10 Wrestlers Who Cracked WWE's Secret Code

6. AJ Styles

Few could have predicted AJ Styles' WWE run panning out so successfully when he joined the promotion in 2016.

It wasn't a question of his talent, as AJ is one of the greatest of his generation, but WWE's history in promoting mega-workers from other companies who don't necessarily excel at the things Vince McMahon's product emphasises. At 5'11" and 218 lbs, and with his biggest strengths lying between the ropes, Styles didn't Stamford's increasingly antiquated mould.

But WWE's glass ceiling hasn't applied to Styles. A two-time WWE Champion whose second reign lasted over a year, he has found immense success with the market leaders, having now spent six years as a genuinely important fixture regardless of his varying card position, enjoying the kind of presentation most incoming stars would kill for.

Styles has become indispensable to the company as one of the most talented utility men the sport has ever seen. Whether used to carry a brand as its world champion or elevate a towering green giant as part of a tag team, he does a good, professional job, without the intense in-ring focus required of him in previous places of work.