10 Reasons AJ Styles Is The Best WWE Signing Of The Decade
4. The Nature Boy
AJ Styles had been compared to Ric Flair for many years before TNA made the bone-headed decision to blonde-tint his hair and send their greatest ever creation out to the ring as a desperately cheap fanboy version of the 'Nature Boy'.
He'd spent the 2000s winning prizes and plaudits underneath the at-times toxic umbrella of the Orlando outfit in direct contrast with the WWE's own output at the time, filling audience heads with dream matches against Vince McMahon's finest in much the same way fans did with Flair and Hulk Hogan two decades prior.
The comparison in 2018 extends far beyond sage nods and less-than-subtle homages. In his role as SmackDown's human safety net, he's taken Flair's propensity for carrying a proverbial 'broomstick' to an entertaining clash and redefined the genre.
His Brock Lesnar clash was a contest beyond anything 'The Beast' has looked capable of in five years, whilst Styles was as superlative on the 'Grandest Stage' with Shane McMahon as he was working house shows with James Ellsworth. Arguably the most dynamic utility player in the company's history, Styles' star-making value in such moribund times has never been so high.