AJ Styles just threw a pretty big wrench into the argument that his son should’ve been setting up chairs because that’s how everyone “pays their dues.” According to AJ, he didn’t even have to do that himself during his ROH days—and he says Gabe Sapolsky confirmed exactly why.
The whole thing started when a fan responded to Styles on Twitter and questioned whether his defense of Avery contradicted his own experience coming through independent wrestling.
“I mean I get that every parent wouldn’t want their child to go through what they had to go through, traveling around the country to wrestle for a hot dog and a handshake, but didn’t ROH make you set up and take down the ring? Isn’t that part of the ‘dues’ nattie was talking about?”
AJ had an answer ready, and apparently he’d discussed that exact subject with former ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky earlier that night, making it clear they had ring crew who handled everything.
“You know it’s funny, as I was talking to @BookItGabe literally tonight. He talked about the ring crew that ROH used. That’s why we never had to set up or break down the ring. Not even the chairs. Wanna guess the crew that GCW hired to do that?”
That last question wasn’t particularly subtle. The entire mess started after Arik Cannon accused Avery Styles of avoiding setup and teardown work at a GCW event in Minneapolis. Cannon claimed AJ’s son was repeatedly asked to help with chairs before disappearing into the locker room until the work was finished.
AJ’s position from the beginning has been that Avery was booked and paid to wrestle, not work ring crew. Their disagreement eventually became ugly enough for Styles to call Cannon a “jealous douche.”
Cannon responded by bringing out examples. First, he posted WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart helping with chairs after a wrestling event. Then he uploaded a photo from Cody Rhodes’ independent run showing Cody sweeping broken glass out of a ring, using one of wrestling’s most famous second-generation stars to hammer home his point that nobody should be above pitching in.
Now AJ is pushing back on the premise itself. If the argument is that Avery should’ve done those jobs because established wrestlers like his father had to do them while coming through the independents, Styles says that simply wasn’t his experience in ROH. According to his conversation with Sapolsky, ROH had a crew handling the ring and chairs.
And AJ’s final question brings everything right back to GCW: if GCW hired a crew to handle that work too, why exactly was Avery expected to do it? Cannon has spent days bringing out Jimmy Hart and Cody Rhodes to make the case for paying your dues. AJ just brought Gabe Sapolsky into the argument—and he’s questioning whether the job his son supposedly refused to do was ever his son’s job in the first place.
Does AJ Styles’ explanation change your view of the Avery Styles controversy, or should young wrestlers still pitch in regardless of whether a crew is hired? Let us know in the comments.
