James Ellsworth Says AJ Styles Saved His Life, But Vince McMahon Didn't Want AJ's Bare Ass On TV

James Ellsworth recently participated in a Reddit Ask Me Anything Q&A, where he credited AJ Styles for saving him during their television program in 2016.

In the feud, Styles delivered a Styles Clash to Ellsworth, who took the move wrong. Fortunately for Ellsworth, Styles compensated to make up for it and everything was okay. 

Swerve Strickland Releases "Her Ghost" Music Video

"The Styles thing, I was nervous because I didn't know I was wrestling him. I had "tuck your chin" in muscle memory, so I made a mistake. Definitely a brain fart that could have ended poorly. Afterwards backstage, everything was fine. I thanked AJ for saving my life."

In the past, several wrestlers were injured taking the Styles Clash, tucking their chin instead of taking it like a moonsault. 

The errors in the rivalry were far from done. AJ Styles ripped his pants during a match with Dean Ambrose, which got a much different reaction from Vince McMahon than Ellsworth's performance against Braun Strowman.

Vince McMahon was always cool with me. I didn't speak to him a lot, but he was always good. Two stories -- After the Strowman match, he went out of his way to tell me what a great job I did. I will always remember that. AJ Styles, when he tore his tights in the Ambrose match, I was in the Gorilla position ready to do a run-in, and I remember Vince screaming "GET THE CAMERA OFF HIS ASS, PLEASE!"

Get exclusive pro wrestling content on Fightful Select, our premium news service! Click here to learn more.