AJ Styles says son Avery Jones is ‘not ready yet’ for WWE tryout
AJ Styles addressed the possibility of his son Avery Jones attending a WWE tryout in the near future.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on the Insight Podcast, Styles is hopeful that his son earns a WWE tryout but is currently focused on honing his in-ring skills. Drawing from his experience as a coach at the Performance Center, Styles also shared his perspective on what WWE looks for in potential candidates.
“I hope that he does at some point, but he’s not ready yet. I don’t, my job is to get him ready and teach him the little things that we want to see as coaches. There’s been plenty of guys that even myself have went for tryouts, and they say, ‘Hey, we don’t care about the high-flying moves, we just want to see what you can do.’”
“And I had no idea what they were talking about, and now, being that guy, I get it. It’s the little things in between that we want to see that if you do it well, and that’s the hardest thing to learn, is the in between.”
When Van Vliet asked Styles about the pressure his son may feel being the son of a WWE legend, Styles revealed that he has had conversations with Jones about the expectations that come with his last name. Styles said he understands the added pressure, acknowledging that his son’s experience is different. He explained that his focus is on helping Jones continue to improve his craft, perfecting the fundamentals before moving forward, and treating every match as a test to measure his progress.
“He’s told me, and I get it. And I said ‘Listen, you don’t have to do this, you don’t have to’. And he’s like ‘Yeah’ but I said ‘I didn’t do it, I didn’t have to, you know?’ ‘Yeah, but your dad wasn’t AJ Styles’. I was like ‘Okay, I get it, I get it.’ It’s finding out what’s best for him at the time and where he’s at because it’s like take the things that we know and let’s perfect them so that we can move on after perfection.”
“Like I don’t want you to make a 70. I want you to make a 90 and above on this test. And every match is a test to see where you’re at.”
19-year old Avery Jones made his wrestling debut at SCA Wrestling’s Freedom Fling event in the Royston Dome on June 26. He paid tribute to his father by using his signature Phenomenal Forearm during the bout against Ashton Martin.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.