By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Free agent wrestler A.J. Styles had a lot to say about the top wrestling companies that follow WWE in an interview with Aaron Oster for the Baltimore Sun.

- Styles says "it sucks" that he did not finish his career in TNA, and he left the door open to return, but he feels unwanted.

"I don't know if I'll ever go back, and it's definitely not going to be any time soon," Styles said. "And from what one of their higher-ups said, it will be, 'Only if there's space available for A.J. Styles.' So I guess there might not be room for me, according to him." Styles added, "Apparently someone there thinks I was only worth a certain amount and it just didn't work out."

Styles said in the interview he's not looking to bury TNA, but speculated on the company's health. "I really don't know," Styles said about the State of TNA. "I know they've made a lot of cuts. That must mean they're not doing so well. Sting gone, Hogan gone, myself gone, and I'm sure we're going to see more cuts soon. From what I've heard and been told, it's been horribly mismanaged as a company. I don't know if they're going out of business. But they're definitely doing things that make people think they're going out of business. And I hope they don't. I hope TNA doesn't go out of business because I have a lot of good friends that work there and deserve to be in the national spotlight. My hope is that they never go out of business."

- Styles said he's enjoying taking his own bookings and "not having to defend against negative comments of one company." Included in his current run is regular work for Ring of Honor, which he is hopeful will get a prime-time TV slot to better showcase the ROH roster.

"I think that we've got to get on a primetime slot. It needs to be on a weekday, not a weekend, so we can get out there and get noticed," Styles said. "I don't know how it's going to happen, or if we have that ability, but we need to get people to watch the product. The product is great, it deserves to be watched by thousands of people. It's hard to say what the next move is to get more publicity. You don't want to move too fast and all of a sudden there's no Ring of Honor, but I think they deserve to be on TV in a bigger stage."

- Styles said he's very much looking forward to working for New Japan after debuting earlier this month as the Bullet Club's new leader.

"I'm so excited to be part of that group. Just the things that they're doing, they're very unique. They're doing things that are really different, especially for New Japan," Styles said. "Usually in Japan, it's just based on the wrestling. But in New Japan you get a little more out of the storylines and whatnot, to build up the wrestling matches, and that's a good thing. Not so much that they're on the mic every second, and fans are like, 'Oh my god, let's see some wrestling,' but there's just enough to get the next match built up. It's definitely something special to be part of the Bullet Club, and I'm grateful to be a part of it."

As for ROH and New Japan coming together for two shows in the U.S. in May, Styles said fans are "definitely going to get to see some matches that people have always wanted to see." Styles added, "The fact that you have two wrestling companies that are known for having great matches putting on shows together, and both companies are so well-respected by the wrestling community, I think it's going to be magic."

- Regarding Jeff Jarrett's new Global Force Wrestling organization, Styles was asked if he would be interested in wrestling for the promotion. "Sure, this is what I do. This is my job," he said.

Styles added: "It's nuts to think that we could have four major wrestling promotions in the United States. Jeff's very smart, there's no doubt about it. He knows what he's doing, and always has a backup plan. He took TNA from nothing and turned it into something that's still around 12 years later. That's pretty darn good. That's an accomplishment right there. I trust Jeff. I trust him to put on something good, and something that people will watch."

[ LINK: Full Q&A promoting Saturday's ROH show in Sinclair Broadcasting's home market of Baltimore HERE at BaltimoreSun.com ]

[Torch art credit Cory Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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