During a recent interview on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, AJ Styles revealed he was happy to get the opportunity to skip NXT and head to the main roster when he joined WWE.

Here is what he said:

"Absolutely, the fact that Samoa Joe was still in NXT and I was able to jump the line I was like, ‘Okay.’ I was not going to argue with them about it. I was happy to get the opportunity."
 
On why he thinks this was:

"Timing. I think that had a lot to do with it. Being in Orlando was a huge thing for me, being in TNA for so long. Then, to have the opportunity to be number three, as crazy as that sounds, in the Royal Rumble, was huge for me. It was huge."