Add as a preferred source on Google AJ Styles would like to see WWE repeat in Japan the model it adopted with AAA in Mexico, preserving the country’s culture and without immediately folding its top stars into the Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown rosters.
On a recent episode of the Phenomenally Retro Podcast, The Phenomenal One revealed that his ideal scenario would be for WWE to purchase a Japanese promotion and run it as its own operation in the country.
“I would love WWE to find a way to be in Japan, kind of like the way AAA is. We’re not changing what they’re doing. We’re not trying to change the culture. We’re just putting our spin on it.
It’s not them coming to WWE, but WWE has purchased a company in Japan. And now, we have Japan, we have Mexico… I don’t want them to come to RAW or SmackDown. I want them to be a WWE whatever in Japan.
It’s endless things that we could do. And I believe that with the help of WWE, we would be able to revive Japanese wrestling to where it was. I would love to see it back where it’s the Tokyo Dome. I’m talking about not like a WrestleMania over there. I’m just saying it’s the company selling out the Tokyo Dome like it did in the early 90s. That’s what I would want to see.”
The comparison comes just over a year after WWE announced its acquisition of AAA in partnership with Mexican company Fillip. The Peña family remained involved in the business, while the promotion began holding joint events and secured a deal with FOX to broadcast its programming in Mexico and other Latin American countries starting in 2026.
Styles has a deep connection to Japanese pro wrestling. In May 2014, he defeated Kazuchika Okada in his first match as an NJPW-contracted wrestler, kicking off the first of his two reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
A potential purchase of NJPW, however, would be quite complex at this point. On May 27, 2026, Bushiroad transferred its shares to TV Asahi and CyberAgent, who each now hold a 46.3% stake, with the promotion becoming a consolidated subsidiary of the Japanese broadcaster.
Based on what has been publicly announced so far, there’s no WWE negotiation underway in Japan. It remains to be seen whether the idea Styles presented will ever be considered by TKO.