9 Former PWG Champions Who Now Wrestle In WWE

3. AJ Styles

AJ Styles TNA 2005
Impactwrestling.com

The main event of the first ever PWG show was supposed to be the first ever singles match between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, but when Joe was unable to make it, Frankie Kazarian filled in instead. Styles came out on top however, winning the first main event in PWG history.

AJ was unable to become the first ever PWG Champion, though, and had to wait two years before getting his hands on the belt. During that time AJ never had a singles match for the title, but after defeating Samoa Joe to become the number one contender he wasted little time. He defeated Super Dragon the next night to become only the fifth PWG Champion in title history.

As champion, AJ battled then-TNA X Division Champion Christopher Daniels to a 60-minute time limit draw at Jason Takes PWG in May 2005. He also defended the title against James Gibson (Jamie Noble) the following month at Guitarmageddon. Styles' championship run came to an end after 126 days when Kevin Steen defeated The Phenomenal One for the championship at Zombies Shouldn't Run.

Styles also made it to the final of the very first edition of BOLA in 2005, losing at the last to Chris Bosh. By this point his appearances for the company became more and more limited, a result of TNA's growth and their unwillingness to work with other American promotions. After leaving TNA in 2013, Styles returned to the BOLA the following year, falling to Roderick Strong in the quarter finals.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.