10 Reasons AJ Styles Is The Best WWE Signing Of The Decade
9. The NJPW Pedigree
'The Phenomenal One' was thought of as substantially less-than-that when he managed to snare the prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Title on his very first night with New Japan Professional Wrestling.
Six days before May 2014's Wrestling Dontaku, AJ Styles wrestled at the tiny LSC Arena in Middletown, Ohio for Heartland Wrestling Association. Dethroning Kazuchika Okada in front of 7000 Fukuoka loyalists was considered too great a leap for a man who'd only become a bonafide legend on TNA's shaky foundations.
There was harder nor higher platform upon which to prove himself than NJPW's top spot, but Styles thrived under the incredible pressure. Singles and triple threat rematches with Okada built on the unusually bland championship switch, with Styles gaining major traction as a defending champion during that year's G1 Climax.
Title trades with Hiroshi Tanahashi in October 2014 and February 2015 cemented his place as an international ace, working as he was as leader of the increasingly transcendent Bullet Club whilst that brand penetrated the wrestling zeitgeist from relatively humble beginnings.
A legitimate draw, amazing wrestler and top star, AJ wasn't the first high profile performer with his forename to write the book on bouncing back, but needless to say, he had the last laugh.