AJ Styles' remarkable first year in WWE may have arrived nearly two decades after fans wanted, but the 'Phenomenal One' made up for it with a fabulous stint atop the blue brand during a time of great change for the former B-Show.
'The Champ That Runs The Camp' was a stupid name in theory, but absolutely perfect moniker for the sort of tw*t to steal John Cena's arm band and reshape his soccer mom haircut with it.
Delivering in all the big matches to such an extent that he was a babyface within six months, Styles was the original success story of a "Land Of Opportunity" narrative that actually had weight early doors.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
