10 Wrestlers You Never Realised Were Signed To WCW

3. AJ Styles

The Great Khali WCW
WWE

The Phenomenal One looked destined to be one of those rare big-name talents who would never end up signing with WWE. Of course, AJ Styles would eventually shock the world by debuting at the 2016 Royal Rumble, and he has gone on to win the WWE Championship on two occasions. It could have all been so different for AJ, for he actually turned down a WWE developmental deal back in 2002. But even before that, a young P1 was signed up as a hot prospect for WCW.

After WCW officials were impressed by Styles’ NWA Wildside rivalry with Air Paris, the company teamed the duo up as Air Raid. The AJ part of his name was dropped as the Jacksonville-born flyer was dubbed Air Styles, with Air Raid featured on a handful of episodes of WCW Nitro and WCW Thunder and used to round out the promotion’s tournament to crown its first-ever Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions.

Like so many others, Styles time with WCW came to an end once the company was purchased by the WWF only weeks after said tag team tournament.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.