10 Wrestlers Who Became WWE Champion The Quickest
6. AJ Styles (231 Days)
AJ Styles is our most recent entrant, but given his pedigree and experience in professional wrestling, perhaps his quick ascension shouldn’t come as a surprise. Styles made a handful of dark match appearances for WWE back in 2002, but didn’t sign until January this year. While he was a relative unknown 14 years ago, Styles was widely regarded as the best wrestler on the planet by the time he entered the 2016 Royal Rumble.
AJ built his reputation in TNA, where his sterling in-ring performances helped put Dixie Carter’s ill-fated promotion on the map. By the time he left TNA in 2013, Styles was a five-time World Heavyweight Champion, and considered not just the face of TNA, but the most important wrestler in the company’s history.
A near two-year run with NJPW followed, and Styles only further compounded his reputation for excellence with a series of world-class performances against the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada. He came to WWE as a 38 year old, and 231 days later, he’d pinned Dean Ambrose to become WWE World Champion.
It took an 18-year career to get to this point, but Styles has blown through the competition in WWE. He’s at the absolute height of his powers right now, and looks set to reign supreme over SmackDown’s roster for a long, long time.