In an interview with Matt Fowler at IGN, A.J. Styles talked about how he feels about Michelle McCool using the Styles Clash as her finisher. He’s pretty okay with it:
Gail Kim’s one of my really good friends, and I asked her about that and we talked about it and she (McCool) does do my move, but I’m flattered that she would think to use that move. It doesn’t bother me at all. I guess it might be different if a guy was doing it and calling it something else. …The fact of the matter is this. People know it. That’s the Styles Clash. That’s my move. I came up with it on my own. It’s okay. I understand, you gotta come up with something and there’s not a lot of moves in the world. It’s hard to be different. But it’s cool with me.
Styles went on to talk about another WWE talent whose moveset has been influenced by him:
But there is that one dude. What’s his name? I’m like, good grief, this guy does everyone else’s move and hasn’t come up with one. He’s a heck of an athlete. Morrison. Yeah, I’ve seen him do a lot of Low Ki’s moves. He does my Spiral Tap. I was like, “Man, this guy watches a lot of tape.” But he does them well, so I can’t say anything bad about him. He does them well. He’s heck of an athlete.
Earlier in the interview (promoting his appearance on an episode of MTV’s Made) he talks about what it takes to break in to the business today (he’s very complimentary of the indies) and the possibility of a new TNA show, which leads to a discussion between he and the interviewer about the possible WWE Cable channel, which Styles compares to the XFL.
In a feature article, written by Jamie Jones at the Daily Citizen promoting TNA house shows in Georgia, Styles talks about being with TNA since the promotion’s start. It gives some detail on how he got there, from how he fell in to training to his short stint with WCW and turning down a WWE developmental deal. It’s a nice primer on his career.
