WWE signing AJ Styles was one of the biggest free agent acquisitions in recent wrestling memory. Styles developed a reputation for having an argument as the best wrestler in the world due to his New Japan and TNA successes. There were many skeptics about how WWE would use Styles, but he clearly became a major player for them.
AJ has been placed in many noteworthy feuds with some of the top names in WWE. The biggest feuds of his stint featured both outstanding and lackluster results. WWE trusted Styles to always deliver regardless of his level of opponent. Every major feud from AJ’s WWE career will be ranked from the worst to the absolute best.
10 Shinsuke Nakamura
The storyline of Shinsuke Nakamura winning the Royal Rumble and challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship had many fans excited. Styles and Nakamura had a great match in New Japan and were considered two of the best wrestlers in the world.
Unfortunately, Nakamura underwent a huge decline during his WWE stint, signing later than most. The WrestleMania 34 match between the two was considered a disappointing main event. Nakamura turning heel afterwards was fun, but their matches never lived up to the hype.
9 Edge
WWE recently placed AJ Styles in a big program with Edge as his first relevant rivalry in quite some time. The heel turn by Edge changed his character and created some interest in seeing the dream match against Styles on the big stage.
This was another rather lackluster WrestleMania experience for AJ, especially since the feud lacked compelling drama. Edge won all their matches with his short-lived heel character, as Styles felt like a tier below him in WWE’s booking.
8 Chris Jericho
The first feud for AJ Styles in WWE saw him working with the legendary veteran Chris Jericho. Vince McMahon wanted to test Styles out against a name he trusted. Jericho also wanted to work with AJ to help show Vince the Styles Clash wasn’t a dangerous move.
Styles and Jericho had a short-term tag team that saw their rivalry peak with Jericho’s betrayal. WWE had Jericho win their WrestleMania 32 match, but AJ benefited from earning management’s trust to get a bigger push right after.
7 Daniel Bryan
AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan are arguably the two greatest in-ring workers of their generation. WWE was the first place to actually have them in a feud against each other. The first chapter came when Bryan turned heel to cheat Styles out of the WWE Championship.
Their segments were great together with Bryan expanding his new heel character, but the matches weren’t memorable. WWE had another small program between them later when Styles beat Bryan for the vacant Intercontinental Championship with a better overall match.
6 Samoa Joe
One of the few TNA rivalries to make its way to WWE featured Samoa Joe challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Joe’s heel work led to the character side making their feud more impactful than the in-ring work.
Styles’ wife being insulted by Joe caused AJ to show a more violent side of himself throughout a few matches. Unfortunately, the in-ring work wasn’t as awe-inspiring as their TNA classics, about a decade previous to their WWE work.
5 Roman Reigns
Vince McMahon liked AJ Styles from his first feud with Chris Jericho to instantly move up the card. The second feud for Styles came against WWE Champion Roman Reigns. Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and the Usos all got involved to add to overall story.
Styles and Reigns had strong chemistry for two stellar PPV main events. The face run of AJ was still going, so it felt more based on respect to get him further over with Roman’s approval. Many fans hope to see another chapter of this rivalry one day.
4 Shane McMahon
The most surprising feud of AJ Styles’ WWE run to create great success was Shane McMahon. There was a lot of online chatter from fans and even WWE employees that felt Styles dropping the WWE Championship before WrestleMania 33 to feud with Shane was a waste of his time.
Styles did his best to create interest in the match with some violent brawls against Shane. The opening match at WM 33 was well-received And considered one of the high points of that show. Styles scoring the win even gave the proper payoff to this feud.
3 Dean Ambrose
AJ Styles became a WWE Champion about nine months into his WWE debut. Dean Ambrose was the champ when the brand split started, and he was selected by the SmackDown brand. Styles turning heel and gaining strong momentum led to their feud starting.
Ambrose and Styles had a series of great matches over the course of a few months to crown AJ as the top dog for the first time. The matches always delivered, but their TLC match stands out as one of the best for either man in WWE.
2 The Undertaker
WWE took a risk picking AJ Styles to feud with The Undertaker heading into WrestleMania 36. Undertaker was coming off a few embarrassing performances over the previous few years, and he rarely wrestled smaller wrestlers like Styles.
The heel promos of AJ running down Undertaker’s family and legacy caused him to show more shades of his real self rather than the Deadman gimmick. Even the changes caused by the pandemic didn’t take away from their match as the cinematic Boneyard match was the dream ending for Undertaker to finally retire.
1 John Cena
AJ Styles saw his career changing when getting to feud with John Cena his first WWE year. A shocking heel turn featured Styles uniting with former Bullet Club teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to form The Club.
Cena and Styles had multiple classic matches that will be remembered for decades. Styles scoring a clean victory over Cena at SummerSlam 2016 made him a top star in WWE. Even the loss to Cena for his record tying 16th title reign showed the best of AJ with a tremendous performance.