AJ Style Famous for being one of the best ring talents of the 21st century, he finally arrived in WWE in 2016 after becoming a star like TNA and NJPW for many years. At first, fans didn’t know how fares would be in the WWE world, but it became very quickly clear that he would absolutely flourish.
His WWE tenure means he steals the show multiple times, and Thesportster’s rating system will watch his matches and decide which one is the best. These ratings are compared to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter cagematch.net and Dave Meltzer ratings.
13
AJ Style Vs Dean Ambrose (WWE TLC 2016)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8/10
Storytelling | 1.75/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.43
AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose formed a strong rivalry in 2016, all leading to this TLC clash of a WWE Championship filled with amazing, inventive moments and moments, as they continue to invest in the crowd using tables, ladders and chairs in a unique way. Styles’ athleticism was a complete show here, and he went through one hell of performances.
Things got off the rails at the end of the match as James Ellsworth intervened, turned the heels and Dean Ambrose sacrificed the match and handed over a cheap victory. It made sense back then, but hindsight wasn’t a good storytelling direction.
12
AJ Style Vs John Cena (2016 Bank WWE Money)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8/10
Storytelling | 1.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.25 stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 7.79
AJ Styles and John Cena developed magical chemistry, all of which were kicked off in a collision at the bank’s Money, marking their first match. Styles had Cena’s numbers throughout, showing off world-class abilities and really engraving his place in WWE to look like Cena’s equality.
Like the ILK wrestlers in Styles, Cena raised the game from a technical standpoint of this match. There was a bit more overpaying that had interference, as style picked up cheap wins and took some quality off the strong matchups. It had a role to play as it continued to build into a much better match.
11
AJ Style Vs Daniel Brian (WWE Smackdown 06/08/2020)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.25/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.5/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 1.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.75 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 9.07
AJ Styles and Daniel Brian had a tough job with no crowd attending, but they took advantage of the unique atmosphere of the pandemic to give this match more points in the “Crowd Response” category, focusing on the technical struggles that each one needs to have an edge over each other.
From a technical standpoint, this was great, with a huge transition, submissions and fluid sequences to fight to win the new InterContinental Championship. Stiles won a big victory and another title on his impressive WWE resume. As always in the pandemic game, it would have benefited from the live crowds, but they made the most of the disadvantage.
10
Rome’s governance vs. AJ style (WWE Extreme Rules 2016)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.25/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.65
One of AJ Styles’ first main event matches came when he challenged Rome Reign for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. They improved their initial encounter with matches characterized by fluid wrestling, impactful movements and chaos, taking into account the provisions of extreme rules. The ruler worked much better as a more dominant wrestler than the underdog babyface he was often presented with, leading to a match against a style that introduced very natural chemistry.
9
Seth Rollins Vs. AJ Style (2019 Bank WWE Money)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.25/10
Storytelling | 1.75/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.5/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.63
Despite a lack of real stories heading into the match, Seth Rollins and AJ Styles stole the show fighting for the Universal Championship in their first singles encounter in WWE. The technical glow, smooth counters, and ease they invested fans back and forth were all great – the curbs in particular stomped against the style collision counter. I have to say that this benefited more psychology and storytelling, but as a purely in-ring match, this was great.
8
Daniel Brian Vs. AJ Style Vs. Kofi Kingston Vs. Randy Orton Vs. Samoa Joe Vs. Jeff Hardy (Elimination Chamber 2019)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.5/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.70
AJ Styles may not have been the focus of this match. The main storytelling point is as Kofi Kingston overcomes the odds and fights to become the WWE Championship, and Daniel Brian is blocked by just a thrilling head-to-head slamming. But everyone in this match still had a role to play, and their collective involvement led to one of the most enjoyable, refined and intense elimination chamber coincidences in recent memory.
7
AJ Style Vs Shane McMahon (WWE WrestleMania 33)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.5/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4 stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.03
It’s funny to think that Shane McMahon has one of the best AJ Styles games in WWE, but that certainly happened on Wrestlemania 33. The story of Styles Out McMahon was fun early on, just to allow McMahon to be able to pull out all his big stunts thanks to the referee bumps, and to be confused thanks to the referee bumps. This was a great example of “sports entertainment” in the WWE world, and fans loved every moment. In fact, this match deserves even more praise.
6
John Cena Vs. AJ Style Vs Bray Wyatt Vs. Dean Ambrose Vs. Baron Corbin Vs. MIZ (Elimination Chamber 2017)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.5/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.53
The 2017 WWE Championship Elimination Chamber was fantastic, with the top stars from Sea of Smackdown showing the new look chamber in the best possible way. This match was very innovative, with creative spots, scary moments, lots of physicality. The crowd was electric, especially towards the final stretch, as Bray Wyatt performed stunningly and beat both John Cena and AJ styles to win his first WWE Championship.
5
Daniel Bryan Vs. AJ Style (WWE TLC 2018)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.5/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.75 Stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.56
Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles are two of the best in-ring talents WWE has ever seen, so it’s no surprise that they created magic in the match at TLC 2018. The match evolved into something that hit each other with the best shots, creating excitement at the final stage. The crowd sometimes fell in love at matches, but in the end they returned to their side.
4
Cody Rhodes vs AJ Style (WWE Backlash 2024)
Overall rating from TheSportster: 8.5/10
Storytelling | 1.75/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical capabilities | 2.25/2.5 |
Character work/psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 5 stars
- cagematch.net Rating: 8.65
AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes rebelled against what many thought was a very predictable outcome and a book match. However, the legendary French crowd made this an instant classic. Promoted by a thunderous audience, Rhodes had a thrilling front and back full of great wrestling, big moments and a seamless transition. Of course, the results and storyline took a predictable course, but it was definitely a valuable and memorable main event.
