AJ Styles on the Downside to Being a Champion, Explains His 2018 Title Loss to Daniel Bryan

– During a recent Twitch session, WWE Superstar and Intercontinental champion AJ Styles discussed a variety of topics and answered fan questions about his career. He also addressed his second WWE World Championship loss in November 2018 to Daniel Bryan. According to Styles, WWE didn’t want to repeat Styles vs. Lesnar in a singles match again at Survivor Series, instead opting for Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan in a Champion vs. Champion match at that year’s Survivor Series event. Below are some highlights (h/t WrestlingInc.com).

AJ Styles on his first match experience: “For me, I thought it was awesome. I mean, I was in a ring and it’s not in front of a whole bunch of people but there were people out there. And for me, it was awesome because I was doing it in front of people. I bet that if I watched it now – we’re talking about 21 years ago, it would be terrible. I am sure of it. But for young AJ, well, that first match was under a mask and they called me Mr. Olympia. But I was out there, and I was happy about that.”

On the downside of being a champion: “It’s great to be the champ. It also sucks to carry that belt all the time with you because you have to take it out at security, and then the next thing you know everybody wants to see it and they want to try it on. I had this one guy, I think I may have been in England when I had a match as IWGP Champion, the New Japan Champion, and they literally unloaded everything in my bag because I had the belt in it. And then, when they realized what it was, this guy’s like, ‘Hey, can I take it out?’ I’m like, ‘No, you just made me wait thirty minutes to take everything out of my bag and look at the belt when you could have just looked at the belt.’ So I’m like, ‘Put that back in my bag!’ I was mad, man.”

On his WWE title loss in November 2018 to Daniel Bryan: “I think the reason why you saw that happen was because you already saw Brock Lesnar/AJ Styles and – oh man, I’m just not going to go there… Not you guys, I’m sure you guys would like to have seen the rematch of AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar, but [WWE] didn’t think anyone else would.”