A Look Back at the Phenomenal Career of AJ Styles Part 4: The Last Flight

Well, we have unfortunately come to the end. For the full retrospective, check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. This has been a more personal look back for me than the John Cena one. Styles was someone I grew up watching. He showed up in WCW when I was 14, and now, at just shy of 39, it’s time to say goodbye to one of the greats.

Today, we will be covering his last few years in the WWE and as an active wrestler. For those of you who’ve been reading, thanks for coming along! I also wanted to ask if anyone would want to read more of these? Hiroshi Tanahashi would be the next one to do, and I was also considering doing one for Bryan Danielson, since I wasn’t writing for the site when he retired.

Slowing Down

Intercontinental Championship and a Big Alliance

After the Boneyard match, Anderson and Gallows were released. AJ Styles would take a brief hiatus, returning to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank Ladder match. He would fail to win the match, but would enter a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion.

Styles would beat Shinsuke Nakamura in the first round and get a bye after Elias was unable to compete. He would beat Daniel Bryan in the finals to win his first Intercontinental Championship.

It is always crazy to think about Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Jon Moxley were all high-profile wrestlers in the WWE. Joe was the only one to not win a World Championship in the WWE, but if he had stayed healthy, he could have been.

These were all guys we watched grow on the independents and TNA, and never thought they would get a fair shake in the WWE.

AJ Styles would defend the title against Drew Gulak and Gran Metalik before losing it to Jeff Hardy, ending his reign at 70 days.  He would fail to regain the title in a Triple-Threat Ladder match at Clash of Champions, when Sami Zayn regained the title he never lost.

Styles would move back to Raw and debut a new bodyguard, Omos. Styles would lead Team Raw to a clean sweep at Survivor Series, and then beat Keith Lee and Riddle to earn a shot at Drew McIntyre at TLC. He would fail to win the title after The Miz unsuccessfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

Styles would enter the Royal Rumble, but failed to win. He would then enter the Elimination Chamber, eliminating Sheaums, but failing to win after he was the last man eliminated by McIntyre.

At WrestleMania 37, Styles & Omos would beat The New Day to win the Raw Tag Team Championships. This would make Styles the 22nd WWE Grand Slam Champion, and the first to achieve both the WWE and TNA Grand Slams.

Again, the guy no one thought would make it in the WWE has held every title there is to hold there. And despite TNA’s complete failure to book him like a star, Styles achieved the same there.

They would lose the titles to RK-Bro at SummerSlam, and they would try and fail to regain them at Crown Jewel.  Omos would have enough of losing and turn on Styles in December.

Judgement Day Comes for Styles and The Club Returns

AJ Styles would enter the 2022 Royal Rumble at number 1; he would eliminate six wrestlers before being eliminated by Madcap Moss. (Ugh, that is all I have to say about that.) He would enter the Elimination Chamber and, once again, fail to win after being eliminated by Brock Lesnar.

Styles would then accept a challenge from Edge for a match at WrestleMania 38. He would lose the match after a distraction by Damien Priest. And then lose in the rematch due to interference by Rhea Ripley.

This would lead to Styles teaming up with Finn Balor and Liv Morgan to beat The Judgement Day at Hell in a Cell.

It’s crazy how far back the Morgan vs Ripley feud goes. Not to mention you have Finn on the face side here, where he would soon join the Judgement Day, and they would kick out Edge. It’s also crazy that The Judgement Day is in its fourth year. Somehow it has seemed both longer and shorter than that.

After beating Judgement Day, Styles would enter a feud with The Miz and Ciampa. (Just a little reminder of how badly Ciampa was booked on the main roster.)  Styles would distract Miz in his SummerSlam match against Logan Paul (remember when he was pushed as a face?)

Styles would beat Miz in a No Disqualification match to end their feud. And then faced Bobby Lashley in a losing effort for the United States Championship.

Styles would rekindle his feud with the Judgement Day, turning down numerous offers by Balor to join them. Styles would pretend to join them, only to reintroduce Gallows and Anderson. The trio would face the Judgement Day at Crown Jewel, but lose after interference by Ripley.

Styles would beat Balor at Survivor Series, but the next night, The O.C. would lose in an Eight-Person Mixed Tag Team match to end the feud. Styles would then break his ankle at a house show, putting him out of action.

The End of an Era

Trying to Climb the Mountain Again

AJ Styles would compete in a tournament to crown the inaugural World Heavyweight Championship. He would beat Edge and Rey Mysterio in a Triple-Threat qualifier, then Bobby Lashley in the semi-final. But he would fail to beat Seth Rollins in the finals at Night of Champions.

After a brief feud with Karrion Kross (more on him later). Styles would enter a feud with the Bloodline. He would lose to Solo Sikoa after interference by Jimmy Uso. Cena would come to his aid to set up a Tag Team match for Fastlane. However, Stylers would be taken out before the match and replaced by LA Knight.

He would be gone for two months, returning in December to assist Orton and Knight in fending off the Bloodline, before attacking Knight. Styles would fail to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from Roman Reigns in a Fatal Four-Way at the Royal Rumble.

He would lose his Elimination Chamber qualifying match after Knight distracted him. Styles would get revenge by attacking Knight during the Elimination Chamber match, turning heel in the process.

Styles would face Knight on Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, but would fail to win. He would then enter the Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament, defeating Kevin Owens and Rey Mysterio. He would finally defeat Knight in the finals and earn a shot at Cody Rhodes at Backlash in France.

This match is incredible; it was given five stars by Meltzer. This would be Styles’s second five-star match, following the Triple-Threat in TNA. I put the video for the match above; if you haven’t watched it, do it now. I will wait.

Styles would then pull a Mark Henry, pretending to retire, only to attack Rhodes and realign with the O.C. He and Rhodes would have an I Quit match at Clash at the Castle Scotland, with Styles again losing, ending their feud.

Styles would make an appearance for Pro Wrestling NOAH, beating Naomichi Marufuji at NOAH Destination. I want to say, it’s so awesome that stuff like this can happen now. It’s something that you would rarely, if ever, see in the past.

Styles would sustain a Lisfranc injury in a match against Carmelo Hayes, putting him out of action for a couple of months.

The Final Flight of the Phenomenal AJ Styles

AJ Styles would return in the 2025 Royal Rumble. He would eliminate LA Knight before being eliminated by Logan Paul. Paul would beat Styles at WrestleMania 41, after Styles refused to use the brass knuckles given to him by Karrion Kross (see, I told you he would pop up again).

Styles would make his first live appearance for TNA in 11 years, showing up at Slammiversary to congratulate the newly crowned TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater.

In the summer, he would feud with Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship. They would have one of my favorite matches from SummerSlam, with a ton of Eddie Guerrero call-backs. He would fail to win again at Raw in Paris.

Styles would then get one of Cena’s last matches at Crown Jewel. This is honestly one of the best Cena matches during his final run. It’s up there with Punk and Rhodes 2. It was filled with call-backs. Not just for their own feuds, but also their greatest rivals. Also, knowing this was supposed to be Drew McIntyre’s match, and the fans getting them to switch it to Styles makes it even better.

Following his match with Cena, Styles would start a team with Dragon Lee. They would beat old rivals Finn Balor and JD Dunn of the Judgement Day to win the World Tag Team Championships. They would hold the titles for 70 days before dropping them to The Usos.

Styles would then stand up to Gunther, who was calling Cena a bitch for tapping out in his final match. Gunther would controversially beat Styles on Raw. Styles would demand another match, with Gunther accepting if Styles put his career on the line. Styles would of course accept, or we wouldn’t be here right now.

On the way to his final match, he would have an absolute banger with Shinsuke Nakamura at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLIII, and then another great match with CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw.

And then at the 2026 Royal Rumble, a decade after his debut in the WWE, the Phenomenal One ended his career. He gave everything he could, but ultimately fell to Gunther’s unrelenting onslaught. He didn’t go out with a whimper; it was a great match, and exemplified Styles’s desire to go out while he could still deliver at the level he always had.

Thank You, Styles

For 26 years, we were graced with one of the best to ever do it. As Cena said, Styles is probably the greatest in-ring wrestler ever. He makes the hard stuff look easy. Everything he does is so smooth and crisp. He went from an independent standout to a TNA Grand Slam Champion, to a two-time IWGP Champion, and finally to a WWE Grand Slam Champion. His decade in the WWE is enough to say he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, and when you add in the 15 years before that, it becomes a no-brainer.

AJ Styles will forever be remembered for his incredible talent, his selflessness in the ring, and being one of the best. Thank you, Styles!