3 Reasons why AJ Styles was a bad WWE Champion

#3. Terrible Rivalries

Shoddy rivalries

This is perhaps the biggest reason why Styles was a bad champion. Due to his substandard rivalries. Honestly, I was never legitimately excited for any match throughout his title reign (Except perhaps Bryan vs Styles at Crown Jewel). There was never a good story line and even if there was one, it was dragged out till it lost all relevance. Let's analyze each of his rivalries since winning the belt.

Jinder Mahal: This rivalry was essentially established just to serve an excuse for the obligatory championship rematch. Although the match was good, it was never extended beyond Clash of Champions.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn:This rivalry was never centered around the WWE Championship. AJ was portrayed as a victim in the power struggle between the GM and Commissioner of Smackdown.

Shinsuke Nakamura: This rivalry had a lot of potential. But, WWE made a lot of mistakes with this one. First, they relied on the 'dream match' gimmick and never provided a decent story line to Nakamura and Styles to work on. After that, they repeatedly put on draws and no-finish matches which made the story line lose all its heat. Eventually, they let Nakamura out of the title picture at MITB.

Samoa Joe: In the beginning, this rivalry was very personal. Samoa Joe's shots on Styles' family created much hype for their initial matches. But, WWE never utilized any other angle for this rivalry. Joe kept repeating the same promos until his lost to Styles. Then he lost again. And again. By making Joe repeatedly lose to Styles, any semblance of a rivalry was destroyed.

Overall, there was not even one quality rivalry throughout AJ Styles 371-days run as champion.

So there you have it. My reasons on why AJ Styles was a bad champion. If you have another opinion, do leave a comment. Adios.