The TNA chapter of AJ Styles’ career was the longest run he’s had for any wrestling promotion. Styles barely had a run in WCW before the company went out of business and he had to find a new place to make his name. TNA’s inception would see Jeff Jarrett sign Styles as one of the young stars the company pushed in their early stages.
Styles gradually became known as the face of TNA Wrestling since he was the most beloved and credible homegrown stars. We will look at both the positive and negative moments to come from Styles’ time in TNA. The best moments featured him thriving to help the promotion stand out. Unfortunately, quite a few negative memories also showcase why the promotion ultimately failed. These are the five best and five worst things AJ Styles did in TNA.
10 Best: Becoming first X-Division Champion
TNA had a unique idea for a new division to showcase the future of the wrestling business. Younger wrestlers primarily known for being cruiserweights formed the X-Division, but the biggest difference was that there would not be a weight limit.
This allowed a talent like Samoa Joe to get involved despite being bigger than most of the division. AJ Styles was the first man to win the X-Division Championship and put the new title on the map. Early TNA PPVs featured Styles having classics with Amazing Red, Low Ki and Jerry Lynn in the exciting new division.
9 Worst: Feud with Dixie Carter
The final storyline of AJ Styles in TNA had him going against the boss Dixie Carter. Fans were disappointed when Carter became one of the top characters on the show with a heel turn essentially playing a poor version of Stephanie McMahon.
Styles was her biggest enemy towards the final chapter of his career in the company. The feud featured awkward promos with Styles now playing a loner character. AJ would lose the TNA Championship to Magnus after interference from Dixie’s faction to end his TNA time in disappointing fashion.
8 Best: Tag team run with Kurt Angle
A short makeshift tag team between two of the best wrestlers in the world led to outstanding matches. AJ Styles and Kurt Angle would team up to go against the duo of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian on multiple occasions.
Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez even entered the mix adding a third duo to the match. All the bouts featuring Styles and Angle as a team were electric with them stealing the show. Angle and Styles were too valuable to stay in the team long term, but they created incredible memories together.
7 Worst: Elevation X match with Rhyno
TNA had a reputation for booking strange and dangerous match stipulations. The Elevation X match was a glorified scaffold match with both wrestlers involved trying to throw their opponent off the tall structure into the ring for the dangerous bump.
AJ Styles and Rhyno had the first match of this stipulation in the TNA world. Fans watched in terror as the two wrestlers teased falling off the structure. Styles eventually took the bump with Rhyno winning the match, but the awful risks involved made him a poor decision. TNA is lucky no one ever got seriously injured in the Elevation X matches.
6 Best: World Championship reigns
The main event stints of AJ Styles gave TNA a rare homegrown performer that found success at the top of the card. Styles would take a back seat to former WWE names like Christian, Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy at various points, but he proved he could hang with them, if not outshine them all.
TNA was at its best during the world title reigns of Styles and would lose momentum whenever a disappointing wrestler had the title over him. AJ proved that he was ready for the main event picture, but New Japan and WWE were the companies to give him his fair shots to hit home runs after leaving TNA.
5 Worst: Joining Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction
Vince Russo came up with many regretful ideas during the early stages of TNA when he had a major writing role. One of the first angles was to place the older veterans that respected tradition against the younger talents looking to have an Attitude Era style of wrestling.
The faction known as Sports Entertainment Xtreme featured the heels that had no respect for the veterans. AJ Styles was among the top names in the group, but the horrible idea just never got over. Russo eventually left TNA with the stable disappearing.
4 Best: Joining Christian's Coalition faction
Christian Cage jumping ship from WWE to TNA gave the company their first major name that chose them over WWE. The first few of Christian’s run had him as a fixture in the main event picture. A heel turn against Sting would see Christian forming his own evil faction.
Tyson Tomko reunited with him bringing back their former WWE act. AJ Styles joined as the third member as the sidekick of Christian and tag team partner of Tomko. The comedic segments allowed Styles to work on his character side for the first time in his career. Christian’s Coalition often stole the show with their backstage segments.
3 Worst: Claire Lynch storyline
TNA hit rock bottom with a bizarre storyline digging into AJ Styles’ personal life. The mysterious Claire Lynch appeared on television with Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian accusing Styles of cheating on his wife with her among other things.
Lynch had no experience in wrestling and her segments were often unwatchable. Styles would see his talents wasted in this bogus storyline that was arguably the worst thing in the wrestling industry. The matches delivered, but AJ having to go through with this angle just hurt his momentum.
2 Best: Triple threat match with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels
The iconic triple threat match between AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels at Unbreakable 2005 may be the top memory when looking back at TNA’s good times. All three wrestlers delivered incredible performances in the main event match of the PPV.
Styles defeated his two biggest rivals to capture the X-Division in the first and only TNA match rated five stars by wrestling inside Dave Meltzer. The match was special and created enough buzz for new fans to give the company a chance. If TNA used this as their blueprint to success, the company may have realized their potential.
1 Worst: Becoming Ric Flair's protege
The first major storyline in the new regime of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff would see AJ Styles turn heel during his feud with Kurt Angle. Despite being the most beloved wrestler on the roster, Hogan and Bischoff felt that Styles needed a new change.
The alignment with Ric Flair saw Styles playing a glorified mini-me version of the Nature Boy. Styles wore Flair’s old robes, added blonde highlights to his hair and tried cutting promos like the legend. It was a horrible concept that no one bought into. Styles wasted the best title reign of his TNA career by adopting a character that failed to deliver success.