4. WWE Would Probably See A.J Styles As A Mid-Card Attraction
Now, I know that, with the right promotion behind him, A.J Styles is a solid-gold, 100%-proof main event money machine. So do you. But then, we don't have the big man fetish that Vince McMahon does. Zippy little 'cruiserweights' that fly gracefully around the ring and execute solid amateur style holds and reversals might be loved in Japan and highly prized in Mexico, but in the WWE, that gets you a one-way ticket to the middle of the card. The WWE have given golden tickets to smaller, more technically able, stars in the past (Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Bret Hart), but the vast majority simply get ignored, buried, under-utilized or totally 86'd (Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Ultimo Dragon, Owen Hart etc etc etc that list is an article in its own right).WWE, for its part, has a very solid idea of what it wants from a main event talent; it wants muscles, height, muscles and, um, muscles. A.J Styles is flashy, athletic and extremely agile (like, Spider Man agile), he's also good looking and cuts a compelling, old school promo. He can work a story, he can make the fans believe and his matches are always fun to watch...But he's built like an athlete, not an 800-pound bodybuilder and therein lies (at least part of) the problem. Today's mostly 'roid-free WWE is a little different to the company of old, but maybe not quite different enough... WWE just wouldn't be inclined to push A.J because he fits the description of a WWE mid carder like a glove. He might get an Intercontinental title run (maybe teaming with Kofi Kingston for a while that would be cool), but that's all WWE would likely be prepared to give him, annoyingly. Paradoxically, Batista, a huge mountain of muscle with a combined arsenal of about three moves and a ridiculously overdeveloped Goldberg complex, can probably main event as many WrestleManias as he likes (until he gets injured. Again). In my estimation, A.J is several million times the wrestler Batista will ever be, but you'd be a fool to put money on WWE ever realizing that. A.J is a five-time world champion (assuming the post-NWA TNA belt counts as a world championship). As a result, he is used to headlining Pay Per View Events and being the star of the show. The question is; would he be willing to settle for a reduced spot and (probably) an ignominious win/loss record? He probably would, but honestly, he shouldn't have to.