AJ Styles was a gamer in wrestling before it was cool.
For several years, AJ Styles has self-identified as a gamer. Through the years, he has been featured in several wrestling video games, making his debut in the one and only TNA Wrestling game, iMPACT! from 2008. AJ Styles was even featured on the cover of WWE 2K19, which was released ten years after he made his video game debut.
With WWE 2K22 coming soon, AJ Styles is prepared to be featured and get another WWE video game experience. Styles was asked about the video game in an interview with Sean Ross Sapp before the WWE Royal Rumble event in St Louis.
Thinking about whether he has input on his in character model, AJ said that all he really has to do is get scanned as 2K already has a vision for what they want.
“Pretty much zero,” Styles said of his input on his in-game model. "They go, ‘Hey, can you stand there and let us scan you?’ ‘Yep.’ That’s about it.”
He continued, "Well, the thing is they already have the way that they’re gonna do it. They know exactly what they want. The fans, they want a certain kind of game that’s built like that. Hey, all the power to you. I’m a big fan of No Mercy on the Nintendo 64. That’s where I stand.”
Sean Ross Sapp then asked if AJ Styles had ever played Saturday Night Slam Masters and AJ said he wasn't a big fan of the arcade-style gameplay.
"Yeah, you can do a body slam here or there, but it wasn’t wrestling. It was made by Capcom, who made Street Fighter, and so it was more of a fighting game. You could hit the ropes, but it still wasn’t the same. Wasn’t a big fan."
As far as other wrestling games AJ Styles is fond of, he would mention King of Colosseum, and other Japanese exclusives.
“King of Colosseum. Do you remember that? That was a really cool game. I really enjoyed that one. It was hard to figure out, but nothing will compare to Virtual Pro Wrestling 2, which was an All-Japan Wrestling game.”
AJ Styles is one of many wrestlers included in the upcoming WWE 2K22 video game which will be released on March 11 and on March 8 for those who pre-order the Deluxe Editions.
Fightful Gaming will continue to provide updates on the upcoming video game as they are made available. You can check out a full list of roster members and their in-game overalls here.
