You don’t really know what “home” feels like until you leave it.
For AJ Styles, home was never a house, never a city. It wasn’t a locker room or a crowd. Home was a ring in Nashville. In Orlando. Under those bright lights, with six sides instead of four, with a bunch of hungry kids like him who weren’t supposed to make it, but refused to be forgotten.
Home was TNA.
Styles walked into that company in 2002 with nothing but a dream and a chip on his shoulder. No big machine behind him. No promises. No guarantees. Just him, a pair of boots, and a belief that he could be more than just another guy taking bumps in a warehouse.
And by the grace of God, by blood, sweat, and a little bit of stubbornness, he made it.
He became the first-ever X-Division Champion, not because anyone handed it to him, but because they wanted to prove that wrestling could be fast, athletic, and unpredictable. They wanted to show that the X-Division wasn’t about weight limits—it was about no limits. Every time Styles stepped in the ring with Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Jerry Lynn, or anyone else, they weren’t just putting on matches—they were redefining what TNA was.
And it grew from there.
Over the years, Styles held every championship that company had to offer—multiple X-Division titles, World Tag Team titles, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. He became the first-ever Grand Slam Champion in the company’s history. He stood across from legends like Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Christian Cage, and Booker T and proved, night after night, that he belonged.
TNA wasn’t just his employer. It was where he built his career, his name, and his legacy.
But there comes a point in every wrestler’s life where you have to step away. For Styles, that happened in 2014. It wasn’t an easy choice. He didn’t leave because he didn’t love TNA—he left because he needed to see how far he could go. He needed to test himself in New Japan, where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and later, in WWE, where he was blessed to headline WrestleMania, win multiple world titles, and become a Grand Slam Champion again.
But even with all of that—every title, every milestone, every stage he stood on—there was always this little tug in the back of his mind. A voice that said, “You know where you came from. You know where it started.”
And that brings us to now.
This Sunday, at Slammiversary 2025, AJ Styles walks back through the doors of the company that made him who he is. TNA isn’t the same company he left. It’s evolved, it’s grown, it’s weathered storms, and it’s found its place again in the wrestling world. But when he steps through those ropes at UBS Arena, it will feel just like it did the first time.
Like coming home.
No one knows exactly what the future holds. Maybe Styles is here to remind the world why they called him “Phenomenal.” Maybe he’s here to take one more shot at championship gold. Maybe he’s here to test the new generation and see if they can hang. Or maybe he’s just here to say thank you—to the company, to the fans, and to the sport that’s given him everything.
What’s certain is this: When he hits that Styles Clash on Sunday night, when he hears that crowd roar, when he feels that rush one more time inside a TNA ring… it won’t just be another moment.
It’ll be the start of the next chapter.
And this time, he gets to write it on his terms.
See you at Slammiversary.
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