Arn Anderson on Wanting to Bring A.J. Styles, Bobby Roode, James Storm into WWE Years Ago

On a recent episode of his Arn podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson spoke about wanting to sign A.J. Styles, Bobby Roode and James Storm to WWE many years ago during their time in TNA (IMPACT) Wrestling:

“I had pushed for AJ. There was a point in time when Cena had run out of opponents. I was on that whole ride with John for all those years, more than a decade. I was talking to him and it was when TNA was doing well. I would watch their show, not every week because I was too busy. I was sitting with Cena one afternoon backstage at a table. I told John that it would beef up the company if we go out and steal Bobby Rude, AJ Styles and the Cowboy James Storm. If we brought those three guys in, it would give you a whole plethora of new opponents. I signaled them out because of their work and their psychology that I knew I could benefit helping them. They would catch right on and be a very good fit. John looked at me and said, we have NXT. We make our own stars. I’m sure he was just transferring Vince’s psychology to me when he said that. But I knew at that time what those guys could do in a match for John if you give them 6 to 9 months to come in and get over. These guys had experience. They were ready. You could bring them in day 1 on RAW or SmackDown and have a player. AJ, Roode and Storm were all on my radar before they made it.”