AJ Styles Appears at Independent Show

A phenomenal treat. While AJ Styles’ best known stops before arriving in WWE are TNA and New Japan, he also wrestled in a variety of independent promotions over the years. Above all of these though was NWA Wildside, an independent promotion based in northern Georgia. While the promotion closed in 2005, they held a reunion show over the weekend. I think you know where this is going.

According to 411mania.com, Styles appeared at last night’s event in a non-wrestling role. Styles was a surprise for the crowd and brought the US Title with him. It was in Wildside where he first used the Styles name and was noted by WCW, leading to his contract with the promotion. Here’s a shot of Styles in the ring last night:

So I went to an indie and AJ Styles showed up pic.twitter.com/C373f5fjjv

— BostonNooga (@BostonNooga) September 10, 2017

Here’s Styles from his older days, around the time he was in Wildside:

The Hurricane vs. AJ Styles (WWF Metal 01.26.2002)

Opinion: I love it when this kind of thing happens. How awesome would it be to go to something like this and have Styles show up as a surprise? It’s also cool to see someone remember their roots and Styles again comes off as a nice guy. WWE isn’t hurt by this in any way so it’s cool of them to let him do it too.

What is your favorite surprise appearance? What is your favorite independent promotion? Let us know in the comments below.