'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#4 Former WWE Champion AJ Styles
AJ Styles has become one of the biggest stars in WWE since he made his debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble match. Styles became a legend in IMPACT Wrestling before he was signed by WWE. Interestingly, ahead of his career in TNA, Styles was originally linked with Vince McMahon's company.
Styles had his first WWE tryout match back in 2001 and even though he won the match against Rick Michaels, he wasn't offered a contract. Styles then made several more appearances for WWE in 2002 where he wrestled The Hurricane and Rico Constantino.
It was after these matches that WWE offered AJ Styles a developmental contract with the company but it would have meant that he would be forced to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time Styles' wife was still studying to be a teacher and made the decision to stay at home and reject the offer.
AJ Styles later revealed the reason why he turned down the contract offer whilst appearing on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast.
“I had a developmental deal to move to Cincinnati but at the time I was married and I didn't think it was right to move to Cincinnati, even though my wife said, ‘go.’ It wasn't right to leave her, have her move back in with her mother. My job is to take care of her. And so I turned down, respectfully, the developmental deal with WWE. Then within like a couple of months TNA started up, which I thought was just another independent thing that was probably happening. It wasn't a big deal to me. But within six months it's like, OK this might be something. As it grew on, I grew to love that place, because I felt that it was something I and other guys were building. We were the foundation. We were going to build this into something great."
Styles went on to have a successful career in IMPACT Wrestling before finally making his way over to WWE in 2016, where he was WWE Champion before the end of the year.
