As he approaches his one-year anniversary as part of the WWE roster, AJ Styles has been in the ring against many of the top competitors on the main roster.
According to a recent interview, though, one opponent stands out above the rest for Styles.
"I just felt like my matches with Roman Reigns set the tone of how AJ Styles was going to be presented in 2016, like this guy who gets after it and has great matches with just about anyone on the roster," Styles told AL.com in advance of the WWE live event in Birmingham, Ala., to be held on January 14.
After an initial storyline with Chris Jericho, Styles has been booked almost exclusively as a heel in subsequent rivalries with Reigns, John Cena, and Dean Ambrose. He admitted during the interview that he "needs to be better about being the bad guy.
"Sometimes I feel like if I'm not getting people to boo me, then I'm not doing my job right. So that's on me. I need to be better about being the bad guy. And sometimes they just refuse. These fans just refuse to accept me as the bad guy. That has a lot to do with how much time I spent outside the WWE and coming here and doing so well, they respect that, I guess you could say. But it's up to me to make sure that these fans find a way to boo me. And I think that when you're in the ring with guys like John Cena where people love to boo him but when you cut a promo the way he did last Tuesday night, you've got to love that. You've got to love the passion that he presents, and that ultimately makes me the bad guy when someone with that passion comes at you like that. It was a really great moment."
Styles also discussed his "wish list" of future opponents, two of whom are also part of the Smackdown roster along with Styles, who is currently the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
"There are so many options for me because I've only been here a year and worked with a certain amount of guys," he said. "Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt and all those guys I'm going to have the opportunity to get in the ring with. And Seth Rollins is on that list as well. That's going to happen. There's no doubt. At some point this year, hopefully there will be another draft. And whatever happens, at some point, before him and I both retire, we're going to see each other in the ring. There's no doubt about it."
To read the complete interview, including who Styles would put on his personal Mount Rushmore for WWE, click here.
