AJ Styles believes a change involving Brock Lesnar may have contributed to the muted crowd reaction for his match against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 35.
AJ Styles faced Randy Orton at the 2019 event, with The Phenomenal One picking up the victory. Looking back at the match during WWE Retrospective, Styles praised Orton and described him as one of the stars most closely associated with WWE.
“I think Randy Orton is WWE. I mean, ever since the freaking RKO blew up on memes everywhere, everybody wants to get RKO’d or they want to RKO you.”
Despite believing they had a good match, Styles acknowledged that the crowd response did not necessarily reflect the quality of what was happening inside the ring.
“Now, this match, it was good, but most don’t remember it ’cause nobody was making noise.”
AJ Styles Explains Brock Lesnar Change At WrestleMania 35
AJ Styles believes one of the biggest problems was the stadium lighting, which left sections of the audience struggling to see the action because lights were shining towards them.
“’Cause in this match, they were being blinded by the lights.”
According to Styles, his match with Orton had initially been expected to take place either first or second on the WrestleMania 35 card. However, those plans changed after Brock Lesnar wanted his match to take place earlier.
“Why were they being blinded? ’Cause I do believe we were either second or first, but that got changed because Brock wanted to go.”
Lesnar ultimately defended the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins in the opening match of the show, with Rollins defeating him to capture the title. Styles referenced the change sarcastically while reflecting on how it affected the running order.
“And so apparently we follow the rules of Brock Lesnar when it comes to deciding who goes first or second.”
Styles and Orton competed later on the card instead. Looking back, Styles believes the combination of the altered match placement and lighting problems contributed to the subdued atmosphere surrounding their WrestleMania encounter.
