AJ Styles

Career Overview

Allen Jones, best known by his ring name A.J. Styles, is a professional wrestler. Styles is most synonymous with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as he wrestled for the promotion from 2002 to 2013 and won their major title five times and the X Division title six times. He is the first wrestler to complete the TNA Triple Crown championship, which he accomplished five times, and the TNA Grand Slam championship, which he accomplished twice. Aside from TNA, Styles briefly wrestled for World Championship Wrestling in 2001, before the promotion's closure in March of that year. Styles has also wrestled for major American independent promotions, most notably Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, NWA Wildside, and IWA: Mid-South.

In 2014, Styles signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and he immediately allied himself with the Bullet Club, a villainous faction of foreign wrestlers. In his first official match since signing with NJPW, Styles defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP Heavyweight title, only the sixth non-Japanese wrestler (gaijin) to win the belt. Styles lost the IWGP Heavyweight title to Hiroshi Tanahashi in October, but managed to win the belt back from Tanahashi in February 2015. Styles lost the title to Okada in July, and failed to regain the title. His time in NJPW was critically acclaimed, and he was considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, if not the best; Styles won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Wrestler of the Year in 2015, the Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 2014 and 2015, and his match with Minoru Suzuki on August 1, 2014 was awarded the Match of the Year for 2014.

A.J. Styles debuted in WWE in January 2016, entering as the #3 entrant in the Royal Rumble. Prior to joining WWE, Styles was considered one of the biggest names in American wrestling to have never signed with WWE (he made two appearances in 2002). Styles made his Wrestlemania debut in April, losing to Chris Jericho, and he competed for the WWE World Heavyweight championship against Roman Reigns in the main event of both the Payback and Extreme Rules pay-per-view events, both in losing efforts. During his feud with Reigns, Styles joined forces with the newly-debuted tag team Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who were part of the Bullet Club with Styles in NJPW, and the trio starting calling themselves The Club. Styles was drafted to the Smackdown brand during the WWE Draft on the July 19 episode of Smackdown, which split him from Anderson and Gallows who were drafted to Raw.

Championship and Belts

Styles has won over 20 different wrestling championships and belts in his career

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling:

• NWA World Heavyweight Championship
• NWA World Tag Team Championship
• Mr. TNA
• First TNA Triple Crown Champion
• First TNA Grand Slam Champion
• TNA World Heavyweight Championship
• TNA World Tag Team Championship
• TNA X Division Championship

World Wrestling All-Stars:

• WWA International Cruiserweight Championship

Ring of Honor:

• ROH Pure Wrestling Championship
  • February 14, 2004. Second Anniversary Show. Defeated CM Punk in the Pure title tournment.
• ROH Tag Team Championship
  • March 15, 2003 with Amazing Red. Expect the Unexpected. Defeated Christopher Daniels and Xavier.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated:

• PWI Tag Team of the Year

Pro Wrestling Guerilla:

• PWG Championship

New Japan Pro Wrestling:

• IWGP Heavyweight Championship

New Korea Pro Wrestling Association:

• NKPWA Junior Heavyweight Championship

Midwest Pro Wrestling:

• MPW Universal Heavyweight Championship

Maximum Pro Wrestling:

• Max-Pro Cruiserweight Championship

Independent Wrestling Revolution:

• IWR King of the Indies Championship

International Wrestling Cartel:

• IWC Super Indies Championship

Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South:

• IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship
• Ted Petty Invitational

Independent Professional Wrestling

• IPW Heavyweight Championship

Christian Wrestling Federation/Entertainment:

• CWF/E Heavyweight Championship

Ballpark Brawl:

• Natural Heavyweight Championship

All Access Wrestling:

• AAW Heavyweight Championship

NWA Wildside:

• NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship
• NWA Wildside Television Championship

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 5 Star Match Rating (Only one in TNA History)

  9/11/05 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA

  Unbreakable 2005)

In wrestling

Finishing moves

• Calf Killer (Calf slicer) – 2013–present
• Diving crossbody – 2001; used as a signature move from 2002–present
• Figure four leglock – 2010–2011; adopted from Ric Flair
• Flying crucifix armbar – 2008–2009
• Frog splash – 2003–2006
• Spiral Tap (Corkscrew somersault transitioned into either a leg drop or a senton bomb) – 2001–2007; used rarely thereafter
• Styles Clash (Belly to back inverted mat slam, sometimes from the second rope)
• Bloody Sunday (Lifting single underhook DDT, sometimes from the top rope)