Avery Styles hasn’t even hit 20 matches yet, but fans have already noticed something pretty obvious — the 19-year-old looks a whole lot like his dad once the bell rings.
Avery has already busted out several moves closely associated with AJ Styles, including the Phenomenal Forearm, Spiral Tap and AJ’s trademark slide under the guardrail. That has led to some criticism that Avery is leaning too heavily on his father’s playbook instead of creating his own identity. AJ tackled that topic during his appearance on Cody Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About?, and he doesn’t seem worried about it.
AJ explained that young wrestlers naturally copy the people they admire before figuring out what actually works for them. He even pointed to his own early career, when he wanted to wrestle like Billy Kidman before eventually becoming something completely different.
“The biggest problem that a lot of people have right now is they end up being like someone else. I know that he is doing a lot of my stuff. In time, he will realize that he is able to do other stuff and be his own person. I wanted to be like Billy Kidman. As I was progressing, it changed, and it was something totally different. Everybody finds someone to look up to when they first get into the business, and then you transition into another character and do other things that are more you.”
That lines up with AJ’s approach to Avery’s career so far. Styles has already made it clear that he isn’t trying to micromanage his son, saying Avery needs to make mistakes and learn for himself as he develops. Ringside News previously covered AJ explaining why he refuses to manage Avery’s wrestling career for him and wants the teenager to figure things out through experience.
Avery is still ridiculously early into his career, so AJ clearly isn’t sweating the comparisons yet. Right now, the kid is borrowing from one of the best wrestlers of his generation — who just happens to be his father — but AJ expects that style to evolve once Avery gets more matches under his belt.
Do you think Avery Styles should keep using AJ Styles’ signature moves for now, or does he need to start separating himself from his father already? Leave your feedback in the comments.
