AJ Styles has come forward with his own account of the fan behavior issues at WrestleMania 42 weekend, describing being swarmed by fans in the hotel despite clearly declining to take photos.
Speaking on The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, Styles explained the exhaustion that comes with meet-and-greet events before addressing what happened when he was simply trying to get to his room with his family.
“Well, here’s the thing that fans got to accept. Even though just because we’re walking through the hotel to get to our room, we’re not even hanging out. We’re just trying to get to our room. We have been at signings all day and you get kind of exhausted because we’re trying to be in a good mood for you at that point. Especially for people who paid to see it. We want to make sure you get your money’s worth. And it’s a little exhausting. I know you’re like, ‘Well, what are you gonna do? All you do is stand there.’ But we’re doing it for a couple hours,” Styles said.
He then described a specific incident in which a fan ignored his request for privacy and continued to press up against him despite being told no.
“I don’t think anybody was impolite to a degree. For instance, I’m not taking pictures because once I start, I’ll never stop. So if I have my family with me, I can’t do that. I said, ‘Hey, I’m not taking pictures right now. I’m sorry.’ And they just swarmed me like bees. Even this one guy, even though I told him no pictures, he was walking and laying on me and stuff like that. I’m like, ‘Whoa! Whoa!’ And finally, security was able to find me and take me to the elevator,” Styles said.
He also offered a broader message to fans about the line between familiarity and invasion of personal space.
“I understand that they think they know the superstars because they’ve watched them for so long, but at the same time, you’ve got to remember that they’re real people. It can get overwhelming when that many people swarm you like that. I get it. No means no with pictures and whatnot. If they ask you not to, chill out,” Styles said.
Styles’ comments add to a lengthy list of similar accounts from WWE talent following WrestleMania 42 weekend. Booker T said a fan filmed him in a bathroom and called it the worst fan interaction experience of his career. Sean Waltman revealed he was physically assaulted and stalked in a bathroom. CM Punk made headlines for knocking a fan’s phone away after the fan followed AJ Lee and Bayley into an elevator bank. Fightful reported that the situation was compared to WCW by at least one person backstage and that the collective view among talent is that TKO and WWE need to invest in significantly better hotel security at major events.
Styles was in Las Vegas as a WWE Hall of Fame inductee, having been honored on April 17 as part of the Class of 2026 following his retirement from in-ring competition at the Royal Rumble earlier this year.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Phenomenally Retro Podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
