5 Things that would have happened if AJ Styles joined WWE 10 years ago
In the short amount of time he's actually been in WWE, AJ Styles has proven himself to be one of the greatest performers the company has ever had on their roster. He's held the WWE Championship twice, as well as both the United States and Intercontinental (which he currently holds) Championships. It's honestly shocking he's never held either of the company's tag team championships.
Ten years earlier, Styles was in TNA Impact, as a member of Ric Flair's ill-advised reincarnation of the Four Horsemen, Fortune. OK, granted, everything about Ric Flair's time in TNA was ill-advised, but the less said about that, the better.
While AJ Styles' work in TNA led him to the acclaim he has now, by 2010, The Phenomenal One had already established himself as one of the most talented performers in the business. However, in April of that year, he had dropped the TNA World Championship to Rob Van Dam. It would have made perfect sense for him to head to greener pastures.
Instead, he stuck around TNA for another four years, before heading to both Ring of Honor and, most importantly, New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he took over leadership of Bullet Club.
So, let's play a little game of 'What If...?' and imagine if Styles had jumped to the "big leagues" ten years ago. How would the landscape of the business be different? How would Styles' own career be different? Would he still have that goofy haircut?
Here's five things that would have changed if AJ Styles had joined WWE ten years ago.
#5. Bullet Club would probably look significantly different without AJ Styles
Now, as an exercise in alternate wrestling history, there are still a lot of variables to consider here than even we have time for. So, even if AJ Styles had signed with WWE in 2010, who's to say he would still be there now? However, in the spirit of not wanting to get bogged down with details, for this particular entry, let's say he spent the last decade with WWE.
Bullet Club, NJPW's ridiculously popular faction of rebellious heels consisting of (mostly) non-Japanese (gaijin) wrestlers, was originally founded by Prince Devitt - now known as Finn Balor. When Balor left to begin his WWE run in 2014, Styles took his place and eventually became the leader of the group. This was the era in the group's history where they really started to see international popularity.
Obviously, if Styles had been working for WWE at the time, someone else would have had to take over the leadership role instead. More than likely, that would have been Karl Anderson - who actually took the reigns of the group when Devitt left.
We'll never really know what Bullet Club would look like today had it not counted AJ Styles as a member. Even while never having been a WWE Superstar at that point in his career, Styles carried with him plenty of recognition among even casual fans - and that drew a lot of attention towards NJPW.
Our guess? Bullet Club would still be going strong in New Japan today, just like it is now, but it probably wouldn't be as internationally recognized as it is.