WWE Superstar AJ Styles doesn’t seem to care about the star rating system for wrestling matches.
Speaking after his match against Naomichi Marufuji at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s NOAH Destination 2024 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, Styles has nothing but praise for his opponent
“Marifuji. Everyman that I knew he was. Talented professional wrestler. If I could beat him then I’ve beaten one of the best and I needed to prove that to myself. I’ve lost against the best and I’ve won against the best and one of the best tonight was Marifuji. Excellent wrestler.
If there’s anyone else who can call them phenomenal besides AJ Styles it is Marifuji. He gave me everything that I wanted in a match and more, he’s a class above the rest and I think a lot of his experience paid off tonight coz he took me to the edge. He made it very difficult tonight, I was struggling out there I’m not gonna lie to you. One of Japan’s finest was in the ring with A Styles tonight.”
Styles was then asked how found wrestling in front of Japanese fans again and his reply was rather interesting as he seemingly took a swipe at Dave Meltzer’s star rating system before praising the Japanese wrestling fans.
“There’s a reason why a lot of Japanese matches get 5-star ratings from people that really don’t matter, but when you watch it back you understand because it’s always the fans that make the match.
It’s not the wrestlers, we’re just there and the fans always, always make the best matches and the Japanese fans are one if not the best in the world and if you want to experience what its like to be respected as a professional wrestler, come to Japan. They understand what it takes to get to where we’re at and I have nothing but appreciation for the Japanese fans.”
📢7.13日本武道館バックステージコメント
AJスタイルズ「才能のある素晴らしい選手だった。AJスタイルズの真価を証明するためには凄い選手に勝つ必要があった。マルフジはAJスタイルズの力を最大限に引き出してくれた」
1/3#noah_ghc#WWE#DESTINATION2024pic.twitter.com/NFu4QEP7Pr— プロレスリング・ノア ｜PRO WRESTLING NOAH (@noah_ghc) July 13, 2024
How Many 5-Star Matches Does AJ Styles Have?
Despite being considered one of the best wrestlers to ever do it, Dave Meltzer has only ever awarded Styles 5 stars on 2 occasions. The first is the highly acclaimed Three Way Match between The Phenomenal One, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe at TNA Unbreakable 2005.
On the next episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer has responded to AJ Styles.