, Karl Anderson won the NEVER Openweight Championship and is technically still billed as champion. He was supposed to defend at Battle Autumn on November 5.

NJPW updated the Battle Autumn card following The Good Brothers’ WWE re-debut, but not because Anderson needed to be removed from it. The Never Openweight title defense against Hikuleo remains, and according to Wrestling Observer, it will go ahead as planned. The show takes place in Osaka, Japan on the same day as WWE’s Crown Jewel, so don’t expect to see The Good Brothers on the first Saudi show without Vince McMahon in charge.

This clearly wasn’t a case of Gallows and Anderson showing up in WWE without permission, nor the pair finding a loophole or keeping a title in their possession after their contracts lapsed. NJPW has retweeted WWE’s clip showing the pair as they rushed to the ring to flank Styles. A deal must have been struck, but the finer details of that deal currently remain unclear.

Gallows and Anderson returning and confirming WWE has some sort of working relationship comes just days after Tony Khan revealed details about a conversation he had with CEO Nick Khan. The AEW owner spoke with Nick in 2021 following reports WWE had spoken to NJPW about working together. Tony called Nick a con man live on Dynamite after being assured by NJPW that no such deal was in place.

Source: TheSportster

Karl Anderson Describes AJ Styles Reaction To Drinking Beer

The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) joined SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio for an hour-long discussion.

Karl Anderson reflected on the night they were the headline dark match at Madison Square Garden with WWE in September 2019. After the bout, there was an in-ring segment involving “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and AJ Styles, which resulted in Styles asking Anderson if he should drink the beer handed to him.

“When we got to do The Garden and the dark main event — this is a good story,” Anderson said. “We’re in there with ‘Stone Cold; Steve Austin, me, Gallows, and AJ [Styles]. ‘Stone Cold’ hands AJ a beer. AJ doesn’t drink, and AJ looks at us and AJ goes, ‘shall I drink this?’ and I go, ‘yeah, just have a sip.’ He takes the sip, he takes the Stunner, and people react. We get to the back and he looks at us and he goes, ‘you guys lied to me. That is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted in my life! How do y’all drink those things?’”

Luke Gallows discussed the Boneyard Match between AJ Styles and The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36. Gallows noted The Deadman cut open his arm when smashing the window of the hearse. It resulted in filming being stopped every few minutes to attend to the wound.

“I remember at the time, I remember us saying – because AJ was our best buddy, like, it’s hard not to be in a stadium with a match like that,” Gallows said. “They wanted that. They deserved 80,000 people and they didn’t have it. So everyone made the best of a rotten situation and the match was cool as sh*t, I thought.

“You talk about an old-school badass dude too at the very beginning of that, because it took all night to shoot it. He punches the window out of the hearse, right? And his arm is bleeding profusely. You can see tendons. A lot of people – Karl would have quit. I mean every fifteen minutes we would stop, ice, towel, hold it on to get the bleeding to stop. Alright, let’s start going. For 8-9 hours just bleeding.”

Source: Wrestling Inc – credit SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio 

AJ Styles Reportedly Has Agreed To A New “Big Money” Contract With WWE

AJ Styles reportedly signed a multi-million dollar contract with WWE.

It was recently reported that Styles signed a new multi-year contract with WWE. In an update, Fightful Select reports that Styles landed more than $3 million per year when all was said and done.

Styles also had some additional bus travel accommodations paid for by WWE with this new contract.

A WWE source noted that Styles “deserved every penny” and that he would “easily make that back for the company.”

Styles’ original WWE contract was set to expire in the spring/summer and would have had him hit free agency for the first time since leaving NJPW before he signed with WWE in January 2016. WWE officials expected Styles to have plenty of suitors, and word is that as was the case with some other big names in the company, WWE wanted to get AJ’s deal extended before he could even hit free agency and talk to any other promotions.

Styles is said to be very happy in WWE, and has mentioned in multiple interviews how he’d like to work for WWE when his in-ring career is over. He recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman last month about signing a new deal with WWE.

“It was easy. I want to be here, this is the place for me,” AJ said. “If they let me I will retire here, I hope to work in WWE in some capacity when I retire. I enjoy what I do.”

Styles also talked to Hausman about what he would like to do after his in-ring career, admitting that a role similar to that of WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels would be great.

“I would love to have that opportunity. I love to see people be successful, and having a hand in that to me, it would probably be the best thing I could do in my career. But, I don’t that I’ll get that opportunity, I am just saying,” he said.

Styles has been a key part of the WWE main roster since his debut with the company six years ago at the Royal Rumble 2016 pay-per-view. Styles has done it all for WWE, shining as a main event star/WWE Champion, mid-card star and tag team performer.

The future WWE Hall of Famer had the fortunes of facing The Undertaker in the latter’s final wrestling match. They faced off in a cinematic “Boneyard” bout for Day 1 of WrestleMania 36, which The Phenom won. Styles is just one of 15 Grand Slam Champions in WWE history, and he’s also part of the promotion’s Triple Crown club (WWE, Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion).

Source: Wrestling Inc. and TheSportster