AJ Styles Recalls Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff’s Arrival In TNA, Initial Issues With Bischoff

AJ Styles was a big part of TNA when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came in, and he recently reflected on that period and working with Bischoff. While the TNA episodes of Dark Side of the Ring were focused on Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter’s power struggle, the second and third episodes touched on Hogan and Bischoff being brought in which led to some rough times for the company.

Styles was asked about the episodes on Phenomenally Retro and said he hadn’t seen them yet. He did talk about his experiences, particularly with Bischoff, during that period. He noted that things got better between them but that they had initial issues because there was no trust. You can see highlights below:

On When Bischoff and Hogan Came Into TNA:

“I remember that they were talking about Hogan coming in and I thought, ‘Great! Everything that this guy’s touched has turned to gold. Surely it’ll be the same thing.’ And then from what I’ve heard, they already talked about these guys coming in. And being like, ‘They’re not going to do that.’ [And then], ‘Holy crap. What are we doing? We’re just giving our buddies a job. That doesn’t make any sense to me.’ And, ‘Oh well, they would never get rid of the [six-sided] ring. That’s our identity; that’s who we are.’ And I’m telling you, the squared ring is a much better place to bump than that six-sided ring. But at the same time, that’s what separated us from everybody else.

“I heard Bischoff talk about how stupid it was that these weren’t any different matches. But the difference to me was, is that we look different. That was who we are. TNA is in a six-sided ring; we’re doing something a little different. We look a little different. And so, I get it. And maybe he’s not wrong, but I just thought it was the identity of TNA that we lost in going to a square ring.”

On His Relationship With Bischoff At the Time:

“I got a call from Bishop wanting Ric Flair to be my mentor, and for me to get blonde hair and be little Ric Flair. And I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing that. I’ll do a version of AJ Styles as Ric Flair.’ Because we — Little Naitch, Charles Robinson, was in WCW. I’m not Little Naitch, I’m AJ Styles. So that’s why I frosted my hair to get some blonde tips and even down the road, but I did my robe with a hood.

“And listen — before I piss anybody off. Just so you know, me and Bischoff have a great relationship. And I’ll explain that here in a second. But at that time, I didn’t trust the guy. And he didn’t trust me, because I didn’t do exactly what he said he wanted, all these things. And I even did an interview that — I don’t even remember exactly what I said, but it wasn’t favorable toward Hogan and Bischoff. And Bischoff actually came up to me. And he didn’t say he would, but it was basically like, ‘If I was younger, dude, we’d be fighting right now.’ And good thing for him [that] he wasn’t.”

On When They Started Liking Each Other:

“There came a time as we’re working together. We’re on the road, we’re doing shows. Which you know, I understand he had to find out what we could do on the road, which wasn’t very successful in going live. But there was a time when I went up to him and they go, ‘Hey, would this be okay?’ And I believe it was me coming down from the crowd rather than from the entrance way. This is when I’m ‘Lone Wolf’ AJ Styles.

“And he said, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.’ And I said ‘Okay’ and I walked off. And then he found me later and explained why we weren’t doing that. And it was at that moment, for him to take the time to pull me aside and tell me why rather than just say no, made all the difference in the world. Our communication got way better after that. And again, I really like the guy. I know people don’t think that way, but I — he’s not wrong on a lot of — some of the stuff. Not a lot; I don’t know. We’ll meet in the middle about some of the stuff he says.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Phenomenally Retro with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.