10 Wrestlers Who FORCED WWE To Push Them

In Vince McMahon's mind, the explosion of noise that met the debuting AJ Styles during the 2016 Royal Rumble was little more than a "fluke."

That's according to 'The Phenomenal One' himself, with the eventual WWE Champion noting on the My Love Letter to Wrestling show (via BBC) that not only did the boss have zero clue who Styles was when he arrived in the company, he also wasn't even supposed to be on the following edition of Raw the next night.

Vince had no plans for the one-time TNA and IWGP Heavyweight Champion after the Rumble, with the star even going as far as to admit that McMahon thought that pop in Orlando was simply a one-off.

Styles also didn't exactly help himself by putting in a pretty basic babyface shift on that incoming edition of the red show. McMahon's comments of having "thousands" of talents who could do that and his need to see more of a "pitbull" performer soon lit a fire in Styles' belly, though.

Over the next few weeks, Styles would begin showcasing those more aggressive traits, with his intense battering of The Miz during a Miz TV segment finally leading to him earning the boss' trust.

And he didn't do too badly in the years that followed, did he?