AJ Styles

Styles debuted in 1998 and competed for various independent promotions, before gaining his first mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. From 2002 to 2014, he became widely known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), who described him as “the cornerstone of the company since the inception in 2002”.

Within that organization, Styles held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice, and was the inaugural titleholder of the X Division Championship, which he won six times. Styles is the first professional wrestler to complete the TNA Triple Crown (five times) and the TNA Grand Slam (two times).

He simultaneously appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002–2006, where he became the inaugural ROH Pure Champion. In 2014, Styles signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his debut match, later winning it a second time and becoming the third leader of the Bullet Club stable. Styles has also won various titles on international independent circuits, including the PWG World Championship.

Styles first appeared in WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation) in 2002, but turned down a developmental contract he was offered with the company. He signed a multi-year contract with WWE fourteen years later in January 2016, making his full-time debut that month and going on to win the WWE Championship in September.

With his second WWE Championship victory in Manchester, England in November 2017, Styles was recognized by WWE as the first wrestler to win the title outside of North America. At 371 days, this reign is the longest in SmackDown history under the current brand extension, shattering the previous record of 280 days held by John Bradshaw Layfield from 2004–2005. It is also recognized as the eighth-longest overall (tied with Randy Savage’s 1988–1989 reign). In 2021, AJ completed the WWE Triple Crown & Grand Slam Championship when he won the Raw Tag Team title with Omos at WrestleMania 37.

Styles has long been regarded as one of the world’s best professional wrestlers. He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events internationally, including the respective premier events of WWE and TNA, WrestleMania and Bound for Glory.

In 2010, he became the first TNA-contracted wrestler to be ranked number one on the annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) PWI 500 list; after being voted Wrestler of the Year three consecutive times by the magazine between 2016 and 2018 (a feature only accomplished before by Ric Flair from 1984–1986), readers voted him Wrestler of the Decade in 2020. Styles is also a ten-time Wrestling Observer Newsletter award winner, including Wrestler of the Year in both 2015 and 2016; in 2017, the magazine inducted him into its Hall of Fame.

Other Notable Achievements: PWG Championship, PWI Wrestler Of The Year (2016), NWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Jerry Lynn (1), Abyss (1) and Christopher Daniels (2), TNA Legends/Global/Television Championship (2 times), TNA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tomko (1) and Kurt Angle (1), TNA X Division Championship (6 times), Bound For Glory Series (2013), ROH Pure Wrestling Championship, ROH Tag Team Championship – with Amazing Red

AAW Heavyweight Championship (5 times), Ballpark Brawl Natural Heavyweight Championship (3 times), CWF/E Heavyweight Championship (5 times), FWE Heavyweight Championship, IPW Heavyweight Championship (4 times), IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship, Ted Petty Invitational (2004), IWC Super Indies Championship (4 times), IWR King of The Indies Championship (12 times), Max-Pro Cruiserweight Championship (12 times), MPW Universal Heavyweight Championship (12 times), NKPWA Junior Heavyweight Championship, NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship, NWA Wildside Television Championship (3 times), PPW Tag Team Championship – with Tommy Suede, RPW British Heavyweight Championship, WWA International Cruiserweight Championship.