“You never thought it would happen” – Steve Maclin on AJ Styles’ unforgettable TNA Slammiversary return (Exclusive)

TNA Wrestling sensation Steve Maclin recently shared his thoughts on AJ Styles' return. The Phenomenal One showed up at Slammiversary this year.

On July 20, AJ Styles showed up to TNA Slammiversary, 11 years after his departure from the company. The fans went crazy as AJ walked into the same promotion he helped build from the ground up several years ago. The star addressed the fans and hailed the current X-Division champion, Leon Slater, as the future in a passing the torch moment.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Steve spoke about how the segment captivated everyone watching. He mentioned that it was great to see the veteran back in TNA Wrestling after a long time. Maclin explained that anything was possible in the pro wrestling business, and AJ Styles' showing up at Slammiversary was just another example of this. He mentioned that the return will go down as one of the most memorable moments in TNA history.

"It was the same level of excitement. It's AJ after 11 years. Something we never thought was gonna happen again. It was fun to just kind of mingle with him a little back and talk to him because I haven't seen him in a few years from since my time in WWE. It was just good to catch up. And I told him just it was so awesome to just see this moment and see him back in his home where he started. You never thought it would happen. That's also the thing in wrestling, is like you can never say never in pro wrestling. That's one thing I firmly believe in. There's always people coming back where people never thought they would come back to, or debuts. Just those moments people cherish, and that's a moment I think in TNA history that'll live up to it now."

AJ Styles is currently one of the prominent stars on WWE RAW. He has been involved in a long feud with Dominik Mysterio over the Intercontinental Championship.

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About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar