Tony Khan says AJ Styles is ‘one of the all-time greats’
Tony Khan was asked about AJ Styles in a recent interview.
Styles’ WWE career appears to have ended following his loss to Gunther at the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
During an appearance on The Yo Josh Martinez Show, Khan said Styles is one of his favorites.
Khan said:
“I think that AJ Styles is absolutely a fantastic wrestler. He’s one of my favorites, and I think he’s had an amazing career all over the world. He’s never been in AEW before, but he has wrestled in Ring of Honor, and in Ring of Honor he had some fantastic matches.”
“As a fan, some of my favorite stuff is when AJ Styles was in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He had fantastic matches there. His match with Minoru Suzuki is one of my personal favorites, and he had a great alliance with the Bullet Club at that time.”
Styles and Suzuki met at Korakuen Hall during G1 Climax 24 in 2014. Styles had won the IWGP Heavyweight title from Kazuchika Okada at Wrestling Dontaku less than three months earlier. Dave Meltzer awarded the match four and three-quarter stars.
Khan continued:
“Absolutely some of my personal favorite stuff would have been in New Japan Pro Wrestling with him. He’s somebody who’s had a great career in so many different companies around the world, and certainly I consider him to be one of the all-time greats.”
Khan did not comment on the possibility of Styles one day performing for AEW. Fightful reported earlier this week that Styles’ pending departure from WWE had been a “major point of conversation backstage in AEW at Dynamite.” However, it was also noted that it’s not clear if AEW has made the 48-year-old an offer.
Khan’s comments about Styles are cued in the video below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.