AJ Styles Reflects On His Debut At Royal Rumble 2016

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, AJ Styles spoke about his WWE debut at Royal Rumble 2016, in which he entered the Rumble match itself at the #3 spot. Here are highlights:

On debuting at the Royal Rumble: “You have to think about it all. Not only is it one of the biggest pay-per-views in WWE, it’s WWE in general. It was my first time under contract, working for a company that is easily the biggest in the world. Was I a little nervous? Oh yeah. Was anybody going to remember A.J. Styles? I had worked at this little place in Orlando, I was in Japan a lot, so I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what to expect.”

On how WWE set him up for success: “I was in a position that gave me the opportunity to really shine. When I walked out for the Royal Rumble, there was only one man in the ring. I went No. 3 and the spotlight was on me. The fans had no idea whose music was playing and then when they figured out who it was, it was even more exciting because they had no idea what would happen and they had no idea that AJ Styles was coming to WWE.”

On planning out a Rumble: “The way the match plays out is a little of both [forms of planning]. I had an idea of what was going to happen and what we were going to do, but once you get into that match, there are so many guys in there, you don’t know who you are going to face when you’re in there. It’s unexpected. I had been in the business for 16, 17 years at that point so I was comfortable, all things considered.”