AJ Styles On WWE Currently Owning His Name, How Daniel Bryan Would Fare In Creative
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Twitch‘s own AJ Styles had another night of video games and Q&A yesterday, and the SmackDown star touched on several interesting topics in the process. One was brought on by Twitch streams, as well as Cameo and other so-called “third-party deals.” Amidst that whole conversation, Vince McMahon stated that he owned the names of his Superstars, and we’ve seen many wrestlers change their name when they move from company to company.
When a fan asked about AJ Styles’ moniker, which he’s carried all the way from TNA to the Royal Rumble and beyond, Styles had a simple answer. He owns the name himself.
I do, I do. That’s how I was able to carry AJ Styles from TNA to New Japan to Ring of Honor then to WWE. Now the question is does WWE own my name as long as I work for them? As long as I’ve signed a contract? Yes. That’s how it works. But when it’s over, when this contract is over, it goes back to me. It’s my name.
AJ Styles already has plans for his life post-WWE, and fellow in-ring wizard Daniel Bryan may be setting up those plans as well. When a fan asked about The American Dragon’s new role as part of SmackDown’s creative team, AJ gave his thoughts on how the grappler would handle being a booker while also appearing on TV.
I think as long as he’s not coming up with his own storyline, because you tend to put yourself, obviously in the better storyline because it’s your idea. You have this idea and when you pitch something like a storyline to one of the writers or even Vince or whoever, you have to convince them it’s the right one. It could be funny or entertaining or whatever it might be. So I think that’s more difficult, to make people see through your eyes and if you’re able to come up with your own storyline then you know what it’s going to look like, which will always be better. I really believe that. So, I think it’d be hard to be in creative and also be a talent. I think that’d be difficult.
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Thanks to our good friends at Post Wrestling for capturing the above quotes during the Twitch stream!