During a media call to promote the WWE NXT Takeover PPV event, Triple H explained why he turned down a match against AJ Styles…
“I’ve said this before, but getting ready for WrestleMania is a different thing, and the older you get, the harder it gets. Doing this once a year or once every couple of years, especially now, is not an easy task. You try to stay in the best shape you can, but that’s not ‘WrestleMania shape’ and it’s a different thing. When he first came to me, I said, ‘AJ, I’m not going to tell you no. Personally, I’d love to work with you and at this point, you can carry me to something.’ So, I’d love it.”
“The personal side of it, the performer side of it, I would love nothing more, but the reality is—I’m not going to have the bandwidth or availability schedule-wise to be able to pull that off. He would come to me every week or every other week when I would see him and say, ‘How’s that bandwidth coming? You going to be able to make this happen?’ I’d say I’m not, but I’m flattered by that—I really am—and I’m humbled by it. I wish I had the bandwidth to do it, and I’m not saying I won’t be able to do it in the coming year, if it’s right and everyone believes it should be done.”
(quotes courtesy of WrestleZone.com)
