Original plans for AJ Styles at AEW Dynamite's debut episode revealed

The idea of AJ Styles on AEW Dynamite seems surreal. On October 2nd, 2019, the wrestling world changed forever as All Elite Wrestling debuted its flagship show Dynamite.

With a TNT television deal, it was set to give WWE its first sense of competition since WCW in the mid-to-late 90s. It's also no secret that AEW has benefited wrestlers across the board. Not only does it give wrestlers alternative employment options to WWE, but it also gives WWE superstars leverage when negotiating new contracts.

The Young Bucks have been a staple of AEW and it's no secret that at the time, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were extremely close to jumping ship from WWE. Matt Jackson spoke about the original plans for the AEW Dynamite debut on the Talk N' Shop patreon podcast and revealed (without naming him) that AJ Styles along with The Good Brothers were supposed to make a huge splash on the first episode if things went right:

Matt Jackson said, “People don’t realize that when we were pitching to have you guys come in, it wasn’t just going to be the two of you, it was going to be another person who I won’t name, but another Bullet Club person who you may not want to talk about.”

He also revealed that while there were talks, WWE got wind of it and offered AJ Styles a great deal that turned out to be for 5 years. AJ Styles apparently thanked them profusely for the fact that he was able to get such a good deal with WWE:

When we were originally going to do Dynamite, we were going to debut at Madison Square Garden. After the match, three of you, not just the two of you, the three of you were going to jump the guardrail and we were going to have like a Bullet Club reunion. We were gonna throw up the too sweet and then the three of you were going to jump us and make us bloody and destroy us and then we were going to be off to the races. And it obviously didn’t work out. I remember the first guy in this conversation we’re talking about right now, he buzzed us and he’s like ‘I just got too good of an offer, and I would have never got the offer without your guys offer, so I just wanted to say thank you.'”

While it didn't work out, it didn't feel like too big a loss for AEW. They still have a great tag team division and a great main event scene. While AJ Styles would have been a great addition, it seems like his heart was always set on staying with WWE.

Is AJ Styles to AEW still a possibility?

Given that AJ Styles signed a 5-year contract, it means that he's going to be in WWE until 2024 at the very least. AJ Styles also stated that it would be the final contract he signed with WWE. Given that AJ Styles will be 47 by the time his contract expires, it's likely that he will truly be done with his in-ring career by then.

AJ Styles in AEW doesn't seem realistic at any point.