AJ Styles thinks wrestlers need to stop chasing reactions that somebody else already got. If a spot worked earlier in the night or got another wrestler over, Styles believes the answer isn’t to repeat it and hope the crowd reacts the same way.
While speaking on The AJ Styles Show, Styles discussed some of the talent developing in NXT, including Keanu Carver, Saquon Shugars and EK Prosper. He likes what he sees from the younger wrestlers, but believes one challenge comes from everyone spending so much time learning from the same coaches.
“Different is good. When you learn from the same people, and by same people, a lot of times you’re with the same coach for a while, you’ll get, you’ll learn the same moves and learn the same stuff, the cutoffs and stuff like that.”
For Styles, that’s where someone needs to step in and help each wrestler figure out what actually belongs to them. He even suggested that could be something he personally works on with talent as he becomes more involved behind the scenes.
“So we have to find ways to make them different. That’s what we have to work on, and maybe that’s something that I can do personally. Go, ‘Hey man, we got time. Let’s work on this with you. We’re working on these, this is your move set, this is who you are, this will make you different.’”
There’s another part of that process Styles believes wrestlers need to pay much more attention to. If somebody already did a particular spot earlier on the card, he doesn’t want the next match simply doing it again.
“We got to make sure you’re not doing the same stuff because unfortunately there are some stuff that a lot of them do that, you know, everybody does.”
That means actually watching what happens before your match and being willing to change something when another wrestler beats you to it.
“Like, and you have to watch the match before you and go, ‘Well, they did that already. Let’s think of something else,’ because we do it all the time, right?”
Styles made sure this wasn’t interpreted as him simply calling out NXT. He sees the same thing happening throughout wrestling, especially when one match or spot gets a strong reaction and everyone else starts trying to recreate it.
“It gets very redundant when you, some things that you watch, and it isn’t just, you know, I’m not saying just NXT does it, but they don’t. No, that if once a match gets over, people do the same stuff, you know, and so they try to, they try to do, be the same way and do the, get the same reaction.”
The problem, according to Styles, is that the original moment worked because of who was involved and what was happening at that particular time. Simply copying the formula doesn’t guarantee the same result. Styles would rather see wrestlers figure out what makes them different instead of trying to become another version of whoever got the reaction first.
“It’s not, it worked for that time and for that reason. So, let’s be different in the way that we do it. It’s not going to, you are not them. You are not these guys. You are you. Be different in what you do.”
That philosophy even extends to individual moves. Styles doesn’t want fans watching a wrestler and immediately thinking about somebody else who already became associated with the same thing. The goal should be finding something that makes the audience think about the person actually performing it.
“Don’t let them do something different. Do, you know, something that’s more you, and so that they don’t think of them, they think of you when you do the move.”
Styles isn’t asking everyone to completely reinvent professional wrestling. He simply wants wrestlers to pay attention to what’s already happened, stop trying to manufacture someone else’s successful reaction and give fans something they can actually associate with them.
Do you agree with AJ Styles that wrestling has become too repetitive when it comes to moves and spots? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
