10 Things We Never Thought We’d See In A WWE Ring (But Somehow Did)

Similarly to Sting, AJ Styles felt like the sort of star who WWE would always class as a 'one that got away'.

He had been offered a developmental contract many moons ago back in 2002, but Styles turned it down in order to make sure he didn't interfere with his wife's plans for college.

So, he set off on a different path and became an independent sensation before finally becoming a TNA/Impact Wrestling linchpin for over a decade.

Even when he shockingly left in 2014, fans weren't surprised to see him show up in NJPW instead of Vince McMahon's empire. It just didn't look like Styles was ever going to fit into the WWE way of doing things.

But, despite that still seeming like it was the case in 2016, on January 24 Styles finally graced the WWE stage as the number three entrant in that year's Royal Rumble match.

We prayed that McMahon wouldn't shuffle this once-in-a-generation talent into the mid-card - like he'd done so often in the past - and after a few teething problems we amazingly got our wish.

Indie darling AJ Styles was crowned WWE Champion less than a year after joining the company, and the most unlikeliest of wrestling stories had been realised before our very eyes.