Why AJ Styles Made Change To His WWE Presentation
AJ Styles had a good reason to change his WWE theme song and an even better reason to change it back when the time was right.
The name of AJ Styles’ theme song is simply called “Phenomenal,” which is the nickname that he has used for the majority of his wrestling career.
It’s a song that is highly regarded by WWE fans as one of the best theme songs of this era and arguably one of the best songs of all time.
For most of his WWE career, Styles has used that “Phenomenal” song that was part of his WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble, but he has used another song as well.
When Styles became a heel in 2024, he used a song called “You Don’t Want None” and it was by design. When wrestlers change roles from heel to face and vice versa, it oftentimes means a change to their persona, which can include their theme song as well.
At the WWE Royal Rumble, AJ Styles made his triumphant return to the ring after missing four months due to a foot injury. In addition to returning to the ring, Styles also brought back the “Phenomenal” song.
In an interview with Insight’s Chris Van Vliet, Styles revealed it was his choice to change the song during his heel run and it was also his call to bring the original song back.
“It was my call to change it [when I turned heel] too. Because as a bad guy I thought my song was a little too cool. Everybody loves that song. I love the song, but that’s not who I was trying to be. I wanted you to not like me, that you despised me. I thought well if I change the song up, people are going to hate it, perfect.
Then when I know I was coming back and I’m going to be the good guy again, I was like I want my old music back. And nobody said anything. They were like, yep, that’s fine. So yeah, that was my decision.”
AJ Styles Enjoyed Wrestling Shane McMahon In WWE
During the same interview, AJ Styles spoke about how much he liked wrestling Shane McMahon. The two men had a great match at WrestleMania 33 that was one of the best matches at that show even though Shane wasn’t always known for having the best matches.
“Oh, I’ve had, I think we’ve had some matchups in the past where you thought, ‘Nah, I don’t know about this one.
A perfect example: No one thought that me and Shane McMahon were gonna have a good match. I thought we did a very good job of making that very entertaining. Had some moments in there that are really cool. I had the opportunity to work Shane McMahon. An awesome guy, freaking love him. No one more is dedicated to perfection than Shane McMahon.
Ask The Undertaker, he’ll tell you, and I respect the heck out of that. The stuff that he does. He’s still doing a Shooting Star Press. Are you kidding me? He beats himself up. Man, I have so much respect for Shane. I freaking love him. That was a great match.
“He just wanted to perfect it, whatever we were doing. He wanted to make sure it was spot-on every time, and you got to respect that. I mean, that’s what I want. Then, to be able to bounce some stuff off of him that — the guy could fight for real, you know?
So we were able to put a little bit of that stuff that he knew, a little bit of Jiu Jitsu that he’s taken, and make it work. It was really a fun match, man. It was really unexpected, I think, for fans to see us have such a good match together.”
While speaking in a backstage segment on WWE Raw in Buffalo, AJ Styles said he would call out Logan Paul next Monday on the March 10th episode of Raw, which could lead to a WrestleMania 41 showdown between the two men.