AJ Styles Looks Back on WWE Royal Rumble Debut

On a recent conversation on Cody Rhodes’ podcast, Rhodes revealed that when AJ Styles debuted in WWE at the Royal Rumble, it wasn’t a surprise that was kept from the boys — Styles got to appear in a meeting beforehand, which isn’t the way it usually happens nowadays.

Styles would eventually start calling WWE Smackdown “The house AJ Styles built,” but on that first night, he felt the opposite. “Nervous. I mean, I’m in someone else’s house,” he said. “This is not my house yet. I’m just moving in. And so I’m very nervous about how the other guys would feel about me, you know, ’cause they don’t know me. There’s a lot that didn’t know me. And for the some that did, I was so happy to see them, you know, like Road Dogg. You know, there’s just a couple of guys that I was just like, ‘Oh man,’ and kind of latched onto, ’cause I didn’t know anybody that well.”

He continued, “I didn’t know a lot of guys up there, and I didn’t know how they felt about me. And I know I’m 37 years old, worried about this, but it’s just a respect thing. Like, I’m coming into your house, dude. I want you guys to know I just want to be part of the team.”

These days, even Nick Aldis is using the “House that AJ Styles built” catchphrase.

Check out the full interview below: