A Look Back at the Phenomenal Career of AJ Styles Part 1: Get Ready to Fly

At the end of 2025, I did a series of articles looking back at the career of John Cena. With Styles’s career looking to be done, I wanted to do the same for him. AJ Styles’s career is one of the first that I got to watch from beginning to end. And I’m so thankful I could.

From the moment he showed up in WCW, I knew there was something special about him, and as a TNA fan, I always felt like he was a hidden secret to the mainstream fans. And even though he probably wouldn’t make it in the WWE, I knew he deserved the shot. And when it finally came, he knocked it out of the park and has carved out a Hall of Fame career with just his WWE work.

While I may not be a big fan of Allen Jones the man, I have always been a huge fan of AJ Styles the wrestler. And I am looking forward to looking back at the career of one of the best to ever do it.

Humble Beginnings

After becoming a two-time Georgia State Wrestling champion, he would be invited to try professional wrestling by some friends. After being trained by Rick Michaels, he would debut in 1998 in National Championship Wrestling. He would work as the masked Mr. Olympia and become the NCW Television Champion in August of 1999.

In December, the NCW would merge with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside. It was in Wildside that Styles would ditch the mask and become A.J. Styles. He would win the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship in December 2001.

WCW & First WWF Appearances

After a feud with Air Paris in Wildside, the duo would be signed to WCW as a tag team. Styles would go by Air Styles, and they would form Air Raid. They were entered into a tournament for the new WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships, but lost in the first round to Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo.

Even though they only had a few matches, 11-year-old me was an instant fan. He was only three years into his career, and already he had something special that set him apart. If WCW hadn’t ended, I could see Styles becoming a fixture in their Main Event scene.

Following WCW’s closure, Styles had a couple of tryouts with the WWF. First against his trainer, Rick Michaels

In early 2002, he would have a match against The Hurricane for Metal and another dark match against Rico Constantino. These matches would earn him a developmental deal, but not wanting to interfere with his wife’s college plans, he turned it down. I’m sure a lot of wrestlers would have jumped at this chance. But honestly, if Styles had taken the deal, I don’t think he would have had the career that he did. It also could have damaged his relationship with his wife. So, props to Styles for putting his family first and betting on himself.

A Breakthrough Year

From October 2001 through October 2002, Styles saw his stock rise quickly. On 10/26/2001, he would make it to the quarter-finals of APW’s King of the Indies. Before losing to Christopher Daniels (much more on him soon).

He would debut for XWF, losing in a battle royal for the XWF Cruiserweight Championship, and then losing to Daniels in a match taped for XWF’s TV Show. In February, he would debut for the WWA. He would beat Nova at The Eruption in a tournament semi-final match for the International Cruiserweight Championship. He would go on to beat Jerry Lynn to win the title, but vacated it shortly after.

In March, he would enter ECWA’s Super 8 Tournament, advancing to the finals before losing to Donovan Morgan. (Fun fact, working security for SPW, I met both Donovan Morgan and Michael Modest. Not my favorite wrestler interaction ever.)

In June, he would enter the JCW (now GCW) Jersey-J Cup tournament. Losing to Reckless Youth in the finals. In October, he would make his debut in the UK for FWA, and then he would head to IWA: Mid-South for the Ted Petty Invitational tournament, but was defeated (once again) by Christopher Daniels in the first round.

It’s funny how linked Daniels and Styles were from almost the beginning. They really were the top of the game on the indies post-WCW. They laid the groundwork for what was about to come with ROH and PWG, traveling the globe putting on bangers left and right. And it was about to get even bigger.

The Phenomenal Rise

Backing up a few months, Styles debuted in two new companies in May of 2002. ROH and TNA. Both of these companies would start within months of each other, with ROH showcasing technical and high-flying wrestling. And TNA showcased a mix of entertainment and what they dubbed the X-Division style wrestling.

ROH Championship Pursuit

Styles would debut at the third ROH show, 2002’s A Night of Appreciation, in a losing effort against Low-Ki. He would then enter the ROH Title Tournament at Road to the Title. Beating Jerry Lynn in the first round, before losing to Christopher Daniels in the second round.

His next match in ROH would see him once again lose to Low-Ki in a match for the ROH Title at Honor Invades Boston. At All-Star Extravaganza, Styles would beat American Dragon (I wonder whatever happened to that guy?) to become the #1 Contender for the ROH Title. He would finally beat Christopher Daniels at Scamble Madness to defend his #1 Contender status.

He would fail to win the ROH Title, losing to Xavier at Night of the Butcher to wrap up his first year in ROH. In February 2003, he would lose a Triple-Threat #1 Contender match to Paul London at ROH’s First Anniversary Show.

ROH Tag Team Champions and Further ROH World Championship Attempts

He and Amazing Red would earn a shot at the ROH Tag Team Titles by winning a Scramble match at Expect the Unexpected. They would go on to beat The Prophecy’s Christopher Daniels and Xavier at Expect the Unexpected. The team would go on to defend the titles against The Briscoes at both Night of Champions and Epic Encounter. They would lose the title to The Prophecy’s Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff at Wrath of the Racket.

