A.J. Styles has made his way to the top of the WWE food chain fairly quickly and is already holding the Heavyweight Championship as part of Smackdown Live. While he isn’t the typical muscle-bound figure the WWE loves to push, he’s proved that he is worthy of the top spot.
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The accomplished athlete recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about a variety of topics, including his love of video games, and how it felt to be a part of the WWE’s successful WWE 2K franchise. Styles made his debut in this year’s edition, 2K17.
“I’ve been a video game guy since I was eight years old and got my first Nintendo,” said Styles. “I’ve been addicted to video games ever since. I have been part of a video game before the WWE game, but it’s not worth talking about, and quite embarrassing, to be honest with you. 2K17 is amazing. The graphics are just awesome, and it’s fun to see that you can do pretty much anything and everything that you’ve ever seen on WWE television. Just being part of a great game in the 2K series is amazing, and I feel like I’m not the only one who thinks that – the fans are having a pretty good time with it.”
That previous game Styles mentioned was Midway’s TNA Impact, which also featured Samoa Joe, who also currently resides in the WWE as part of NXT, though sooner or later he’ll most likey make the jump up to the main roster.
While he’s made sure to put his digital counterpart through his paces, Styles is also having a great time with the create a wrestler mode, which allows you to create not only your wrestler, but also your custom entrance, outfit, championship belts, and match cards.
“I’m just jealous of the ‘create a wrestler.’ You can literally create anyone that you’ve ever wanted. Any other game that comes out and tries to give 2K some competition, there is no competition. The library of moves sets 2K apart from any other wrestling game.”
It’s one of many things Styes is enjoying since becoming part of the WWE family, and he’s excited about what’s in store for the future.
“The great thing about being part of WWE is the opportunity to do things that you didn’t expect to be able to do,” said Styles. “It’s just an open door. That’s the great thing with the WWE. They want you to be like John Cena, they want you to be like The Rock, and they definitely give you that platform. I’m open to anything and everything. I’m just here to have a good time, and, whatever opportunity presents itself, hopefully, I’ll get after it.”
WWE 2K17 is in stores now.
