50 Ups & 50 Downs For WWE's Decade: The 2010s
24. AJ Styles Arrives
Royal Rumble surprises have traditionally been saved for late and often the last spots in order to maximise the most from the scant minutes that particular star is on the screen. Foreshadowing just how well his run would go in WWE, AJ Styles went just seconds short of half an hour after the shock pop.
WWE weren't daft - in making him entrant number three and delivering 90 seconds or so of a wildest dreams fantasy encounter with Roman Reigns, they got their money's worth from him the second he arrived on the scene.
Achieving everything he's managed in the last four years hasn't been shocking because of the manner in which 'The Phenomenal One' lived up to his name. The mere sight of his initials, his name and his soccer mom haircut arriving in the place few imagined he'd ever get to was momentus enough.