Former WWE Star Reacts To AJ Styles Name-Dropping Him On WWE Raw

A week after being shockingly pinned by Dominik Mysterio, AJ Styles compared the third-generation wrestler to former WWE enhancement talent James Ellsworth. 

Styles would name-drop Ellsworth in a promo segment on the 10/24 episode of "WWE Raw" where The O.C. and The Judgment Day exchanged words ahead of their showdown at WWE's Crown Jewel. At one point during the exchange, Mysterio compared himself to a legendary WWE Hall of Famer, which seemed to annoy Styles. 

"You want to compare yourself to Eddie Guerrero? You're the generation of James Ellsworth," Styles told Mysterio.

Ellsworth shared several tweets with his live reaction to Styles name-dropping him on live television. In one tweet, Ellsworth could be seen spitting out beer and yelling "What?" while watching the show from his couch. Through another tweet, Ellsworth shared a photo of himself and Styles on WWE TV, reminiscing over their elaborate 2016 storyline on "WWE SmackDown" that lasted over three months. 

Back in September 2016, Ellsworth emerged as the mystery tag partner of then-WWE Champion Styles, and remained The Phenomenal One's ally until he got involved in the title picture along with Dean Ambrose. As the storyline progressed, Ellsworth won a WWE contract by defeating Styles and went on to beat him on two more occasions to earn a WWE Title shot. The storyline would eventually culminate on the December 20, 2016, episode of "SmackDown" where Styles defeated Ellsworth in under a minute to retain his WWE Championship. 

Ellsworth moved onto a year-long program with Carmella until he was eventually released by WWE in July 2018. Since his WWE departure, Ellsworth has made several appearances on the indies, and also made a 2018 cameo at Impact's Bound for Glory pay-per-view event, where he lost to LA Knight (FKA Eli Drake) in a squash match. It remains to be seen if he returns to WWE TV in any capacity following Styles' name-drop this week.