AJ Styles is hopeful that the story involving his son Avery is over and doesn’t want to speak about it anymore.
Styles addressed the controversy on his podcast this week after a week of online dialogue between the parties involved in the GCW event and many figures within the industry weighing in.
Avery Styles, 19, wrestled Marcus Mathers on August 1 in Minneapolis and received praise afterward from Nattie Neidhart in an interview with The Wrestling Classic. Nattie complimented Avery’s work ethic and said the second-generation performer didn’t want to be “pampered and coddled.”
It led to F1RST Wrestling promoter Arik Cannon, who helped run the show with GCW, to tweet about Avery’s refusal to help with “a single thing on this very show.”
The story exploded over the last week, with various figures voicing their opinions, including AJ Styles defending his son, while Avery did not comment publicly. GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale defended Avery, asking that he “deserves the same grace that would be afforded to any other teenager being thrown into the deep end at this early stage in his career (and life).”
On his podcast, AJ Styles said he didn’t want to harp on the story any longer but claimed that Arik Cannon (without naming him) was not the promoter of the event and was there with his crew to set up the ring in Minneapolis. He stated that Avery and Marcus Mathers drove from the previous day’s show in Missouri to Minnesota, slept in a car, and worked the event. He claimed Avery heard nothing about this at the show and was just there to work their match, which contradicts other accounts that Avery was asked to assist, including Cannon’s.
Styles added, “No one has been harder on their kids than me,” but said he was going to protect their integrity when it’s questioned and encouraged people to speak to Avery themselves to form an opinion. He admits that perhaps he shouldn’t have commented publicly but did so as a father and wishes this had been discussed privately like adults instead of blowing up to become such a big story.
Styles mentioned that Avery had joined him recently to work out at the WWE Performance Center with other coaches, and that was when the photo was taken with Lexis King and other second-generation wrestlers in response to the story.
