Over the weekend, the company inducted their Hall of Fame class, and now we know that it was AJ Styles-not WWE-that turned down the TNA honor.
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The weekend has come and gone, and TNA has inducted it’s first class into it’s fresh Hall of Fame. The company does have quite a few major stars working outside of it’s walls, so to speak. Meaning, TNA had no shortage of talent to call upon for the inaugural class. One name that many likely would have loved to see? WWE Superstar AJ Styles. And, over the weekend, we had heard that, per Fightful, WWE declined the offer.
Turns out that it was AJ
Styles took to his social media to clarify things just a bit. According to the Phenomenal One himself, it was he who declined the offer to be in the first class. And the former champion explained why, simply saying that he didn’t want to be in any Hall of Fame while he was still actively wrestling. Styles posted it in response to a fan who was assuming that Triple H and WWE prevented Styles from being honored. Which, being honest, does not sound at all like the current regime.
Here’s AJ’s comment:
My thoughts? Honestly, I love it. While WWE has had some Hall of Famers come back, some rubbed me the wrong way. Not that anyone cared. But like, inducting a still active Rey Mysterio never made sense to me. Yes, Mysterio was and is a Hall of Fame Superstar. Just, it’s bizarre to me to induct someone still actually wrestling. It would be like inducting Aaron Rodgers (NFL, in case you don’t follow every sport). Everyone knows he will get to the hall. But everyone also knows he is still active.
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I get the corner cases. Edge and Kurt Angle specifically. Both had injuries that ended their WWE careers. Time and new medical procedures changed things and both were able to do more in the ring. Daniel Bryan too, for what it’s worth (though not a Hall of Famer). Sometimes WWE dusts off a HOF performer for a special event, as we’ve seen HBK do. And then we’ve got someone like Goldberg, who came back because why not.
So, I say respect to Styles. He surely knows he is deserving of it and has earned the honor. But he also knows that he wants to enjoy the honor when his wrestling days are over. And as far as he knows, they are not over yet. But when they are, we will see AJ Styles accept that TNA honor.
