AJ Styles on Shane McMahon's WrestleMania 33 Match: "He Wanted Everything Perfect"
During a recent appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast, AJ Styles praises Shane McMahon’s commitment to perfection in their WrestleMania 33 match despite initial skepticism from fans.
AJ Styles recently highlighted Shane McMahon’s exceptional work ethic and commitment to in-ring excellence during their WrestleMania 33 encounter in Orlando.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on the Insight podcast, Styles reflected on how their match defied initial fan expectations. Many viewers had expressed doubt about match quality when WWE first announced the pairing.
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.
Styles elaborated on McMahon’s meticulous approach to match preparation, emphasizing his determination to perfect every aspect of their performance.
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.
Their WrestleMania 33 match marked Styles’ second appearance at WWE’s flagship event, following his debut the previous year against Chris Jericho in Dallas, Texas.
Shane McMahon has been absent from WWE programming since suffering a torn quad at WrestleMania 39. His most recent public appearance was at his mother Linda McMahon’s Senate confirmation hearing.
