20 Greatest WWE SmackDown Superstars Ever

11. AJ Styles

The Rock SmackDown Fox
WWE.com

'The Phenomenal One' rebranded himself as 'The Face That Runs The Place' on SmackDown Live thanks to his WWE tenure being mostly isolated to Tuesday nights until 2019's Superstar Shake-up.

His tenure on the blue brand was mostly an extension of his surprise success on the roster altogether. Though his matches were sometimes a little more steak than sizzle, SmackDown with AJ Styles offered up a performer with the skill of Shawn Michaels, the assuredness of Ric Flair and the reliability of Bret Hart. The old B-show was lucky to keep him that long.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. 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