AJ Styles is one of the most recognized, well-traveled wrestlers in the world. But he once wanted to wrestle in a mask.
And he wanted to be called Velocity.
Don't worry, he realizes what a mistake that would have been.
“I wanted to wear a mask! I loved those guys (luchadors). I’m so glad that didn’t happen," he told Bailey & Southside on 100.5 FM in Atlanta. "I wanted to wear a mask and call myself ‘Velocity’. What a terrible name.”
Speaking of names, he wasn't always called AJ Styles. He didn't even choose it himself. No, Allen Neal Jones was given the name by a promoter, and he wasn't too pleased with it.
“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.”
So many wrestlers who make a name for themselves elsewhere don't even get to use that name once they get to WWE. But not AJ.
“AJ 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 (gone) 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.”
AJ Styles was one of the six competitors in the Money In The Bank match that took place last Sunday.
You can watch the entire interview below.
