AJ Francis: I Wrestle Like An 80’s Heel, I Try To Stand Out As Much As I Can

AJ Francis wants to stand out in 2024 by wrestling like the heels he grew up watching.

TNA and MLW star AJ Francis recently sat down with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard. When discussing today’s in-ring style, Francis discussed his current in-ring philosophy and listening to what the crowd is saying.

“For me, I like it when it comes to what you just said about matches and whatnot. I don’t believe in the — I wrestle like an 80’s heel,” AJ Francis said. “I actually listen to the crowd and what they say; I don’t run a spot because I know the spot is coming up. I’m gonna let things breathe.

“And a lot of times, it’s like, especially now, that makes my matches so different than everybody else’s because nobody’s doing that. Why would I try to [like] wrestle Speedball Mike Bailey when A, I can’t and B, if I did, it would be a disservice when I can wrestle the exact opposite, and then everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you both are good.’

Trying to stand out and listen to the crowd

“I try to stand out as much as I can. Somebody once said it was funny I’m bringing up Ricochet again, but somebody said…I can’t remember who it was, but I was training. I want to say it might have been might have been J Rios. He said, Ricochet’s already signed. You’re not going to get over because you can do cool moves; he can already do them all. He already exists.’

“So, You got to find a way to stand out, and to me, it’s like, character sh-t. It’s taking your time; it’s telling a story within a match. It’s Easter eggs; It’s actually listening to the crowd. When you see my match on Thursday at MOW, in my match at TNA on Thursday, it was one thing I’m going to do is listen to what the crowd is saying. I’m going to play into the crowd because that’s why you’re there.

“John Cena told us that or told Hit Row that, he said, ‘Look, man, these people pay money to come here, interact with them. No matter what the producers and all the higher-ups are saying about make sure, there’s a million people at home!’ Yeah, you got to work the hard cam, but the crowd is there. You don’t ignore the people in the building. That’s how you get ignored.”

Embracing the reaction of the crowd

When asked about how much of a learning curve it’s been from going to the way WWE did things to how he’s operating now and trying to embrace what the crowd is telling him, Francis believes there wasn’t much of a learning curve for him at all.

“Honestly, that’s a good question. Nobody’s ever asked me that question,” AJ Francis said. “But honestly, there wasn’t a learning curve. Because when you’re on a football field…yeah, the crowd might be loud, but they’re usually not, at least in America. They’re not in cohesive chants. You know, it’s just noise. So, it’s easy to tune that out.

“And in wrestling, majority of the time, unless they’re like popping for a move or popping for the finish, if they’re making noise, it’s cohesive chants you can hear, ‘AJ sucks. AJ sucks.’ Like, they don’t really do that in football. So it’s really just being comfortable enough to take your time.

Don’t work through your pop

“A lot of people work through their pops, which I learned a lot…I could know that I’m supposed to be doing something right now. Like, for example, if I’m gonna say, I’m cutting myself off, I know I’m about to cut myself off. I’m gonna hit the post, or I’m gonna eat the turnbuckle. And I know that that’s coming.

“And I hear people chanting, I know my opponent’s not going to move until I run it. So, if I hear people chanting, I’m gonna take all of that in before I run so that I’m mad. And then when I charge, and I miss, it’s ‘Yeah!’ but a lot of people are like, ‘Okay, I’m supposed to do the splash now, he’s set up, let’s go.’ That’s not how I operate. I need to feel the crowd.”

You can check out our complete interview with AJ Francis in the embedded video below:

READ MORE: AJ Francis Says His MLW Angle Was Inspired By ‘Black Panther’

What do you make of AJ Francis’ comments? Do you appreciate his in-ring style that he’s working in 2024? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

If you use any of these quotes, please credit WrestleZone with a link to this article for the transcription.