For years, they said it couldn't be done, it was impossible, there was no way he would come to the WWE, it would ruin his career. Whoever "they" are, they seem to talk a lot and more often than not, THEY are dead wrong. Just as "they" were with AJ Styles, as many said we would never see him in a WWE ring. Well, step right up, we have crow on the menu for today and there's plenty to go around.
The current landscape of the WWE and the Champions under its banner looks really good. With names such as Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and of course AJ Styles all holding titles to this point, it's certainly a magical time for the WWE Universe.
Despite all the hype and fanfare surrounding our current WWE World Champion, there's still a lot of fans who are not familiar with all that AJ Styles has accomplished throughout his near two decades as a professional wrestler. With that in mind, lets take a look at ten phenomenal moments from AJ Styles' career.
10: NWA World Heavyweight Champion
Keep in mind, this was during the time in which TNA and NWA were partnered, thus using the famed 10 pounds of gold as TNA's top prize.
During the early 2000's, TNA held weekly pay-per-view events in Nashville, at the fairgrounds arena, which was where TNA called home for all of their events at the time. On June 11, 2003, AJ Styles would earn his first of two NWA World Heavyweight Championship reigns, by defeating Jeff Jarrett and Raven, in a 3-way dance at TNA's weekly pay-per-view #48.
By winning the title, Styles became TNA's first ever Triple Crown Champion. The win also marked the beginning of a strong heel push for AJ as well.
9: TNA World Champion
At the 2009 TNA No Surrender pay-per-view event on September 20, 2009, AJ Styles entered a 5-way match against Sting, Hernandez, Matt Morgan and defending TNA World Champion Kurt Angle. It was a dynamite contest, which Styles came out on top, winning his first of two TNA World Titles.
Styles successfully defended the title against Sting, later that same year at Bound For Glory, which also ended Sting’s undefeated streak at BIG.
8: The Bullet Club
There's wrestling stables, then there's The Bullet Club. In 2013, founding members Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Karl Anderson and the man we now know as Finn Bálor, all banded together to form The Bullet Club. Since that time, this pure heel stable of New Japan's baddest villains has continued to grow into the most menacing faction on earth.
In 2014, at NJPW Invasion Attack, AJ Styles surprisingly aligned himself with The Bullet Club when he attacked then IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. It was only then, after much speculation of his signing, that he let the wrestling world know that not only was he NJPW's newest signee, but he was in full heel mode as he became the newest Bullet Club member. By the end of 2015, AJ was the official leader of The Bullet Club and would remain in that capacity until he left for the WWE.
7: ROH PURE Championship
Just before the first "Summer of Punk" era, AJ Styles found himself running head-on with CM Punk, at the 2004 Ring of Honor At Our Best event on February 14, 2004. In this match, the legendary Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was the special guest referee.
After an intense back and forth brawl, Styles came out on top, winning the ROH Pure Championship. However, the title reign was shortened, due to the controversy surrounding Rob Feinstein, as TNA ordered all of their contracted talent to cease all activity with Ring of Honor, including AJ Styles. This would result in the Pure title being vacated as well.
6: 5 Star Battle with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels
Dave Meltzer is one of the most well-known names in all of professional wrestling journalism. Some love the guy, others love to hate him. Either way, he's known by many in the wrestling world. Meltzer is also known for bestowing a select number of matches with the title of "5 star match." While it’s a rare honor, it is considered a high honor indeed, with very few ever achieving such a feat.
At TNA Sacrifice on September 11, 2005, AJ Styles defeated both Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe, in a Triple Threat match, winning the TNA X-Division title. What makes this title victory even better, is the fact that this match also earned the prestigious 5 Star ranking from Meltzer and Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
5: TNA Tag-Team Champion
Winning the TNA tag team championships alone is not what makes this a Phenomenal moments. It's WHO Styles won those titles with, is what makes it phenomenal.
On June 12, 2012, Styles teamed up with the legendary Kurt Angle to defeat Kazarian and Christopher Daniels at Slammiversary X, to win the TNA Tag Team Titles. While they only held the titles for a short time, it was still a legendary moment in itself, simply because Styles and Angle won the titles together, as a cohesive unit.
4: TNA Grand Slam winner
Similar to the Triple Crown accomplishment, but to earn a Grand Slam title, one must win at least four different titles with one company, throughout the duration of their respected career.
AJ Styles will always be known as TNA's first ever Grand Slam Champion, a feat in which he would achieve twice during his 11 years with TNA. Styles held the NWA Heavyweight Championship, TNA World Championship, NWA World Tag Team Titles, TNA X-Division Championship and the TNA King of the Mountain Championship.
3: IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
The IWGP title is undisputedly the top prize in all of Japanese professional wrestling. It's also the title which New Japan Pro Wrestling acknowledges the title as their preferred championship title.
At the 2014 Wrestling Dontaku event in Osaka, Japan, AJ defeated Kazuchika Okada to claim his first ever reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion. In February of 2015, Styles would defeat Hiroshi Takahashi to earn his second reign as IWGP Champion.
2: WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble
After all of the speculation, all of the wait and rumors....it was all finally over, in one single instant as AJ Styles cut the curtains and made his way to the ring, as the number three entrant in the 2016 WWE Royal Rumble.
As one could only imagine, the fans were in awe and going completely nuts. The one thing they said would never happen, the one free agent they said would never make the jump to the WWE, he was finally here and despite being eliminated by Kevin Owens, it didn't matter, because AJ Styles was finally a WWE Superstar and that alone was more than enough for that moment.
1: WWE World Champion
Everything in his career that he had ever accomplished and everything he had ever sacrificed, it all led up to this very moment. At last, after a laundry list of accomplishments and a plethora of championship title victories to his credit, AJ Styles had finally won the top prize, with the top company in all of professional wrestling...the WWE World Championship.
For nearly a half an hour, AJ Styles went to war with defending Champion Dean Ambrose at the 2016 WWE Backlash pay-per-view. But, there could be only one. So, once the dust settled and the final bell rang at the conclusion of a huge night in Richmond, AJ Styles walked away as the new WWE World Champion.
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