wrestling / News

AJ Styles Recalls Working With Jon Moxley In WWE: ‘He Never Got Tired’

September 3, 2026 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Dean Ambrose AJ Styles WWE Backlash 2016 Image Credit: WWE

AJ Styles recently looked back at his work with Jon Moxley, then Dean Ambrose, in WWE and what it was like to face him. Styles challenged Ambrose for the WWE Championship at Backlash 2016. Styles came away with the win for his first world title in the company.

Styles reflected on the match and his work with Moxley on WWE Retrospective, recalling how good their timing was together. He characterized Moxley as very calm in the ring and someone who never tired out. You can see highlights below:

On Being Confident About the Match:

“Well, I definitely was on a roll. I mean, I just got done with the John Cena matches and the freaking — Roman Reigns, with the Usos and the OC. I’m rolling, I’m rolling right here. And the opportunity to wrestle Dean — and we’d had the opportunity to do some live events together and man, he was so good. We had great chemistry as well. So I knew this was going to be a really good match.”

On Working With Moxley:

“Having the opportunity to be in the ring with him – again, another guy who has perfect timing in everything that we did and is so calm in there. I’ve never met anybody who — I mean, listen, I get overhyped sometimes in my match. Not Dean. He’s the same from the first to the last… He never got tired. I remember being exhausted at the end of this match and I think he just walked by, ‘No problem.’ Got him a cup of water and he was fine.”

On Winning the Title:

“This is what you work your whole career for. I mean, you’re in the biggest company in the world and you are the heavyweight champion. That is unbelievably huge, especially for somebody like AJ Styles. A lot of people didn’t think that I’d get to this point in my career, and to be able to pull that off is pretty awesome.”

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