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AJ Styles has been one of WWE's leading performers in the past 5 years. After he made his "Phenomenal" debut at WWE Royal Rumble 2016, Styles quickly became a solid main-event player for the company.
He has won multiple championships, including the WWE Championship and the WWE United States Championship. Some fans are surprised by WWE's massive push for Styles. He was one of the main stars for WWE's former rival, TNA (now known as IMPACT Wrestling.) WWE has often been criticized for the poor booking of the Superstars it signs from other companies.
Luckily, that wasn't the case with Styles, as he was able to win the trust of Vince McMahon. As one of the top faces of WWE, "The Phenomenal One" rarely gets pinned on WWE TV. He is one of the company's most protected Superstars, and he wins most of his matches.
Still, there have been many several WWE Superstars that have defeated "The Phenomenal One." Almost nobody expected these competitors to get the better of AJ Styles. So, without further ado, here's a look at five shocking times Styles has lost on WWE programming.
#5 Jinder Mahal pins AJ Styles on WWE SmackDown
2017 was the year of Jinder Mahal. He started climbing up the ranks on WWE SmackDown as a dominant heel. He even shocked the world at WWE Backlash 2017 by defeating Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. Just days before this victory, Mahal faced AJ Styles on the blue brand.
The match was decent, and Styles made Mahal look good in the ring. Mahal also proved himself to the fans by going the distance with a former world champion. Still, it seemed like Styles would easily take out the future WWE Champion.
But Mahal surprisingly pinned Styles for the three count. This marked one of the biggest wins of Mahal's career, as he had defeated "The Phenomenal One."
This victory solidified Mahal's status as an impressive heel on WWE SmackDown. Mahal kept the 1-0 lead over Styles for almost 6 months. But Styles finally got his revenge in November 2017, when he became a 2-time WWE Champion by defeating "The Modern Day Maharaja."
#4 Robert Roode pins AJ Styles on WWE RAW
Robert Roode's WWE career has seen many ups and downs. Though he was a top-level star in other promotions, Roode has never been a true main-eventer in WWE. He debuted on WWE SmackDown in 2017 after he enjoyed a great run with the NXT Championship. He soon captured the WWE United States Championship, and he had a quite entertaining run with the title.
Unfortunately, WWE decided to end his push. So Roode was relegated to the lower mid-card. From that point forward, Roode became a tag-team specialist. He has held tag team gold twice in his WWE career.
Still, Roode's career saw a brief resurgence in 2019. He pinned Seth Rollins at WWE Clash of Champions (2019), and this win brought him back into the spotlight. He suddenly became a top contender for the WWE Universal Championship.
So WWE included Roode in the Fatal 5-Way Elimination No.1 Contenders' Match for the title. "The Glorious One" looked quite strong in the match, and he made it to the final two. He even came face to face with AJ Styles, and the two stars revisited their history together.
After they worked together to take out the other competitors, Roode betrayed "The Phenomenal One" by blasting him with a Glorious DDT. He quickly went for the cover and eliminated Styles from the match.
Although Roode failed to win the match, he surely made headlines by pinning Styles. The two Superstars haven't clashed since this bout. So in a WWE ring, Roode is still undefeated against the former WWE Champion.
#3 Kofi Kingston pins AJ Styles on WWE SmackDown
Kofi Kingston and AJ Styles have faced each other several times in WWE. The two Superstars had some fantastic matches together. They proved to have amazing chemistry, and they have always delivered great performances together.
But Kingston had a terrible record against Styles, as "The Phenomenal One" typically came out victorious in their matches. WWE had always seen Kingston as a "B+ player", so he rarely earned wins over top Superstars.
Everything changed in 2019, though. Kingston's amazing "KofiMania" storyline turned him into a dependable main-event player. WWE pushed him into some great feuds and allowed him to beat Superstars like Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, and Kevin Owens.
WWE continued Kofi's meteoric rise and gave him another big match with Styles. It was a Champion vs. Champion match, as they both held gold at the time. Styles looked to prove his dominance once again by beating Kingston. But the WWE Champion turned the tables on Styles this time around.
The two Superstars traded moves back and forth, with The New Day and the OC looking on from the ringside. In the final moments of the competitive match, Kingston blocked Styles' Phenomenal Forearm attempt and took him down with a beautiful Trouble in Paradise.
This match gave Kingston a huge win, as it further enhanced his credibility as a fighting champion.
#2 James Ellsworth pins AJ Styles on WWE SmackDown
James Ellsworth's whole storyline with Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles in 2016 produced several funny moments in WWE. At that time, Ellsworth was Ambrose's sidekick, and Styles often beat him up.
But Ellsworth shocked the world almost every time he faced Styles. In the early days of this feud, Styles himself picked Ellsworth as his opponent in a non-title match. Daniel Bryan, the Smackdown General Manager at the time, then raised the stakes by making Ambrose the special guest referee of the match.
Styles easily brutalized Ellsworth in the bout, but Ambrose refused to count Styles' pin attempt. Instead, he planted "The Phenomenal One" with a Dirty Deeds. He threw Ellsworth onto Styles and quickly made the three count. It was probably one of the most shocking losses in Styles' WWE career.
Ellsworth went on to score two more victories over Styles in the following weeks. He won their second encounter by disqualification, and he scored his third win by beating Styles in a Ladder Match.
Styles finally settled the score with Ellsworth in December 2016, when he knocked the challenger out with a single punch to retain his WWE Championship.
#1 Jey Uso pins AJ Styles on WWE SmackDown
Jey Uso's WWE career has taken off in 2020. He started the year as a renowned tag team specialist . Near the end of the year, he scored wins over former world champions like Daniel Bryan. Uso has surely come a long way, and he has proven that he's a legitimate main event player. His growth was evident in a match with AJ Styles earlier this year.
During the first episode of WWE SmackDown in October, Styles called Uso out for failing to defeat Roman Reigns at WWE Clash of Champions. Uso took this insult personally, and he attacked Styles. This confrontation led to a match between the two Superstars.
The bout involved fast-paced action, as both Superstars countered each other at every turn. As Styles looked to finish off Jey Uso with a Phenomenal Forearm, the underdog outsmarted Styles by laying him out with a quick Superkick. Styles came crashing down on the floor. Then, Uso hit a Frog Splash and picked up the win.
This major win made Uso look even stronger, and it firmly established him as one of WWE SmackDown's brightest stars.
