10 Bad Habits WWE MUST Kick

1. Styles Council

Brock Lesnar Greatest Royal Rumble
WWE.com

Between 2014 and 2016, it was relatively easy to throw 'best in the world' around in discussion of AJ Styles based on his unexpectedly excellent exploits in NJPW and WWE following a gradual decline in TNA.

By 2017, New Japan had perhaps raised the bar too high for him to athletically vault over, but the 'Phenomenal One' was nonetheless superlative beyond the standard in Stamford.

Stupefying to most observers was how he'd overcome the company's uncanny knack of crushing characters before rebuilding them anew. From his Royal Rumble debut through to WWE Title surrender to John Cena one year later, he'd somehow navigated his way to the top of a company that had more than once only offered him basement wages to even sign.

He overachieved in feuds in 2017, and amassed enormous goodwill in saving the SmackDown Live! strap from the death-clutch of Jinder Mahal, but WWE's creative savagery finally caught up with him shortly afterwards.

A fifth wheel during the most ungainly portion of the Zayn/Owens/Bryan/Shane love square, his 'dream match' trajectory with Shinsuke Nakamura was undermined by the pair's in-ring failings together on three consecutive supershows.

Inexplicably frozen out of a Monday Night Raw move, his eventual loss to the 'King Of Strong Style' may actually reinvigorate him on Tuesdays. Something has to.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett