10 WWE Stars Who Managed To Shake Off The 'TNA Stink'

1. AJ Styles

Consequences Creed Xavier Woods
IMPACT

TNA Originals don't get more "original" than AJ Styles.

Styles spent 12 years doing everything he could to make the TNA brand mean something. Plus, if reports are to be believed, the company wanted AJ to take a 60% pay cut to remain with TNA in '14. No wonder he left.

One could say that AJ Styles needed TNA as much as TNA needed AJ Styles. After all, this was an AJ Styles who'd had a cup of coffee in WCW during that promotion's final days, and who WWE at first passed on in 2001, before Styles himself turned down a WWE developmental contract in 2002.

Styles was pivotal to any semblance of success that TNA received during its tentative years, with the organisation's X Division drawing eyes to the product in a similar way to what had happened with the cruiserweights in WCW.

The point is, AJ Styles was Mr. TNA for the longest time.

Whatever TNA wanted him to do, AJ did it. Whether that was anchoring the X Division, carrying the ball as World Champion, parading around as Ric Flair Jr., or the awful Claire Lynch storyline, AJ did whatever the company asked of him.

According to wrestling lore, it was Triple H who was the main proponent behind AJ Styles signing with WWE in 2016, and Vince McMahon initially saw nothing in Styles other than being a 'good hand' midcard act. Here we are in 2020, with AJ fresh off facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36 and with two WWE Championship runs in his back pocket.

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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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.