3. Dolph Ziggler Defeats AJ Styles For The IWGP Championship
By 2020, I fully expect Dolph Ziggler to be a part-time WWE superstar working a Chris Jericho-esque schedule while also being a viral comedic YouTube superstar. Of course, it wouldn't be this list if he didn't do something as progressive as eschewing ever working in America again, and instead becoming a touring member of the roster of WWE-owned New Japan Pro Wrestling. Let's also pre-suppose that AJ Styles stays healthy and NEVER leaves New Japan (which is entirely possible). A 43-year old AJ wrestling a 40-year old Ziggler? Though five years older, both wrestlers would be five years wiser, too. Something akin to Flair and Steamboat's legendary run of matches in 1989 is entirely possible, if even set up the exact same way. Cocky heel champ AJ is putting himself over. Out comes the "surprise" NJPW debut of Dolph Ziggler. Dolph pins AJ in a tag match. The rest is history, yet re-lived in the modern age.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
