Add as a preferred source on Google AJ Styles opened up about one of the most controversial decisions from the final stretch of his WWE in-ring run: his loss to Dominik Mysterio in an Intercontinental Championship match on the October 1 episode of Raw in Paris, France.
Speaking on a recent edition of The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, Styles said it would have been a major moment to defeat Mysterio for the title, but admitted that it was not the right direction at that time.
“It would have been an awesome moment if I’d won against Dom. That’d be great. That was the story that we were going with and I was okay with that. And the fact that I was able to wrestle John in Australia was pretty awesome. I don’t know anywhere where it wouldn’t have been great. So I’m happy with both results and everything that happened. I do wish I could have won in France.”
“I believe the roof may have been blown off the place, but it’d been nice, but that wasn’t what we needed at the time. So I’m a team player, so whatever we need, I’m going to do. Yeah. I think maybe the building might have exploded. And here’s the thing. I don’t believe John gets to be Intercontinental Champion one more time if I beat. Right. Although if I did beat Dominic and John beat me, but the timing wasn’t right. Even if you wanted to do that, it wouldn’t have been right.”
It is worth remembering that Styles and Mysterio had already been building their rivalry since the middle of the year before that match on Raw. The two had also faced off at SummerSlam, after Dominik had been out of action since June.
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