10 Biggest Sacred Cows In Wrestling In 2018

7. AJ Styles

Sacred Cow Kane
WWE

WWE's '365' Network special on Kevin Owens was an alarming and illuminating look at the realities of life for a man that didn't really know where he stood in an organisation he'd only recently been atop of. The sequel - a year-round profile on AJ Styles during his year-long reign with the WWE Championship - in contrast reflected a man who knew exactly where he stood; right in the middle ground.

There was a time when safe-pair-of-hands AJ was vital to the future of the title. As the aforementioned documentary covered, in between powerful losses to Finn Bálor and Brock Lesnar, Styles liberated the strap from Jinder Mahal and in doing so immediately restored it to former glories.

A year later though, and The New Daniel Bryan felt too like he was saving the day.

Styles' 371-day run - not entirely down to his own failings - was a moribund slew of middling matches and passable promos. His opponents were routinely more responsible for elevating their programmes than he was. It's largely the reason the Nakamura "dream match" triggered a load of nightmares that even Samoa Joe's bedtime stories couldn't placate. The truth hurt - a very, very good wrestler had a very, very ordinary year.

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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