How much longer will AJ Styles continue his phenomenal flight in WWE?
WWE Superstar AJ Styles has made a career out of beating the odds and proving people wrong. In fact, it's almost as much a part of his calling card two of his iconic maneuvers, the Styles Clash and The Phenomenal Forearm.
When WWE first spotted Styles in the early 2000s, the company gave him a look as a potential part of their initial Cruiserweight division. At the time, Vince McMahon's belief was that his main event performers - with limited exceptions - needed to have an insanely large stature.
Instead, the Georgia native ended up in WCW during its dying days, as part of the tag team Air Raid with his good friend, Air Paris. They stayed with the promotion until it was finally purchased by McMahon just a few months later. Once again, Styles was on the outside looking in.
What happened from there is well-documented. AJ Styles would go on to become one of the faces of Total Non-Stop Action and one of the most celebrated stars in all of professional wrestling. For over a decade, he was the promotion's most valuable performer. Still, no one ever saw him as one of the top guys in WWE.
Those thoughts began fading in an instant, however, when Styles received a tremendous ovation as a surprise entrant in the 2016 Royal Rumble.
6 years ago today, @AJStylesOrg made his @WWE debut at the Royal Rumble
Phenomenal.
https://t.co/pH7iWm2h0Q
Since that fateful night in Orlando, Florida, AJ has pretty much done it all as part of The Worldwide Leader in Sports Entertainment. He's a two-time WWE Champion. He's also captured the Intercontinental title once and held the United States Championship on three separate occasions. His resume is about as sparkling as it gets.
AJ Styles is destined for the WWE Hall of Fame someday, so how long will he remain an active, full-time competitor?
For a good portion of his career, Styles was viewed by most fans and observers as the best wrestler in, or above, the ring.
When he finally steps away from the squared circle, wrestling writers and sports entertainment scholars will try to find the words to put his spectacular career in the proper perspective. His legend will be written and repeated for generations to come. It's already a given.
Damian Priest on AJ Styles 💯 https://t.co/XdR1RBedZi
Styles just turned 45 years old earlier this month. However, he's always in fantastic shape, so it's possible that he may keep going for another few years.
More than likely, though, is that he could elect to go the 'special appearances' route. That way, he could still take part in large events and not have to work a full-time schedule. He's earned that by now, and surely WWE will make that arrangement work if necessary.
As fans, we should probably relish the time we have right now, watching this once-in-a-lifetime athlete. AJ Styles represents. everything that's great about professional wrestling, from talent to hard work to attitude.
Right now? we still get to see AJ in action. But someday, all we will have is the stories... and every single one of them will be 'phenomenal'.