10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About AJ Styles

10. WCW Got To Him First

AJ Styles Air Paris WCW
WWE.com

It wasn't a lengthy run and it happened just as the organisation hit the skids, but AJ Styles was WCW's property long before WWE came calling.

In 2001, AJ teamed with Air Paris to work WCW's Cruiserweight Tag-Team Title tournament. The duo didn't experience a ton of success, and it would only be a few months before Styles was back on the indy circuit doing his thing. That doesn't alter the fact that he was a WCW star 15 years before becoming a WWE one.

WWE are unlikely to profile AJ's short stint in World Championship Wrestling. To them, he's a WWE superstar now, and that means he's one million miles away from the stench of Turner failure. Not only that, WWE probably wouldn't want fans to view Styles as a Cruiserweight.

Back in '01, that's what he was. It's easy to forget that the industry's obsession with muscularity has changed over the past 15+ years; guys with the look and size of AJ rarely made it as headliners in the big leagues back then.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.