AJ Styles on Working With Roman Reigns and Why He Prefers the Dry Look

You and Roman have put together a series of really great matches over the last couple months. He’s a divisive star, to say the least, but do you think a lot of fans underestimate him?
Absolutely. I think he’s a better athlete than a lot of people realize. He should get a lot more credit for his athleticism. He’s unbelievable, he can do a lot of stuff. I think he’s been able to showcase that with me. We’re doing something right – I don’t think people gave Roman a chance; in fact. I think a lot of fans jumped on the bandwagon when someone started booing, instead of taking the chance to see what he could do in the ring.

You’re 38 – have you given any thought to retirement?
No. I know that retirement will be in a couple years. I don’t know how many a couple is at this point, but the ultimate goal is the opportunity to retire [and then] do something else you’re interested in. There’s a lot of guys who have retired and went into podcasts or TV shows, so there’s other things out there. But also you want to spend time with your family, because when you’re in WWE you’re gonna work for your money, and I expect to do that. But that means you’ll be on the road a little more and might miss some things at home, but you get to make that up by retiring and being with them 24/7 – which might annoy them to a certain degree [laughs].

Do you see yourself staying involved with the WWE once your in-ring career is over?
I was pleasantly surprised at how everything works here. Everything is so professional and I want to be part of something like that, whether it’d be training or being an agent. I think that’s right up my alley. That’s one of the things I thought about when I came here – the future outside of the ring. I would be excited to do something like that.

One final, very important question: A lot of WWE superstars prefer to come out with wet hair, but you go for the dry look. Is there any particular reason why?
This is 100 percent the reason why: because everyone else does it. A lot of times when someone else is doing something I’ll stay as far away possible from that. Everything I do I want to be A.J. Styles. When you see a guy come out with dry, long hair, I want you to be like, “Hey, that reminds me of A.J. Styles.” That’s what I want.