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Ever since making his ‘Phenomenal’ debut for the WWE at the 2016 Royal Rumble event, current WWE Champion AJ Styles has certainly been competing at the very highest level in the company, ‘The Phenomenal One’ has gone on to provide us with some of the most memorable moments of all time in the WWE.
Starting from his initial debut to his several championship wins, AJ Styles has definitely seen it all and has done it all in the WWE and his influence in the entire promotion as a global superstar has been tremendous simultaneously tremendous as well.
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With that being said, here are 10 of AJ Styles’ best moments in the WWE so far:
#10. AJ Styles steps up to The Beast- Survivor Series, 2017
The initial plan for Brock Lesnar at the 2017 Survivor Series pay-per-view was to go head-to-head in a Champion vs Champion match against then WWE Champion Jinder Maha., However, those plans were eventually nixed as ‘The Beast Incarnate’ found himself in the ring with ‘The Phenomenal One’.
There is certainly no doubt in the fact that Styles came into this contest as the underdog, but, on the other hand, ‘The Phenomenal One’ was definitely high on confidence thanks to his massive WWE Championship win over Jinder Mahal in the UK and regardless of the outcome of his match against Lesnar, Styles’ efforts in this particular showdown are definitely worth all the praise.
Styles and Lesnar’s collision was also the prime example of ‘David vs Goliath’ and despite suffering a defeat at the hands of the Universal Champion, there is certainly no doubt that Styles put up an absolutely valiant effort in his match against ‘The Beast Incarnate’ in Houston last year.
#9.AJ Styles forms a dream team with The Shield- Raw, 2017
Over the course of these past few years, we’ve witnessed the formation of some unreal dream teams in the WWE and one of the rather recent pairings was when current WWE Champion AJ Styles became an honorary member of The Shield for one night only on the red brand of Monday Night Raw.
Following the aftermath of an amazing TLC PPV, Styles would seemingly go on to remain on the Raw brand for one more night as he teamed up with then-Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in a six-man tag team match against the trio of The Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro.
The Hounds of Justice and The Phenomenal One would eventually go on to pick up the win in what was certainly one of the most memorable moments from AJ Styles’ WWE career so far.
#8. AJ Styles becomes the first man to win the WWE Championship in the UK- SmackDown Live, 2017
Jinder Mahal’s reign as WWE Champion was definitely one of the most disappointing and boring world title reigns of all time and several critics have also placed ‘The Modern Day Maharaja’ as one of the worst WWE Champions of all time.
However, on a certain episode of SmackDown Live in the UK, in 2017, WWE eventually decided to end Mahal’s push, which apparently came to an abrupt ending thanks to ‘The Phenomenal One’, who once again stepped up to the plate when necessary and eventually knocked off ‘The Maharaja’ from the pedestal in order to win the WWE Championship for a second time in his career.
With this win, the WWE also set up a dream Champion vs Champion match for Survivor Series between Styles and Mahal.
#7. AJ Styles wins the United States Championship at The Garden- WWE House Show, 2017
This was certainly one of the most surprising WWE moments of 2017, as we often don’t get the privilege of witnessing a major title changing hands at a house show. However, after successfully winning an Independence Day Battle Royal on SmackDown Live, Styles eventually went on to cash in his US Title shot against Kevin Owens at a Madison Square Garden show.
Following his historic win over Owens at The MSG, WWE subsequently also went on to acknowledge this as Styles’ first reign as WWE US Champion as it turned out to be a true history-making moment as ‘The Phenomenal One’ captured his second title belt under the WWE banner for the very first time.
#6. AJ Styles and Finn Balor share a Too Sweet moment- TLC, 2017
At TLC, 2017, former Universal Champion Finn Balor was originally scheduled to compete in a one-on-one match against Bray Wyatt, however, with Wyatt being forced to pull-out of the match in the very last minute due to mumps, the WWE Universe instead got more than they bargained for as we finally had the chance to witness a much-anticipated dream showdown between former Bullet Club leaders Finn Balor and AJ Styles.
Eventually, both Styles and Balor put up an 18-minute classic at The Target Center during the TLC PPV, however, what followed after their match was even cooler when the two former BC frontmen went on to share the Too Sweet inside the squared circle.
#5. AJ Styles gets a clean win over John Cena- SummerSlam, 2016
AJ Styles’ first year in the WWE is considered one of the greatest debut years for a superstar in the company and picking up a clean win over the 16-time WWE World Champion John Cena certainly speaks for itself.
