WWE Champion AJ Styles recently told FOX Sports that John Cena has made him a better performer. In an interview to promote Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, the former TNA Champion discussed Cena and his status as a part-time performer. Styles said that Cena works harder than anybody he’s ever seen.

“I mean, the guy’s on The Today Show in the morning and and comes and does live events, or comes and does SmackDown Live. The guy works hard, I get that,” Styles said. “And to tell you the truth, I’ve become a better performer because of John Cena, and I like that.”

The topic of the Royal Rumble poster came up when he talked about his motivations. Despite being WWE Champion, Styles is featured behind rows of several other wrestlers on the poster. AJ says he’s motivated by respect and will earn it from Cena, “the girls on The Today Show,” and the people on the Royal Rumble poster on Sunday.

AJ has a lot of history with soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, and told FOX Sports that he would jump at the opportunity to wrestle him in a WWE ring.

“I would love that. Kurt and I have had a lot of matches together, and I would love to jump in the ring with him one more time,” he said. Is that possible? I don’t know… but it sure would be fun and I would love the opportunity to do that.”

You can read the full interview at FOXSports.com.

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