Frankie Kazarian addresses possible AJ Styles TNA match
Frankie Kazarian would love to defend his newly won TNA World Championship against AJ Styles.
During a recent interview on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, Styles cast doubt on the possibility that he’ll ever wrestle in a TNA ring agin. Styles said that — while WWE and TNA have a partnership — that has not included main roster stars crossing over into TNA. Styles said he would love to wrestle for TNA again, but he can’t see WWE allowing him to be the only main roster wrestler to do so.
Kazarian became the new TNA World Champion by dethroning Mike Santana on last night’s live episode of Impact. Following that win, he appeared on Busted Open Radio and was asked if the idea of defending his belt against Styles excites him.
“Absolutely excites me,” Kazarian responded. “I think we’ve both kind of, AJ and myself, have both put it out there over the last few months that he’s ready to go, I’m ready to go. You know, we just basically need one or two guys to sign off on it.
“I know AJ wants this to happen. I want it to happen. More importantly, the fans want it to happen. And look, that’s what we’re in the business of — of giving the fans what they want. And giving the fans what they want one more time, because AJ is hanging it up. You know, our history speaks for itself. AJ, there’s nobody I respect more. There’s nobody I’m a bigger fan of. And with his history with this company and me now being the guy here, the stakes just went up. So this match could mean even more than it would have.
“I mean, yeah, we’re, you know — we’re waiting on one guy to sign off. And I hope that guy does sign off on it. Because that would be a great button on our, not only our both of our careers, but our friendship.”
Styles did make an appearance at TNA Slammiversary this summer but did not compete at the show. If he does wrestle for TNA one more time, it would be his first match for the company since 2013. He’s one of the biggest stars in TNA history and was the face of the company during his run there.
The 48-year-old Styles has announced that he will retire from the ring in 2026, though an exact date for his last match has not been decided yet. He’s currently one-half of the World Tag Team Champions on WWE Raw with Dragon Lee.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.