Kurt Angle has been on a new episode of his podcast The Kurt Angle Show, where he reviews his career his stories, and the current world of wrestling. At one point in the podcast Angle explained the story of Vince McMahon and AJ Styles and how the WWE president regretted not hiring him earlier.
It all started at Styles’ Royal Rumble debut. The public reaction to his arrival at WWE opened McMahon’s eyes. The fans were so excited that it was AJ Styles and that many think that those who see only WWE would not know who it would be because they did not see TNA or NJPW, he explained.
Despite this, Styles carved career was well known by many fans. I think they knew because they knew exactly who AJ was, and when Vince saw the reactions and said this guy was already a star. He didn’t even make it past his first day and he already had star status. He had to make a name for himself abroad, and he did it well.
Because Styles auditioned for WWE, but he wasn’t caught. I knew Vince would see value in it, but when he went to try it they didn’t take it. It was good, but it had no name, something he has built elsewhere. He built it big enough for fans to know who he was.
And so much so that Vince regretted not hiring Styles sooner. They told me that when AJ won the first world championship Vince came up to him and said that he wishes he had hired him ten years ago. This shows you how Vince feels about AJ and his regret for not having seen him earlier.
