WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles comes to his son’s defense after wild claims

WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles’ son, Avery Styles, has been making waves on the independent circuit after debuting in June 2026. He recently competed in Game Changer Wrestling and impressed many with his performances. However, Avery is not immune to criticism.

Avery Styles made his GCW debut on July 31 at The Top Play. He locked horns with Alex Lev in singles competition and emerged victorious. On August 1, AJ Styles’ son battled Marcus Mathers in a back-and-forth 18-plus-minute showdown at Rude Awakening. Unfortunately for Avery, he lost to Mathers.

In a recent interview, WWE legend Nattie discussed watching Avery Styles vs. Marcus Mathers at GCW Rude Awakening. The Low-Key Legend said Avery was passionate about pro wrestling and was willing to pay his dues. She added that the upstart didn’t demand special treatment from promotions despite being The Phenomenal One’s son.

Veteran wrestler Arik Cannon noticed an X post about Nattie’s comments and quickly shared his opinion of Avery. He accused AJ’s son of being unprofessional at GCW Rude Awakening.

“As someone who watched this kid skirt away from helping with a single thing at this very show…I’d just like to say: LO F’ING L,” Cannon wrote.

AJ Styles came to his son’s defense and responded to the fan’s wild claims.

“He was paid to wrestle at GCW, not help you put up and take down the ring. That sounds like your job. You just sound like a jealous douche,” Styles wrote.

You can view the exchange below.

WWE legend AJ Styles is concerned for Avery Styles

AJ Styles is widely considered one of the greatest pro wrestlers of the modern era. He retired from in-ring competition after losing to Gunther in January. Hence, Avery Styles has big shoes to fill.

On a recent edition of The AJ Styles Show, The Phenomenal One discussed the attention Avery has been receiving from pro wrestling fans and experts since his debut. The legend was concerned for his son because fans had sky-high expectations for him.

“Yeah, it’s great to see him doing so well and embracing it so much. The unfortunate thing is, I feel like he’s under a lot of pressure because of who his dad is, so he feels like he has to go out there and do stuff that I sometimes think are unnecessary. Like he didn’t need to do that there, because at the same time you got to put things in the right order, and so that you don’t get hurt to some degree because you got another show to. You’re trying to make it to the next level. If you blow out your knee and you have to get surgery, you’re down for nine months,” AJ said.

It will be interesting to see if AJ laces up his wrestling boots again to share the ring with Avery.