"He's not performing like he has in the past" - Rising WWE star criticizes AJ Styles' recent work

AJ Styles has been lauded by many as one of the greatest performers of the current generation. However, WWE NXT 2.0 star Grayson Waller isn't a fan of The Phenomenal One's recent work.

Last night at WWE NXT New Year's Evil, Styles challenged Waller to an impromptu match. However, the rising star decided that the marquee match deserves a bigger spotlight. He then postponed the match to next week's episode of NXT 2.0. Now the two are set to lock horns in what will be Styles' first NXT match.

Ahead of arguably the biggest match of his career to date, Grayson Waller appeared on WWE's The Bump to answer some of the panel's questions. Waller stated that Styles isn't performing on the same level as he used to, further commenting that he will be able to best the former WWE Champion.

Here's what he had to say:

"I'm not giving away my game plan here. Are you kidding me? I'm not that silly. AJ Styles right now - he's not performing like he has in the past. This is a mental game. This is a mental game, this isn't a physical game. Next week he is gonna punch me in the face, he's gonna kick me in the head, he's gonna do all these things but at the end of the day, Grayson Waller is gonna win that match. And I'm not gonna tell you how I'm gonna do it but trust me it's gonna happen like everything else I say. It happens," said Grayson Waller.

Check out the latest edition of WWE's The Bump here:

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AJ Styles' recent showings in WWE

Last year, AJ Styles introduced his personal colossus Omos to the WWE Universe. The two made for a strong pairing and went on to defeat Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods at WrestleMania 37 to win the RAW Tag Team Championships.

However, after a strong 133-day reign, their run as champions came to an end at the hands of RK-Bro who dethroned them at SummerSlam. Following their loss, the two tried to regain the championships but to no avail. Tensions rose and they reached boiling point last month when Omos turned on AJ Styles, attacking him and ending their partnership.

The two faced off against one another in a singles match on this week's episode of RAW, which Omos won in dominant fashion. AJ Styles now has a new target ahead of him in the shape of Grayson Waller. It will be interesting to see where the company is headed with this new rivalry.

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Please credit WWE's The Bump and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription should you use the quote from this article.