Throughout the years, John Cena has been engaged in some of the most historic rivalries of all time and his feud against ‘The Phenomenal’ AJ Styles is up there among the very best as well. Despite picking up a win over Cena at Money in the Bank, due to outside interference from The Club, AJ Styles was determined to defeat Cena in a clean manner on this occasion and that’s what exactly happened at the 2016 SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Both Cena and Styles wrestled each other to an absolute classic back-and-forth match and by the end of the evening, it was the latter who finally got his much-desired win over ‘The Leader of The Cenation’ after hitting him with the Styles Clash and The Phenomenal Forearm in quick succession for the win.
#4. AJ Styles makes his WrestleMania debut- WrestleMania 32, 2016
AJ Styles’ rivalry with Chris Jericho was also another lengthy yet interesting feuds in the WWE for ‘The Phenomenal One’, who shortly after his arrival to the company engaged in a feud with former 6-time World Champion Chris Jericho.
Prior to the build-up to this feud, both Jericho and Styles faced-off against each other in a friendly manner, with both men being babyfaces at that point of time and eventually Styles and Y2J went on to form a dream tag team with each other called Y2AJ.
However, after unsuccessfully challenging The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championships, Chris Jericho pulled-off yet another amazing move from his bag of tricks in classic Chris Jericho fashion, as he turned his back on Styles, igniting an outstanding feud between the two men.
Styles and Jericho’s feud eventually led to some intense and astonishing back-and-forth promos and at WrestleMania 32, the two men faced-off against each other in a grudge match in what was AJ Styles debut at The Grandest Stage of Them All. After having competed for NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom event and TNA’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view as well, this was Styles’ third biggest annual event for a different promotion as ‘The Phenomenal One’ made his WM debut against arguably one of the greatest competitors of this generation in Y2J.
#3. AJ Styles turns heel and forms The Club- Raw, 2016
Following his two major WWE Title losses against Roman Reigns, AJ Styles was in a desperate need of a change of direction and a fresh feud and in order to successfully execute that plan, up-stepped 16-time WWE World Champion John Cena, who upon his return to the WWE in 2016 eventually crossed-paths with the former Mr. TNA for the very first time in his career.
Styles and Cena’s first meeting in a WWE ring was indeed historic and the crowd reaction itself is pretty much enough to give everyone an idea on how historic this moment was between the two living Pro Wrestling legends.
After a brief interaction with each other, both Styles and Cena were eventually interrupted by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who looked to make an example out of both AJ and Cena as the two men seemingly prepared to team up with each other in order to fend-off The Club. However, instead what happened next was truly one of the biggest shocks in WWE history, as ‘The Phenomenal One’ connected with a wicked Clothesline on John Cena and turned heel for the first time in his WWE career.
Styles was then joined by his fellow Club members Gallows and Anderson, as the three men brutally assaulted John Cena and shared a Too Sweet in the middle of the ring over the unconscious body of Cena. Truly an iconic moment in Styles’ career!
#2. AJ Styles makes his much-awaited WWE debut- Royal Rumble, 2016
Prior to his much-awaited debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble PPV, there were apparently several talks of AJ Styles potentially signing for the WWE and at 2016 30-man over the top rope Royal Rumble match, Styles finally stepped foot into the Biggest Sports Entertainment Company in the world for the very first time in his decorated 20-year career.
Upon his debut at the 30-man Royal Rumble match, Styles entered the contest as the third surprise entrant and received a huge ovation from the WWE Universe in what was his first appearance in the WWE, this was truly an iconic and historic moment as the former Impact and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and the man who is arguably the greatest competitor of this generation, stepped foot into the WWE for the very first time.
#1. AJ Styles wins the WWE Championship- Backlash, 2016
As aforementioned, AJ Styles’ first year in the WWE was truly one of the greatest debut years a superstar could’ve ever asked for and what better way to cap things off by adding the prestigious WWE Championship to his illusive list of accomplishments and achievements?
After failing to capture the WWE Championship on two previous occasions earlier in the year, Styles, who on this occasion was coming off two huge wins over John Cena, once again had the opportunity to win the biggest prize in the WWE as he went head-to-head against ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ Dean Ambrose for the WWE Title.
Styles’ character development and heel-turn definitely did pay-off for him in a brilliant manner, as he eventually pinned Ambrose after the Styles Clash, after hitting with a gruesome low-blow in the first place in order to win the WWE Title for the very first time in his career.
This was definitely the most memorable and historic moment in AJ Styles’ WWE career so far and this also promises to be the biggest milestone in his WWE career by a long shot.
