10 Best WWE Storylines Of The Past 5 Years

8. Beat Up John Cena

Daniel Bryan This is the YES era
WWE.com

AJ Styles has continually confounded critics' concerns since debuting at the 2016 Royal Rumble, but no one story built effectively on his first main event flirtation than a follow-up feud with John Cena.

'The Phenomenal One' had proved his worth to the organisation in record time, bouncing back from a middling WrestleMania feud with Chris Jericho to propel Roman Reigns into the superstar stratosphere in back-to-back blinders at Payback and Extreme Rules. With nowhere to go as a beaten babyface, the reveal of his heelish alliance alongside Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson at Cena's expense triggered a run of matches and angles between the pair that carried the summer for the company.

First bringing in Enzo and Cass for six-man matches, the pair stole SummerSlam thanks to a 23-minute stormer. Styles not only went over clean, but also stole 'Big Match John's armband to wear hilariously around his head as SmackDown Live!'s clueless new leader.

Juggling the comedy and commitment required in the role, Styles' rapid rise continued as he lifted the WWE Title in September and retained it against ex-titleholder Dean Ambrose and Cena himself upon 'The Champ's most recent return. Cena's long-awaited and record-setting Championship win over Styles at 2017's Royal Rumble fittingly ended their conflict in worthy fashion.

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