During a recent appearance on the “My Love Letter to Wrestling” podcast, WWE Superstar AJ Styles commented on making a return from his recent ankle injury, why this has been his toughest injury layoff in his career, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On getting back into ring shape after his injury: “At least they didn’t throw me in two matches and then throw me in a world championship match as soon as I get back. Oh wait, they did. If you’ve ever been hurt, there is nothing like being in wrestling ring shape. The only way to do that is getting in a ring and wrestling. It doesn’t matter how much cardio you do outside of the ring, it doesn’t prepare you for in-ring. A little worried, but after being in the ring, I was like, ‘I’m okay, I’ll be alright.’”
On this being his toughest injury layoff: “This is the longest I’ve ever been out with an injury. I say this to people, after 24 years, I was due to have a pretty good injury. The last injury I had that kept me out was in TNA and I was out for six weeks, I tore my hip labrum. I was in a boot for a while, and I felt like I was trying to learn how to do things again. ‘Hold on a second, I’ve been doing this for 45 years, how did I not know how to walk right?’ It was really painful in some places. I went and got another MRI and once I realized it was this inflammation, the bones pretty much healed, the inflammation is pain, once I knew that in my head, ‘Okay, I’m not going to tear anything, I’m not going to re-break anything, I can get after it.’ Once that mental block was gone, it was easier for me to focus on what I needed to do and it seemed like it progressed a lot quicker.”
AJ Styles will be competing against Seth Rollins in the finals of the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament at Saturday’s Night of Champions 2023 pay-per-view event.
In other news, MLW Fusion has returned. You can check out the season premiere episode below:
