A WWE legend has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding AJ Styles’ son Avery not ‘paying his dues’.
WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles’ son Avery Styles recent begun his wrestling career, with him competing in a number of independent promotions, most notably GCW.
Avery was recently the center of some online discourse when Arik Cannon would call out Avery for not helping set up the chairs prior to his recent appearance in GCW, which he believed was him refusing to ‘pay his dues’.
AJ Styles and other names weighed in on the topic, and now a current AEW star has given his brutal opinion.
Paul Wight Says Wrestlers ‘Paying Their Dues’ Is Intimidation
Speaking to TMZ’s Inside the Ring, Paul Wight (The Big Show) was asked about the controversy surrounding Avery not ‘paying his dues’.
Wight noted that he believes the concept of ‘paying your dues’ is a way for old timers to bully and intimidate younger wrestlers.
He said:
“F**k that bulls**t. Paying your dues, to me, is an old timer’s way of intimidating and bullying and f**king with the younger talent for no God damn reason.
“If a talent comes in respectful with a good attitude, don’t come in like you own the place, don’t have an attitude, but why should you take heat because your athleticism, your look or what opportunities you’ve been given you’ve been successful on.
“Why should someone hold that against you because you didn’t drive for 35 dollars a night, and you didn’t set up some broken torn ass down ring, and you didn’t struggle for all this stuff. Why punish somebody for that?
“My thing is when I came in, everyone was so mad at me because my first match was against Hulk Hogan. I was 22 years old, is that my fault? Should I have gone to independents, should I have learned how people lie and manipulate and bullshit in smaller leagues and promotors don’t pay you, all these other stories that these other old timers went through that made them seasoned? To me that’s bitter sauce.
“I don’t like punishing younger talent because that’s not what our business should be about, our business should be about inspiring younger talent, helping them so they don’t make mistakes, helping them avoid pitfalls.
“Now if they don’t listen, I have a three strike rule. I will tell you something three times, if you don’t listen to it, I’m done. I’m not gonna waste my breath, you can figure it out yourself.”
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