In the wake of AJ Styles’ on-screen firing this week, I thought it would be a good time to examine the “Phenomenal One” and see if he really is as good as he says he is, or if he’s caught up in his own hype.
Please note: This is just an examination of his WWE career. His time in the indies bears no relevance to this discussion.
Styles debuted at the 2016 Royal Rumble match at number three, receiving a standing ovation and setting the mood for the upcoming year. Styles began his WWE career as a face, and his first storyline was with Chris Jericho.
Once Y2AJ ended with their match at WrestleMania 32, AJ’s friends from his indie days, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, made their WWE debut. This was the beginning of Styles’ penultimate heel turn, as he and the Club targeted John Cena.
Two matches later, Styles had completely turned heel, yet was still met with cheers from the WWE Universe. The brand split broke up the Club as AJ went to SmackDown and Gallows and Anderson to Raw.
It was after Styles match with Cena at SummerSlam that he truly became insufferable, at least in this writer’s opinion. He declared himself the new John Cena and was given a WWE Championship opportunity because, well because he’s AJ Styles. After hitting Dean Ambrose with a low blow, Styles became champion.
The storyline that followed was extremely entertaining, I have to admit. AJ Styles vs. James Ellsworth with Dean Ambrose as the guest referee? I’d watch that match over and over again just because it brought Styles down a few pegs.
Once that feud was said and done, Styles retained his title by beating Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin, still claiming himself as “the face that runs the place” or, in a truly cringe-worthy moniker, “the champ that runs the camp.”
That is until Cena returned and beat Styles for the title, becoming a 16-time World Champion and tying Ric Flair’s record.
This is where Styles really becomes a victim of his own hype. In the months that have followed the 2017 Royal Rumble, AJ has been crying and complaining about not being given the right opportunities on SmackDown Live, but rarely doing anything to back up his whining.
But, here’s a question: what has AJ done to deserve the opportunities he thinks he’s owed? I mean, fine, WWE did screw him on his contractual rematch for the title, but that was to kick start the road to WrestleMania. Also, Styles never should have won the title in the first place; he should have been DQ’d for the low blow, but I digress. Instead of understanding that and moving on, he basically has been throwing a temper tantrum and telling anyone that will listen that he’s AJ Styles and he deserves better.
It all came to a head this week on Smackdown when, knowing he couldn’t attack Daniel Bryan, AJ assaulted Shane McMahon.
Now, I’ve only been a fan of WWE since 2014, so I don’t know what heels got away with before, but good God. Only so much of what AJ did to Shane could be staged. Was the camera in the back of the car where Shane’s head went through a window funny? Sure, I guess. I was too focused on a man’s head being shoved through a freaking car window!
I personally think Daniel Bryan made the right call firing AJ. Sure, I know that it was for the storyline and AJ is still with the company, but it’s still extremely important to remember that you don’t get what you want just because of who you are.
Not only that but as SmackDown went off the air, Shane declared that AJ would have a match at WrestleMania…with him. There’s no way that WWE would have let Shane say that if it wasn’t going to happen.
Ultimately, it is my belief that AJ is completely caught up in his own hype and deserves everything that’s coming to him. I really hope that their match at Mania is a No DQ or Street Fight. Not only would it be extremely entertaining, but it would give Shane the chance to get back at Styles and maybe force a face turn.
Who knows? We will just have to see what happens next week.
This article seems more like it is from someone that does not know a thing about kayfabe, or how the wrestling business works. I am for sure not a smart mark, nor am I even into wrestling now the way I was in my teens and 20’s. But AJ is just playing the character that he was told to play. As do all contracted workers in the wrestling business.
Congrats on falling for the heel’s tactics and hating him, just like the writing staff want you to. A+.
This… You… What…? I mean, you’re trolling us, right? Are fucking casuals writing for wrestling blogs now?
It does say she’s only been a wrestling fan for a couple years.
lol that was half kayfabe. It’s like saying, “I know it’s scripted, but AJ deserves to be fired after what he did.” It’s all a work. If you’re basing AJ Style’s existence of 14 months in the WWE, you need to YouTube his ROH or TNA days with Daniels, Lynn, Sabin and Joe just to name a few. The guy can’t really have a bad night.
It’s really still real to him d@mmit!
So I’m gonna present some counter arguments…
AJ was not gifted a title match with Ambrose, he defeated Dolph Ziggler 2 days after SummerSlam to win the right
If we are upset about many heinous things AJ has done… then I present you…
Brock Lesnar split open Randy Orton at SummerSlam and hasn’t won a match since but is the Number 1 Contender for doing LITERALLY nothing since his match with Goldberg was premade and Goldberg won the title from KO so he was just made contender…
Baron Corbin attempted to murder Dean Ambrose a few weeks ago because Ambrose cost him the WWE Title
Roman Reigns crashed Rusev’s wedding because he didn’t like that Rusev was showing off Lana
Randy Orton burned down Bray Wyatt’s house but is allowed to compete for the WWE Title
John Cena was gifted a WWE Title match with AJ at the Rumble even though Corbin and Ziggler were contenders
Seth Rollins was upset that HHH gifted the Universal Title to KO instead of him and went out for revenge
Dean Ambrose won the IC title from The Miz despite Maryse interference which normally would result in a DQ
Bayley won the Women’s title from Charlotte and retained it despite Sasha Banks interferring TWICE
If you’re gonna call out AJ for these things, you have to look to everyone else as well since he’s not the only one doing it…
Well… At least she didn’t misspell anything. On the other hand, her opinion is shit.
Her opinion is of someone that believes that wrestling is 100% real. That is the vibe I got from this article.
I don’t think calling out AJ for being an awesome heel makes sense. He’s not only living up to his hype, but he’s exceeding it as well. Since there’s going to be plenty of other commentors arguing for AJ, I won’t add onto it but instead say this: If you think putting Shane’s head through a car window is extreme, don’t look at what AJ did before WWE, Do Not look into the Attitude Era of WWE, and especially DO NOT look into Dean Ambrose during his Jon Moxley days.
There’s a reason Creative put AJ doing that to Shane, and it’s because they’re slowly bringing back some of wrestling’s potential to show crazy violence and blurring the line between fiction and reality. This is what people want to see when they watch wrestling, they want to believe that all of this is real. Think of it as a magic show, the best performers will have you forgetting that the trick isn’t real, and AJ is definitely one of wrestling’s (And I mean all of wrestling, not just WWE) best performers.
He’s a heel they do bad stuff like a attacking others and low blows and you can’t discount his indie stuff if so you’ll need to do the same to Rollins and y2j and a few others who didn’t start in wwe.
Holy fuck….it’s a damn tv show. What in the hell is this article even!?
Drink for getting worked #marksetgopodcast
Madam, you are an ignoramus. Please stop writing about wrestling.
I can’t believe this website allowed this article to be published. I also am dumbfounded when I read that people still think wrestling is real. This “writer” has only been a fan of WWE since 2014 and they are publishing her articles?