This week … a VERY special episode of IN THE ROOM on WEXP 1600 AM Philly and TheBradyHicks.com., as Brady Hicks welcomes AJ Styles IN THE ROOM to talk all about the progress TNA has been making, as well as to hype up their appearances at Lockdown this past Sunday night in Nashville.
On TNA’s youth movement, as it stands: “They’re … WE are definitely in a better place. If we’re making new stars, that’s what we need to do. We gotta build that foundation, and it starts by making new stars. You can’t rely on Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy and guys like that who have been around for awhile …. or even AJ Styles for that matter. You have to continue to build new stars to rely on and to keep it fresh.”
On the development of Bobby Roode and James Storm: “I gotta tell you, when those two broke up as a tag team I thought, ‘Oh man, that’s the worst thing that could ever happen to tag team wrestling.’ Literally these guys were the best in the world as a tag team … It’s crazy what has happened with them over time. I can’t say that I don’t want to see this match happen because I do.”
On Being in the locker room with guys like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Sting and Kurt Angle: “It’s a great thing to have around. If you can soak up as much information as they’re putting out. You can only get better with those guys around you … These guys have done a lot in this business. If you can soak up some of that information. The sky’s the limit.”
On his Relationship with Ric Flair: “I soaked up so much information from Ric Flair that I realized he’s kind of a douche-bag. Neither Fortune nor myself wanted to be around him any more. Fortune kind of imploded because of it.”
On Bobby Roode as champion: “Like it or not, Bobby Roode is the best world heavyweight champion RIGHT NOW. The guy is good. You can’t deny that fact. He looks good. He wrestles even better than he looks. This guy is unstoppable at this point in his career.”
On TNA overtaking WWE: “It’s not going to happen overnight. We don’t have the money that the other company has. We just have to take it slow … When we move to0 fast, that’s how you destroy a company.”
All that, plus AJ’s thoughts on competing in the steel cage each year at Lockdown, being a main-event player once again, taking Impact live once again, and on the road, what Fortune did for each member’s career, getting to compete each week against his best friends in the business, and so much more. The full interview is available here.
