Ace Austin on Being Compared to AJ Styles

Ace Austin has seen the comparisons made between him and AJ Styles, and he discussed that perception in a new interview with Sports Illustrated shortly before he recaptured the X-Division Championship at Impact Sacrifice. You can check out some highlights below:

On moving away from the World Title picture after Slammiversary: “Right after Slammiversary, I jumped into the tag title picture with Madman Fulton. I was so confident the world title was going to be mine at Slammiversary. Coming off a run where I was so successful, on the independents and in Impact, that was difficult, but I want to make everything I do special.”

On working with Madman Fulton and making their team stand out: “I’m glad you said that. I have spent so much time working on this, and I refuse to do it in a cookie-cutter way. No matter what the directions say, I choose to do this in a way no one has ever done this before. At the beginning of my career, I didn’t know how to harness that. Now I’ve found way of exuding that.”

On what he’s most enjoyed creatively about working with Fulton: “The way it’s been so organic. Viewers got to watch us become a team in real-time. Fulton had some tag experience, I had next to none, but the fact that we’ve thrived under pressure is a testament to our work. It’s all felt so natural to me, and we’ve continued to grow together. It was a situation we were both unsure about at first, so we focused on telling our story in as real a way as possible to connect with people.”

On being compared to AJ Styles: “I’m constantly compared to AJ Styles, and I’m compared to the best because I am the best. But it’s like your earlier question. I’m compared to him, but I am not in his shadow. I’m creating something special my own way.”