10 Reasons AJ Styles Is The Best WWE Signing Of The Decade

There was time not that long ago that the prospect of 'AJ Styles' wrestling in WWE was considered an abject and absolute impossibility. That's not to say Allen Jones might not eventually have signed on the dotted line with Vince McMahon - though that itself became gradually more of a pipe dream as his survivalist TNA tenure mirrored the cockroachian fortunes of the promotion itself.

Regrettably, his overdue Dixieland departure in 2014 came with the catcalling caveat that his 'opportunity' in WWE had already passed him by. Nearing 40 and lumbered with the undeniable stench of one too many bad angles, Styles' decision to raise his game in New Japan Pro Wrestling rather than begin a slow stroll to retirement on the Independent scene was a game-changing left turn.

Unburdened by storyline shackles, he shook off the shaky start to shine as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and new leader of Bullet Club. It had taken him walking away from 12 years of over-performing to entitled smart marks in freebie seats, but the 'Phenomenal One' had finally made a genuine impact.

A WWE arrival in 2016 still required the paradigm-shifting NXT movement earlier in the decade to really shape a company he could belong in, let alone thrive as the figurehead of. The scene was as perfectly crafted as one of his superlative showdowns.

For nearly a decade, TNA occupied the oddest space in WWE's radar as both the company's nearest competition and merely a spectre of a wrestling war past.

The Orlando outfit's persistent presence on television was for many years little more than a tool in perception management. It mattered not that financial backers were keeping the company afloat regardless of stagnant television ratings, underwhelming buyrates and a core audience that paid zero dollars for tickets - it was a desperately-needed alternate direction to a stale WWE. For so many disillusioned fans, that was enough.

For Vince McMahon, it was a reason not to give a sh*t. Company-wide indifference to the talent on display in TNA was almost beyond belief. Furthermore, the bang average performances from the few that did sneak through left a stain on the alleged quality of the organisation.

AJ Styles - at long last - delivered the 'Phenomenal' performances as advertised. He was irrefutably the cornerstone of the company and biggest advocate of the groups scant advantages. A polished and professional television performer with a relatively unblemished bump card, his Royal Rumble 2016 debut symbolically kicked the door down for Bobby Roode, Eric Young, EC3 and countless future stars that can at long last use their history as a help rather than a hindrance.