AJ Styles has addressed the “pay your dues” controversy involving his 19-year-old son, Avery Styles, admitting that he may have been “rage baited” into the argument that played out publicly over SummerSlam weekend in August.
The situation began when Arik Cannon, the promoter of F1RST Wrestling, claimed that Avery Styles did not help set up chairs at a GCW event in Minnesota. Cannon’s comments came in response to Nattie saying in an interview that Avery wanted to pay his dues, with Cannon writing that he had watched the younger Styles “skirt away” from the work.
Once the exchange went viral, AJ Styles responded at the time that his son was there to wrestle and was not part of the ring crew. Cody Rhodes also defended Avery on social media during the controversy.
Looking back on the episode, AJ Styles said he may have gotten rage baited into the chair argument and described it as the most ridiculous thing that was ever talked about, according to Wrestling News.
The dispute became one of the more talked-about sideshows of SummerSlam weekend, drawing reaction from wrestlers outside the situation even though it centered on a relatively minor claim about ring-crew duties at an independent show.
