'Roman Reigns is a big part of the reason why my career's where it's at' - AJ Styles on The Big Dog's influence

AJ Styles' WWE debut at the Royal Rumble in 2016 may give you goosebumps if you go back and watch it even today. Styles has gone on to have an incredibly successful WWE career from his memorable debut, something that many fans were quite sceptical about when he first joined the company.

AJ Styles has been pushed as a top guy in the company, but his WWE career may not have been the same had he not been involved in a feud with Roman Reigns during the early days.

SunSport recently interviewed the Phenomenal One, and he opened up about how Roman Reigns played a big part in how his WWE career has progressed.

Styles said that his debut happened in the right circumstances, as he was the indie darling who was put up against the polarizing Roman Reigns.

AJ Styles explained that his storyline with The Big Dog and their series of matches really raised his stock in the WWE. AJ Styles even went back and watched his title match against Reigns and found it to be an 'unbelievable contest.'

Here's what Styles had to say about Roman Reigns' influence on his career:

"Now, the perfect scenario was in place because not everybody loved Roman. Now he is definitely one of the biggest stars, but not everyone loved Roman then, and so you have this indie darling, right? "And it was like, oh, they made it easy for me to be in there with Roman because Roman is such a huge star.

It only got better from there when I had the opportunity to get in the ring with Roman, one of the pay per views; actually a couple of pay per views, I think. When I've got a title opportunity, it was against Roman Reigns. Unbelievable match. I've watched it back. Wow. I can't believe we did all this stuff that was really good. So, yeah, Roman Reigns is a big part of the reason why my career's where it's at."

AJ Styles feels Roman Reigns' WWE return would be a big help

Styles also spoke about how Roman Reigns' is one of the company's biggest stars, and having the former Universal Champion back would be of great help.

"You can't deny the fact that Roman Reigns is one of the biggest stars in WWE. He's WWE. I mean, he's the guy. so to get him back could be a big help."

While Roman Reigns may not be back anytime soon due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AJ Styles is positioned as a major player on SmackDown as the Intercontinental Champion. Styles will defend the title against Matt Riddle on this week's SmackDown, and we also have a big spoiler about the outcome of the match.