WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles recently explained why he never puts too much importance on wins and losses in professional wrestling. The former WWE Champion believes storytelling matters far more than match records.
During a recent episode of The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, Styles responded to a fan who pointed out that he has only one singles victory in WWE Premium Live Event matches. Rather than focusing on his record, Styles said fans often remember the story being told rather than who won or lost.
Why AJ Styles doesn’t care about wins and losses in WWE
According to Styles, wrestlers are sometimes part of a bigger story and not always the main focus of a match. “Sometimes you’re not the story in the match. You’re just in the match. To tell you the truth, you probably wouldn’t remember whether or not I win or lost unless somebody went through and wrote it all down because it’s not that important.”
He went on to explain that professional wrestling is entertainment rather than a legitimate sport.
“Guys win and lose all the time. So it’s best served where it’s at in the story. That’s what means the most to me. I couldn’t care less about wins and losses. They don’t mean anything. This is a show. This is pure entertainment. This isn’t the UFC. That’s the biggest difference.”
“Definitely the older I got, my job wasn’t to be the heavyweight champion of the world,” he continued. “Some people want that. Some people need that. I don’t. I didn’t. So my job was to make sure I get the younger talent over as well, if I could. If they were older, who cares? I had a job to do. Unless I had a better idea of how to do it, then there’s no point in saying anything. Do your job. It’s like I’m not as concerned with that as much as the fans were.” [H/T: Fightful]
Styles later reacted to the backlash about his original comments, claiming that he also never got to choose whether he won or lost.
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