AJ Styles says his son and Marcus Mathers were never asked to help with the ring at the GCW show in Minneapolis, and that he checked with both of them before saying anything publicly.
The row has run for two weeks. Natalya praised Avery Styles after watching him lose to Mathers at GCW Rude Awakening on August 1, saying the defeat showed he was willing to pay his dues rather than be pampered as AJ Styles’ son. Arik Cannon, a Minneapolis native who has wrestled for more than twenty years and owns F1RST Wrestling, replied that he had watched him skirt away from helping with a single thing at that very show.
AJ Styles answered that his son had been paid to wrestle rather than to put up and take down a ring. Cannon then said Avery had been asked about chairs twice by a promoter and hid in the locker room until it was done.
Speaking on The AJ Styles Show, Styles gave his account and said he wants to be finished with it.
“This is going to be real quick. Again, I don’t want to harp on this. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s all silly. The promoter that was talking, at least he thought he was a promoter, was not the promoter of the show that my son was at. He was there to set up the ring. He got paid to do this with his crew.”
His claim is that no request was made.
“Ave never heard anybody say anything about this. In fact, the guy that he was working with, Marcus Mathers, was like, yeah, no, we never heard anything. All we did was work on our match.”
He also described what the two of them did to get there.
“They drove from Missouri to Minnesota. They slept in their car. They didn’t get a hotel, they made the drive and made the show the next day. It was an early show. So they wanted to get their match. Never heard anything. Both of them tell me the same story.”
Styles was clear about his own record on the subject.
“So with that being said, take it for what it is, whatever you want to do with it. I’ve never helped anybody. They’ve never asked me when I was paid to do a show for them to help them set up. And furthermore, definitely the ring crew guy hasn’t said anything to me. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
He then made an appeal about his son rather than about the argument.
“If you are on the fence on whether or not you like Avery and you see him in a show, go up and talk to him. Then decide for yourself. I have raised my kids to be polite and thankful and appreciative. I can promise you this: nobody’s been harder on their kids than me. I don’t play around. I don’t have sympathy for them, especially when it comes to wrestling. They’re not getting that from me. But I will protect their integrity.”
The part he seems least comfortable with is his own role in escalating it.
“It shouldn’t have blown up like this. It should have been two guys talking to each other like adults. But after the third time on the line, I was like, wait a minute. This guy’s trying to make this kid look bad. Let me say something.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the best thing. Maybe I should have shut up. Probably should have. I didn’t need to bring it up, but I couldn’t help it. I’m a dad. I’m going to defend my son when somebody else is wrong. And believe you me, I checked on this first before I said anything.”
Half the industry has weighed in since. GCW told the Wrestling Observer that while it respects Cannon, he speaks for himself rather than the promotion. Cody Rhodes sided with Avery, pointing out he is 19 and that his father paid dues throughout that young man’s youth. JBL called it a communication failure rather than an attitude problem and said Brian Pillman Jr. was right that none of it should have gone online. Matt Hardy said the same. Kevin Nash was considerably harsher about Cannon and made the point that a teenager touching ropes would carry the blame if anybody got hurt.
Avery Styles is 19 and has had fewer than ten matches, having debuted on June 26.
