AJ Styles: The Phenomenal Face of WWE

When AJ Styles was rumored to be signing with WWE in January, I wondered exactly what it would mean for WWE. Given the injuries around that time and the lack of star power, I had high hopes.

He got a huge pop at the Royal Rumble, but his Rumble appearance wasn’t all that memorable as he was tossed out like any other guy by Kevin Owens. He had a disappointing feud with Chris Jericho and then lost to Jericho at Wrestlemania. That’s when people figured all hope was lost with AJ. But the next night is when everything changed.

Styles went on to have some great matches with Roman Reigns following Wrestlemania. He came up short in both matches, but he proved that he could hang with the big dog in WWE and made him look like a million bucks. Following that feud, he turned heel on John Cena and was off the races.

He won both one-on-one matches with Cena. The first, he needed help. The second, he won clean as a sheet on the second biggest PPV of the year. Styles had officially cemented himself as the top guy on Smackdown, even if he didn’t have the belt.

On Sunday at Backlash, he got the belt. Even though beating Cena clean might seem like a bigger deal, Styles winning the WWE World Heavyweight title felt like the culmination of years of hard work. Ten years ago, very few thought Styles would make it to WWE. Even less thought he would be the champion. It seemed like Styles was destined to carry TNA forever.

Ten years later, Styles is now carrying Smackdown, and I couldn’t be more excited.

As I wrote in January, I’ve been a fan of AJ Styles since the inception of TNA. I’ve always been amazed by his athleticism and his ability to create drama and moments in his matches. Whether it was a random match for NWA Wildside or the classics with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, there was just something about AJ Styles that drew me in.

In 2016, not much has changed. Styles is just as good as he was ten years ago. He’s lost a little athleticism, and he’s changed his style up a bit, but he remains one of the absolute best wrestlers in the world. He still knows how to bump like a madman, how to craft a story, and how to create moments and drama. It doesn’t matter who he’s in the ring with, you can count on AJ to hold up his end of the bargain.

In winning the WWE World Heavyweight title, WWE shows that they see those same things. It’s easy to dismiss the titles nowadays. Thanks to injuries, poor booking, short title reigns, and the brand split; the World Title probably doesn’t mean as much as it used to. But it’s still the World Title, and to the company and the people in the company, that belt still means everything.

Vince and company have now given AJ the ball, and it’d shock everyone if he didn’t score. I’m not saying that AJ will lead the next boom period because I’m not sure we’ll ever have another boom period in our lifetime, but AJ will continue to deliver consistent performances on the mic and in the ring. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a ton of help on Smackdown. The Ambrose feud will likely continue, and if Ambrose stops being a comedian and starts being a serious wrestler, the two could have a hell of a feud, but otherwise there aren’t many options for AJ. Feuding with a returning Cena isn’t out of the question, but they’d be wise to put that one on the back burner until Wrestlemania at the earliest. That only leaves Randy Orton, which could be fun if Orton can stay healthy long enough for it to happen.

Just, please, for the love of God don’t have AJ feud with Kane. Learn from the past two years.

No matter who he’s jousting with on the mic or wrestling circles around in the ring, we know AJ is going to be phenomenal. He’s given fans no reason to think any different.

Follow me on twitter @jeremylambert88 and tell me why my opinion is fact.