WWE News: Mr. McMahon denied AJ Styles' request to have 'Beat Up John Cena' shirts made

What's the story?

Back when AJ Styles debuted with the WWE in 2016, it was one of the biggest movements of a big-name star switching companies.

Naturally, once he was established in the WWE, he feuded with the face of the company, John Cena. Styles mentioned during a Mixer session that when he was feuding with Cena in 2016, he asked Mr. McMahon if he could have 'Beat Up John Cena' shirts made. The Chairman denied his request, according to a report from Fightful.com

In case you didn't know . . .

Styles had been the face of TNA/Impact for over a decade but departed in 2014. He upped his profile in Ring of Honour and New Japan Pro Wrestling and was eventually signed to a deal by WWE.

He debuted in the 2016 Royal Rumble, and feuded with Chris Jericho, the Miz, Cena and Roman Reigns.

The heart of the matter

While Styles was still a member of the TNA/Impact roster, people always considered Styles vs. Cena to be a dream match between the two respective faces of their companies.

Once Styles departed TNA/Impact and made his mark in ROH and NJPW, the WWE finally signed 'the Phenomenal One', as well as former Impact stars Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, Eric Young and others.

The anticipated feud between Cena and Styles happened in the Summer of 2016, and WWE tried to turn Styles into a heel alongside friends Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

A big part of the feud was 'the Club' attacking Cena 3-on-1 and constantly referring to one of their favourite past-times being when they 'Beat Up John Cena.'

Since Styles was already over with fans and started to win over WWE fans who may not have been familiar with him, he apparently asked 'the Chairman' for shirts with that catch phrase on them.

When a fan asked about getting a shirt that says 'Beat Up Seth Rollins' on it during a Mixer session after last week's Raw, Styles recounted the 2016 feud with Cena.

“Well, I’ll have you know that we wanted to have ‘Beat Up John Cena’ shirts while that was going on, but that was a no-go from the boss. He didn’t care for that too much so, I doubt he’ll get with the ‘Beat Up Rollins’ [shirts] so…"

Since both men were faces when the feud started, the creative team likely wanted to turn Styles into a heel so that the dynamic was a typical 'heel-face' situation. Rollins and Styles are both faces while currently feuding, prompting the question from the fan.

What's next?

Styles' request was likely denied because WWE didn't want merchandise on it that advocated beating someone up, especially with their anti-bullying stances and programs. Is Styles going to be turned into a heel again while feuding with 'the Beastslayer'?