Apologies for the amount of “phenomenal” puns and jokes that will more than likely be in this list, but there aren’t many words that are more fitting when describing AJ Styles than phenomenal. One of the most decorated and celebrated wrestlers has been consistently at the top of his game for over 20 years, the previous 10 being especially excellent.
Whether he was doing that weird lone wolf thing in TNA, spearheading the peak of the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor, or being the face that runs the place in WWE, the last 10 years have been utterly sensational for Styles. Need more proof? Here’s a piece of proof from the past 10 years to drive home the point.
10 2012 - AJ STYLES & KURT ANGLE VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN (TNA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - TNA SLAMMIVERSARY)
It’s an off forgotten fact that this match was a part of the very weird storyline where Christopher Daniels convinced the whole world (or anyone who was watching TNA at the time) that Styles was having an affair with Dixie Carter. This then morphed into the infamous Claire Lynch storyline, and oh no.
However the feud included some of the best matches of 2012 for TNA, including this underrated gem of a tag team championship match from what was technically TNA’s 10th anniversary show. Styles and Angle had incredible chemistry as a opponents, so putting them together was a no-brainer, and along with Daniels and Kazarian, put on one of the best TNA matches of 2012.
9 2013 - AJ STYLES VS. AUSTIN ARIES (BOUND FOR GLORY SERIES MATCH - TNA IMPACT)
The Bound For Glory Series was a neat concept for TNA, giving its upper-echelon talent something to fight for through the summer and a natural story built into the main event of their biggest event of the calendar year. It is however a TNA idea so of course things became very confusing, very quickly.
In 2013, Styles became only the third man to win the tournament, and the second man to go and win the TNA World Championship at Bound For Glory later on in the year. The highlight amongst his tournament run was this banger of a match against another man who probably thinks the world is flat, Austin Aries. To put it into perspective, when a match between Styles and Angle isn’t the highlight of AJ’s tournament, you know you’re in for something special.
8 2014 - AJ STYLES VS. MINORU SUZUKI (NJPW G1 CLIMAX 24 - DAY 7)
Fun fact, this match happened exactly one year on from AJ’s match against Aries (August 1st) and it is AMAZING how much difference one year can make. By the time the G1 rolled around in 2014, Styles was the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, the leader of the Bullet Club and going out of his way on a weekly basis that TNA wanting to cut his salary was the worst decision they could have possibly made.
Arguably the best match of 2014 all together, this match was storytelling at its finest, selling at its finest, getting slapped in the face and coming back for more AT ITS FINEST. A truly remarkable display from two artists at work, and one of the best examples of why the Bullet Club version of Styles was untouchable.
7 2015 - AJ STYLES VS. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (NJPW G1 CLIMAX 25 - DAY 17)
By far, the toughest year to pick a single match from as AJ went from being one of the greatest of his era, to one of the greatest of all time with his work in 2015. Two iconic matches against Kota Ibushi, a fantastic feud with Kazuchika Okada, and even matches with the likes of Jay Lethal and Will Ospreay were considered for AJ's best match from 2015.
However, Styles' match against the once in a generation star Hiroshi Tanahashi from the 2015 G1 Climax has got to be the choice. Both men were competing for the chance to reach the tournament finals, and both men gave it their all. NJPW did blow up in popularity shortly after 2015, however fans who were able to see this match (or any of AJ's matches from his run in 2015) knew they were seeing something special.
6 2016 - AJ STYLES VS. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP - NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 10)
Until their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 34, this was the only time Styles and Nakamura faced each other in singles action. Once again 2016 was extremely tough to pick from due to Styles going to WWE and having incredible matches with John Cena, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, but this match is too hard to ignore.
If you want to know why their WrestleMania 34 match was hyped up so much, this is the reason. Nearly 25 minutes of two of the best wrestlers in the world at the peak of their powers at the one of the biggest shows of the year putting on a match that is considered one of the greatest matches in New Japan's history. WWE, this is how you book a match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.
5 2017 - AJ STYLES VS. JOHN CENA (WWE CHAMPIONSHIP - WWE ROYAL RUMBLE)
Their first match at Money In The Bank 2016 was great, their match at SummerSlam 2016 was one of the best matches of the year, but this is the definitive matches between AJ Styles and John Cena. Off the back of one of Cena's best runs from an in-ring perspective, this was the cherry on top of a phenomenal run (sorry, had to be done).
Outside of Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles had one of the best debut years in WWE history. From coming in at number three in the 2016 rumble match, all the way through to this match which was easily one of the best matches of the year. When you can hang with someone like Cena, you know you're made for the WWE.
4 2018 - AJ STYLES VS. DANIEL BRYAN (WWE CHAMPIONSHIP - WWE TLC)
When Daniel Bryan came out of retirement in 2018, everyone was understandably very happy. However, everyone had one question: this is all well and good, but when is he facing AJ Styles? They had a handful of good matches during Bryan's first year, but it wasn't until Bryan went full eco-warrior that fans got the match they wanted.
Rounding off a fantastic first year back in the ring, Styles challenged Bryan for the WWE Championship at TLC in December 2018, and it was everything fans had dreamed of. Neither men held back, threw in a number of call backs to their days in Ring of Honor, and gave fans a reason to claim that the WWE Championship should be in the main event once again.
3 2019 - AJ STYLES VS. SETH ROLLINS (WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP - WWE MONEY IN THE BANK)
The story goes that after a one-off match in 2006, Seth Rollins knew he needed to get better in the ring after seeing how much more defined and polished someone like AJ Styles was. So when they had only their second match against each other, 13 years later, the tables had turned quite significantly.
Unrecognisable from his days as Tyler Black, Rollins put his Universal Title on the line against AJ Styles in a match that honestly, should have happened from the second Styles joined WWE. However, it was worth the wait as the two men managed to steal the show at a pay-per-view that, with two multi-person ladder matches on the card, was not an easy task.
2 2020 - AJ STYLES VS. DANIEL BRYAN (WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINAL - WWE SMACKDOWN)
WWE had this very weird trend during the COVID-19 pandemic where, for some reason, WWE superstars were putting on match of the year candidates on random episodes of Raw and Smackdown. Whether that was down to the stars wanting to treat the stay-at-home fans remains to be seen, but when matches like this happened in the middle of a June 2020 episode of Smackdown, nobody complained.
Managing to top their TLC 2018 match, and by some distance, Styles and Bryan managed to make the Intercontinental Championship seem like it was more important than getting a COVID vaccine. Both guys damn near killed themselves for the title, and instantly made the IC strap one of the must see attractions of the pandemic era of wrestling.
1 2021 - AJ STYLES VS. DREW MCINTYRE VS. RIDDLE (WWE RAW)
As a last gasp attempt to qualify for the Money In The Bank ladder match, WWE put Styles in a triple threat match with Riddle and Drew McIntyre. To everyone's surprise, all three guys decided to go nearly half an hour in the ring, once again elevating the stakes to make it seem like the most important thing that has every existed.
One of the last great matches of the ThunderDome era of WWE (and another example of great matches happening on TV with no reason behind it), Styles had to share the spotlight with two other stars, but still came out (and sorry for this once again), looking phenomenal.