After his run with Amazing Red as ROH Tag Team Champions, Styles would take Jimmy Rave under his wing. He would once again try to gain the ROH World Championship. Beating Bryan Danielson at Main Event Spectacles to become #1 Contender. He would fail to defeat World Champion Samoa Joe at War of the Wire.

At the Second Anniversary Show, Styles would compete in a tournament for the ROH Pure Championship. Defeating Jimmy Rave, Matt Stryker, and finally CM Punk to become the first Pure Champion.

He would defend the title against Punk in a rematch at At Our Best, with Ricky Steamboat as the guest referee. Right after this, would be when ROH founder Rob Feinstein would be busted as a pedophile. This would cause TNA to pull all its contracted wrestlers from ROH, causing Styles to vacate the Pure Championship.

Styles wouldn’t return until the Third Anniversary Celebration: Part Two. He would start a feud with Jimmy Rave and The Embassy over Rave stealing the Styles Clash. They would have a match at Glory by Honor IV, with Styles winning the right to use the Clash.

He would defeat Austin Aries at This Means War, and then team with Aries, Jack Evans, and Matt Sydal, in a losing effort, against Abyss, Alex Shelley, Jimmy Rave, and Prince Nana at Vendetta.

At A Night of Tribute, lost to Daniels in a Three-Way match that also featured Sydal. He would beat Sydal at Hell Freezes Over to open 2006. He would lose to ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson at ROH Dissension, and then team with Matt Sydal in a losing effort against ROH Tag Team Champions Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.

Styles would wrap up his second run in ROH at Time to Man Up, losing to Samoa Joe.

Styles’ time in ROH was filled with great matches against some of the best in the world at the time. It’s interesting to go back and see these early matches with Danielson, Joe, and Punk. Names that would go on to define an entire generation. And all of them made a name for themselves in this little indie out of the North East.

TNA

Concurrent with his ROH run, Styles was also building his legacy in the promotion that would be forever linked to his name. From the beginning, it was clear he was going to be one of the pillars of the company. And for those of us following at the time, it was a sheer joy to watch him do his thing every week.

Building the X-Division

After winning a Six-Man Tag match on the first PPV, Styles would win a Double Elimination match against Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, and Psicosis to become the first X-Division Champion.

The following week, he would team with Jerry Lynn to beat Bruce and Lenny Lane in the finals of a tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championships. The duo would go on to defend the titles over the next several weeks. But Styles would start to take issue with the veteran Lynn.

Styles would lose the X-Division Championship to Low-Ki in a Triple-Threat also involving Lynn. The team would then wrestle Jeff Jarrett and Ron Killings to a no-contest, which caused the titles to be held-up. The following week, Lynn and Styles would have a series of matches: A Falls Count Anywhere match won by Lynn, a No Disqualification match won by Styles, and a ten-minute Iron Man match, which ended in a draw.

On August 28th, Low-Ki would defend his title against Styles and Lynn in a Ladder match. And I remember this as being one of the matches that really put TNA on the map. It showcased what the X-Division was all about, and you had two of the best young talents in the world, and a prime Jerry Lynn going at it for the X-Division Championship.

Lynn would win the title in this match, but had to vacate it after an injury. This led to Styles beating Syxx-Pac for the title in October before dropping it back to Lynn in November.

The NWA World Heavyweight Champion

As 2003 got started, Styles would shift focus from the X-Division to the NWA World Championship. He would beat David Flair in a #1 Contender’s match (why would David Flair be anywhere near a NWA World Heavyweight Contendership, I don’t know). Leading up to the Championship match, he would recruit Larry Zbyszko’s help and align himself with Vince Russo’s Sports Entertainment Xtreme. (Do you get it? It spells SEX. Gods, I hate Russo.)

He would be unsuccessful in the match, but turn face as he repeatedly stopped interference by S.E.X. After the match, he would form a short-lived team with D’Lo Brown, the two would meet in June to determine the #1 Contender. He at least makes more sense than David Flair. D’Lo Brown always deserved more than he got.

Styles would face Jeff Jarrett and Raven in a Triple-Threat for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After interference from Vince Russo, Styles would win his first World Championship.

Styles would defend the title over the next few months, defending it against the likes of Frankie Kazarian, D’Lo Brown, Low-Ki, Raven, Jerry Lynn, and Dusty Rhodes. In October, Jarret would be the one to finally end Styles’s first World Championship reign.

It only took five years for AJ Styles to go from a debuting nobody to NWA World champion. While the NWA Championship didn’t carry the same prestige it once did. TNA did a lot to make it a big deal during their partnership.

And of course, it was Jarret who would end up beating Styles to end his first run. This was Jarret at his worst, keeping himself on top of his own company. Which I understand from the perspective that he knew he wouldn’t leave. But also, it kept a lot of guys down.

Preview

We will end here for the week. With his first World Championship Styles was cemented as main event mainstay. He was ready to fly and bring TNA along for the ride.

Next week we will cover everything from his second run as NWA World Heavyweight Championship to his record setting run as TNA World Heavyweight Champion.