AJ Styles Addresses Criticism Of His WWE-Japan Comments

AJ Styles gives more insight into his comments regarding WWE acquiring a company in Japan.

Last week, Styles said that WWE should acquire a wrestling company in Japan. His comments led to criticism from some fans online.

Speaking on the latest edition of The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, Styles provided a clarification on his previous comments. He said his words weren’t directed at NJPW or Hiroshi Tanahashi.

“We hit a freaking bees nest with that one to some guys. Holy cow. I was excited. Did I ever say New Japan Pro Wrestling, I can’t remember… Just a Japanese company, that’s more what I was alluding to. People [are] like, ‘Oh, Tanahashi.’ There ain’t but one Tanahashi. The fact that Japan came out and supported him the way that I did says a lot about that country because [he’s] definitely one of my favorite guys in the wrestling business. Just a heart of gold. So just so you know, I’m not disrespecting my friend, by the way, Tanahashi. You don’t know him like I do. I promise you. I would never disrespect that guy. But hey, people are going to say what they say because they think they know everything about wrestling,” said Styles.

Styles’ co-host, Tony Giles, mentioned reading a report about internal issues in New Japan but did not cite the source.

Styles responded, “So what you’re saying is, I just want to understand you clearly, that New Japan it’s not doing as well as everybody thinks it is. … This is also what I’ve heard, through other people, not on the internet. That’s why I even said what I said because I heard it from, you know firsthand information. But whatever. Internet knows everything. I’ll just keep it at that.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, Styles talked about his biggest fear in WWE. Fans can read his full comment here.

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