Best and worst of AJ Styles' WWE Championship reign

AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal in November 2017, and kicked off one of the most phenomenal championship reigns of all time as the WWE Champion.

He had several memorable feuds with Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Samoa Joe before losing the title to Daniel Bryan just before Survivor Series 2018. Styles held the championship for 371 days, and defended it on almost every continent on the planet.

He defended his championship on every pay-per-view from WWE Clash of Champions in December 2017, to WWE Crown Jewel in November 2018 (except WWE Elimination Chamber because it was a RAW exclusive PPV).

Here's my analysis of The Phenomenal One's run with the B show's top title.

#1 Best - his match with Brock Lesnar at WWE Survivor Series 2017

Perhaps, the best match Brock Lesnar has had in his entire WWE career

Survivor Series 2017 was expected to fall flat, with the match between Brock Lesnar and Jinder Mahal potentially being the show's main event.

However, WWE quickly realised their mistake and crowned AJ Styles the WWE Champion on a UK special episode of SmackDown Live, which gave the WWE Universe a dream match between AJ and Brock at the inter-brand warfare.

While many fans predicted a squash match, the WWE Creative let AJ Styles push Brock Lesnar to his limits, and at one moment, each and every spectator thought The Beast would tap out to the Calf Crusher.

However, The Beast would recover and counter Styles' Phenomenal Forearm with an F5 to seal the deal. Surely, The Beast won the match, but this match established AJ as one of the top in-ring performers of all time.

#1 Worst - too many DQ finishes

How can WWE end a no disqualification match in a double count-out?

AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura had quite a lukewarm rivalry heading into their mega match at WrestleMania 34. However, the WWE Creative team heated up the rivalry, turning Nakamura heel as the WWE Universe geared for an exciting feud.

WWE booked a no disqualification WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Nakamura at the Backlash pay-per-view which saw both superstars hitting each other with a low blow, leading to a double count-out.

Also, at SummerSlam 2018, AJ Styles squared off against Samoa Joe in a much-awaited WWE Championship match. But, the WWE Creative team gave another DQ finish to this match as Samoa Joe's heelish tactics angered AJ to hit him with a steel chair and disqualify himself in the process.

The WWE Creative need to understand that the WWE Championship is their premier title, and giving so many DQ finishes will only devalue its prestige.

#2 Best - Defending the Championship against every SmackDown superstar possible

AJ Styles defended his WWE Championship against almost every top SmackDown star

If we look at the list of superstars against whom AJ Styles defended his WWE Championship on pay-per-views, it consists of;

#1 Jinder Mahal (Clash of Champions)

#2 Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (Royal Rumble)

#3 John Cena, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, and Baron Corbin (Fastlane)

#4 Shinsuke Nakamura (WrestleMania, Greatest Royal Rumble, Backlash, Money in the Bank)

#5 Rusev (Extreme Rules)

#6 Samoa Joe (SummerSlam, Hell in a Cell, WWE Super Show-Down, and Crown Jewel)

To be precise, AJ Styles has defended the WWE title against 9 different superstars on 12 WWE pay-per-views, and in stipulations like handicap match, no DQ match, and Last Man Standing Match, which truly shows AJ's ever readiness to work a match, and why he is the MVP of WWE. But amidst all of these title defenses, there was a worst as well..

#2 Worst - Not Defending the title in the main event of a single dual-branded Pay-Per-View

This match could have main evented any wrestling show on the planet!

The worst thing about AJ Styles' memorable title reign was that his title did not close any WWE dual-branded pay-per-view of 2018. The only instance where AJ was given the main event slot was at Fastlane 2018, but it was a SD Live exclusive show.

Even in the absence of the Universal Championship, the WWE Championship was not given the main event slot, as a non-title match between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe main evented WWE Backlash, while an Intercontinental Championship match between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler closed the Extreme Rules show.

This certainly disrespected the WWE Championship and its prestige, as not even once was the title counted as the company's premier title. AJ Styles deserved to main event several WWE pay-per-views during his epic reign.

#3 Best/Worst - The way he lost his title

Though Daniel Bryan's heel turn was shocking, AJ's title reign deserved a better end

It has been rumored that AJ lost the title to Daniel Bryan a week before Survivor Series just because the WWE Creative wanted to protect him from another defeat at the hands of 'The Beast' Brock Lesnar.

Well, if that was the real reason why he dropped, I think it was better he dropped the title ahead of Survivor Series since two straight losses to Brock Lesnar would have reduced the credibility of AJ's character.

Also read - Best and Worst of Roman Reigns' Universal Championship Reign

But seeing the way the WWE Creative ended the reign on a random SmackDown Live episode, with the low blow being the chief reason, disappointed me. The 371 day title reign of AJ Styles deserved better than coming to an end due to a low blow.