Frankie Kazarian On Why He Prevented Avery Styles From Facing AJ Francis On TNA Impact

Frankie Kazarian is trying to be a mentor to Avery Styles on TNA Impact, and he recently explained why he stopped Styles from agreeing to a match with AJ Francis. Thursday’s show saw Francis challenge Styles to a match and he accepted, but Kazarian came out and said that the match wasn’t happening. It comes after Kazarian showed up during Styles’ debut at TNA Lockdown and tried to tell him not to trust the other talent in the locker room.

Kazarian appeared on Ropes N Riffs and was asked about taking Styles under his wing. You can see the highlights below (per Fightful):

On Why He Stopped Styles From Facing Francis:

“Look, it’s no secret, AJ Styles is legitimately one of my best friends on screen and off. I’ve known the guy. He’s like a brother to me. I’ve told him in no uncertain terms that I’m looking out for your boy’s best interest no matter what. Avery, he’s 10, 11 matches in, and he’s special. He’s going to be special. But he is 10 or 11 matches in. He’s a few months into this, and to send him out there with a guy the size of AJ Francis, who’s a killer, would be stupid. If I was Avery at 19 years old, I would be itching to get my first match too. I would have said yes and accepted too. What I didn’t have at 19 years old that I do now is the experience and the knowledge that I do have. I’m only there for Avery’s best interest. When it’s right for him to have his first match, I’ll be the one cheering the loudest.”

On Trying To Be a Mentor to Styles:

“When AJ Styles is your father, you already have a wealth of knowledge about this business that most don’t. We’re talking about one of the best to ever do it. We’re talking top five all time ever, any generation, any federation. I’m not saying that because I’m close with him, but I’m saying that because it’s a fact. So he already kind of has that head start on just your average kid getting into the business. Then with me, I bring a different perspective than AJ because our careers obviously are intertwined, but the last decade we took different paths. [There are] certain things that AJ can tell Avery that I don’t necessarily have as much information on and there’s things I can tell Avery that AJ doesn’t have as much information on. Especially when it comes to TNA itself, I’ve been with this company since the beginning. I’ve seen the ups and downs. So I can really kind of steer Avery in the right direction when it comes to certain things that are going to happen in TNA.”