AJ Styles has been WWE champion for one full year
It seems like just yesterday when the number 3 entrant in the 2016 Royal Rumble, AJ Styles, made his thunderous WWE debut. When he originally signed a WWE contract, he was only ever seen as a mid-card performer to upper management, despite being one of the undisputed best wrestlers in the world.
It took him less than half a year for him to be given multiple opportunities, competing for world championships against then champions, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose. He beat John Cena clean as a whistle during a time that Super-Cena didn’t lose to anybody. He’s won both the United States championship and WWE Championship twice now and is heralded as the face of SmackDown Live/the house that AJ Styles built.
This week, AJ Styles current championship reign surpassed a full calendar year, becoming the 8th man in WWE history to reach this feat. AJ’s reign has now passed that of Kevin Nash, The Ultimate Warrior, and Hulk Hogan, and in less than a week, he’ll pass Macho Man Randy Savage. AJ has cemented himself as a legend in the making.
If AJ holds the title until the Royal Rumble, he’ll have beat out CM Punk’s modern legendary reign of 434 days as “Best in the World.” Maybe if they let him hold it for another 8 years he’ll beat the record for longest title reign at 2,803 days set by the late Bruno Sammartino. A guy can dream, right?
Braden Jackson – @Dembrae
Image provided by WWE.com