AJ Styles finally reveals why he left TNA, claims they wanted him to take less money

Before entering the WWE ring, AJ Styles worked with several pro-wrestling companies including the likes of NJPW, Ring of Honor, TNA and others. He had a great run in all the pro-wrestling companies, but his TNA or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling run was, by far, the most successful. AJ Styles was often labelled as the 'John Cena of TNA' and was the backbone of the promotion, helping put the company on the map. Some fans have claimed that because of AJ Styles’ huge fan following, TNA was able to sell out huge arenas which they were never able to do before.

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Why did AJ Styles leave TNA? 

However, somewhere down the line, the company seemingly failed to give AJ Styles his due. While talking to Corey Graves on the After The Bell podcast, AJ Styles slammed all the people who criticised him for leaving TNA. AJ Styles said he left the promotion because they wanted him to work more with less pay. “When you work hard, you’re supposed to be rewarded,” AJ Styles was quoted as saying.

“When I worked at TNA, the reason that fell apart was because they wanted me to do the same amount of work but wanted me to take less money, and I didn’t feel that that was right because I did everything to the best of my abilities.”

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When talking about the backslash he suffered from the fans for leaving TNA and joining WWE, AJ Styles stated that at the end of the day, he’s working to ‘support and take care’ of his family. “This is a business, and they have to do what’s best for their business and I have to do what’s best for mine,” AJ Styles added. AJ styles ended his answer by saying, “Loyalty can only go so far.”

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Why did AJ Styles leave TNA? Life after TNA for AJ Styles

After working with TNA for almost a decade, AJ Styles went back to the independent wrestling circuit. He re-joined Ring of Honor before leaving it in 2016. He then moved to Japan and started working with wrestling greats like Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and others in NJPW. In 2016, AJ Styles signed a deal with WWE and made his debut on January 24 at the Royal Rumble PPV during the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Since then, AJ Styles has been one of the most prominent figures in WWE.

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