“You never thought it would happen” – Steve Maclin on AJ Styles’ unforgettable TNA Slammiversary return (Exclusive)

TNA Wrestling sensation Steve Maclin recently shared his thoughts on AJ Styles' return. The Phenomenal One showed up at Slammiversary 2025.

On July 20 this year, AJ Styles showed up to TNA Slammiversary, 11 years after his departure from the company. The fans went crazy as AJ walked into the same promotion he helped build from the ground up several years ago. The star addressed the fans and hailed the current X-Division champion, Leon Slater, as the future in a passing the torch moment.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Steve spoke about how the segment captivated everyone watching. He mentioned that it was great to see the veteran back in TNA Wrestling after a long time. Maclin explained that anything was possible in the pro wrestling business, and AJ Styles showing up at Slammiversary was just another example of this. He mentioned that the return will go down as one of the most memorable moments in TNA history.

"It was the same level of excitement. It's AJ after 11 years. Something we never thought was gonna happen again. It was fun to just kind of mingle with him a little back and talk to him because I haven't seen him in a few years from since my time in WWE. It was just good to catch up. And I told him just it was so awesome to just see this moment and see him back in his home where he started. You never thought it would happen. That's also the thing in wrestling, is like you can never say never in pro wrestling. That's one thing I firmly believe in. There's always people coming back where people never thought they would come back to, or debuts. Just those moments people cherish, and that's a moment I think in TNA history that'll live up to it now."

AJ Styles is currently one of the prominent stars on WWE RAW. He has been in a long feud with Dominik Mysterio over the Intercontinental Championship.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar