In the aftermath of the historic Wrestle Kingdom 10 event at the iconic Tokyo Dome, the Pro Wrestling world underwent a shockwave as reports suggested that WWE was interested in signing AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and Shinsuke Nakamura.
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With Nakamura and Styles putting on a classic at the Tokyo Dome, it was just a matter of moments for either of the two men to make their WWE debut and with the 2016 Royal Rumble around the corner, fans were certainly hoping to see 'The Phenomenal One' or 'The King of Strong Style' enter the match as a surprise entrant.
AJ Styles makes his shocking WWE Debut
Come January 25, 2016, the then-WWE Champion Roman Reigns was on course to become the second man in history (after Ric Flair) to defend the WWE Championship in the Royal Rumble match against 29 other men. And with The Big Dog entering the bout at #1, the odds were completely stacked against the reigning champ.
A pumped-up Roman Reigns was quick to eliminate entrant #2 Rusev and was set to take on the rest of the roster. However, that is when The Big Dog and the WWE Universe were treated to an unusual theme song, one that they had never heard before. The sheer confusion on the faces of the people in the arena, and even on Reigns' face, was clear and it wasn't until the word 'Phenomenal' popped up on the titantron that the reaction of the people in the Amway Center changed.
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As Styles kicked-off his WWE career in 'style' with a showdown against Roman Reigns in the ring, The Phenomenal One went on to last over 28 minutes in the battle royal, getting two eliminations and marking a successful WWE debut in the process. Truly Phenomenal!
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About the author
Soumik Datta
Soumik Datta is a professional wrestling journalist who has been following the business for more than a decade.
In 2017, Soumik joined the Sportskeeda Wrestling team and is best known for his work with the WWE team. He has previously contributed to the Sportskeeda AEW, MMA, and the football team where he specifically covered the Major League Soccer.
In 2024, Soumik crossed 50 million reads for Sportskeeda WWE. While working under Sportskeeda MMA, he interviewed prominent UFC fighters, including Justin Gaethje, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, among others. He is also being followed by John Cena on X (formerly Twitter).
In 2025, Soumik became an Assistant Content Manager at Sportskeeda, but continues to cover and write about the hottest and trending news topics.
Apart from his love for professional wrestling, Soumik also watches Football and has been a lifelong follower of Liverpool FC and Mohun Bagan. He has also been following the Indian Super League and remains the only content creator to have traveled across India to watch 7 ISL Matches in 7 Days, a video which currently sits at 26K views on his YouTube channel. His channel currently amasses over 120K views.
As aforementioned, Soumik also likes to make content for his YouTube channel and travel to various places either with family, friends, or solo, or go on road trips.
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