While AJ Styles made his long-awaited return to TNA last night at Slammiversary, it appears creative plans changed a few times before the event.
Following Leon Slater’s win last night to become the youngest X-Division Champion of all time, Styles made his way to the ring, surprising Slater and putting him over as the future of the division. While Styles teased the crowd that he would address having one more match with the company, things never got around to that.
According to Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated, Styles’ creative for Slammiversary “changed a few times” before the event. However, the plan always surrounded celebrating AJ’s history as a pioneer of the X-Division.
Multiple TNA sources informed Alba prior to Slammiversary that Styles was set for a segment with Frankie Kazarian. But for some reason, plans shifted that day before the event. This lines up with comments from both Styles and Kazarian in recent months, who seemingly made it clear they would love to work a match together in TNA at some point.
There was also some belief among TNA sources that WWE wasn’t keen on promising Styles to the company for a future match, as no main roster talent has worked a match for them yet.
What do you make of this report? Did you like what AJ Styles did last night at TNA Slammiversary? Or were you hoping for something more? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.