Last year, Dragon Lee and AJ Styles formed a tag team on "WWE Raw" and together went on to capture the World Tag Team Championship. Though they lost the title in December, the duo continued tagging into this year, including just days before Styles wrestled his final match (for now). Appearing on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Lee lit up at the mention of Styles and emphasized the wrestler's strong quality of character."He really pushed me forward to the next level," Lee said. "I'm very grateful [for] him. I learned from him, just in general, you know? As a man, to the way he is as a father."Lee looked back fondly at the night they won the title together by defeating Finn Balor and JD McDonagh on an episode of "Raw," stating that Styles had to reassure him in the moment that it was truly happening. As for the story behind the two first teaming up, Lee said that he never asked company officials why the decision was made. It was something that he realized was happening over time as he was repeatedly put into segments with the veteran wrestler, which led to them becoming a full-fledged tag team."I feel honored to be part of his last matches," Lee stated.
As it would turn out, the two only had a few months to team together before Styles hung up his boots after losing to GUNTHER. Lee acknowledged that he would've loved to continue working together, but it wasn't meant to be. When they first began teaming, he was unaware of when exactly Styles planned to retire, but Styles eventually filled him in."The day we lost the titles, he told me," Lee continued. "I [had] to keep that secret. ... I was like, 'I thought WrestleMania, no? Not even WrestleMania?'"Prior to that, Lee had come up with an idea, which never came to fruition. Under the assumption that their team would be continuing deeper into 2026, Lee pitched the name Phenomenal Dragons for the duo. He even had the idea of fusing Styles' "Phenomenal One" logo with a dragon circling around it, but he instead learned that their time together would be coming to an end.If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
