The incredible wrestling career of AJ Styles has seen him accomplish many great things in every company he has worked for. Styles had his first run on mainstream television for WCW towards the end of its run, but the company ended before he could breakout. TNA signed Styles as one of the first young talents to build the new promotion around.
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Styles developed a reputation for being arguably the best wrestler in the world. The run in New Japan and Ring of Honor as the leader of the Bullet Club kicked his reputation up another notch. WWE finally signed Styles in 2016 and he has been a huge part of the company since then. We will look back at the debate between his TNA and WWE runs. Find out which one you prefer by looking over each side. These are five reasons AJ Styles was better in TNA and five reasons he’s better in WWE.
10 TNA: He helped get X-Division over
Jeff Jarrett’s idea of the X-Division was to push the old era of the cruiserweight division forward with less limitations. The style featured explosive action with wrestlers working at a faster speed and having classic matches every week.
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AJ Styles was the man to perfectly represent what TNA was going for with the new concept. The X-Division featured Styles having outstanding matches with all the other young stars in the company. Styles helped the division thrive to become a consistent part of the company that still exists today.
9 WWE: He made Smackdown the top show after the brand split
AJ Styles joined WWE in 2016, right when the company was preparing to have their brand split and draft. Smackdown picked Styles as one of the top stars and it turned out to be the best thing for his career. The timing saw John Cena moving into a part-time role while Roman Reigns stayed on Raw.
Styles was the top star on Smackdown and won the WWE Championship just a few months into the brand split. The WWE fanbase typically preferred Smackdown over Raw during the first few months thanks to Styles leading the way.
8 TNA: His comedic stint in Christian's faction
The decision to join TNA made Christian get a stronger role in the company after leaving WWE. Christian’s heel character started his own heel faction known as Christian’s Coalition. Tyson Tomko joined TNA to continue their working relationship with AJ Styles becoming the third member.
Styles received the opportunity to showcase his comedic style and provide more character depth. The segments of Christian’s Coalition often were the highlights of Impact due to the hilarity and entertainment factor we received. Styles stated this run helped him grow as a wrestler.
7 WWE: He got to lead The OC
AJ Styles' success in leading the Bullet Club in New Japan added another level of success to his career. Styles joined WWE with two other members as AJ, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows all signed to the company together.
WWE has made the trio a heel faction on a few occasions. Their current run together is allowing Styles to continue cementing his status as a top performer in the company. Gallows and Anderson also benefit immensely from this, as they’ve only been pushed during their runs with Styles.
6 TNA: His work with Kurt Angle
AJ Styles met his match when Kurt Angle came to TNA. Both men had reputations as the best wrestlers in the world at a level above the rest of the roster. Styles and Angle would work together quite a few times in different roles.
Any match between the two superb performers would unsurprisingly become a huge success. Styles and Angle even worked well together in tag team action during a short run together. TNA’s best moments often featured these two excellent wrestlers leading the way.
5 WWE: He arrived at the top of his game
Many wrestlers struggle during their early days in WWE due to either coming too soon or too late. AJ Styles, in contrast, came at the perfect time with a lot of momentum and experience working for him. WWE signed Styles since he was the biggest name on the free agent market when his NJPW contract ended.
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The timing allowed Styles to have a tremendous run as a well-rounded performer. If AJ signed a decade earlier or later, he may have struggled with his promos or character work. WWE fans have only seen the work of Styles at a high level since his growing pains days came in TNA.
4 TNA: His matches with Christopher Daniels & Samoa Joe
The trio of AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe became the three first homegrown breakout stars. All three guys delivered classics in the X-Division before getting placed into a triple threat feud over the X-Division Championship.
Styles, Daniels and Joe had their classic match at Unbreakable 2005. This was the first and only “five-star” rated match in TNA history by Dave Meltzer. Many people in TNA believed this put them on the map. Even the singles matches involving any two of the three names would hit home runs.
3 WWE: His feud with John Cena
AJ Styles scored a massive burst of good luck when entering a feud with John Cena during the summer of 2016. This angle saw him working with the biggest name in the company just a few months after debuting in WWE for the first time.
Cena and Styles had marvelous chemistry that resulted in quite a few classic matches. Styles beating Cena cleanly at the Summerslam 2016 essentially made him a top superstar. His loss to Cena came in another classic brawl, with Cena getting his record-tying 16th world title.
2 TNA: He was the face of the company
AJ Style's success in TNA might have been the most important in the company finding success. Styles clearly knew how to have great matches and connect with the audience. Many new stars made an impact, but Styles was viewed as the face of the company.
TNA seemed to take pride in that since most of their other top stars were names that left WWE. Styles was someone TNA took a chance on and the brand was rewarded for it. Despite the many negative moments, TNA had some good times with AJ, who was often the top fan favorite.
1 WWE: His great WWE Championship reigns
The biggest level of success for any wrestler in WWE is having a strong WWE Championship reign. AJ Styles won the title within his first year by defeating Dean Ambrose to become the champion of the Smackdown brand following the brand split.
His championship run was quite impressive with great defenses against the likes of Dean Ambrose, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler and even James Ellsworth. Styles had another championship run after defeating Jinder Mahal and holding the title for almost a full year. Because of this, WWE fans will always remember AJ as a successful and beloved champion.
