AJ Styles in the WWE.
That sentence itself is hard enough to fathom but it became reality when Styles was announced as the third entry in this past Sunday’s Royal Rumble.
The longtime TNA stalwart finally made his way to the WWE after a couple of years traversing through the independent wrestling scene and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Styles easily had the loudest pop when he walked in front of the Orlando crowd. He had a strong outing in his first ever WWE match by lasting over 30 minutes in the Royal Rumble and eliminating several of his fellow superstars.
The following night on Raw, Styles beat former world title holder Chris Jericho clean in a solid match.
There’s no questioning how popular Styles is with wrestling fans. His T-shirt was sold out in an hour when it was posted on WWE Shop.
Now it’s up to Vince McMahon and company to not screw up Styles pristine reputation with wrestling fans.
With Styles, the WWE has the opportunity to make another huge star that the company desperately needs. Unfortunately, WWE does not have the best reputation of letting other wrestlers from rival companies have good runs.
The two most prominent stars that have come to WWE that have had their legacy undermined are Goldberg and Sting, both of whom were former WCW Champions.
Goldberg’s one year run in the early 2000s didn’t light the world on fire as WWE imagined. Besides a three-month run with the World Heavyweight Championship, Goldberg’s time in the WWE is often forgotten because he didn’t leave a lasting impact.
Sting’s tenure with the WWE began last year after several years in TNA. His in-ring debut came at WrestleMania 31 in a high-profile match against Triple H. Like all other WCW creations, Sting was pinned by Triple H in a match highlighted more by the cameos than the action.
The next match WWE used Sting in was for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against then-champ Seth Rollins. Sting suffered a legitimate neck injury during the match and hasn’t competed since. There’s no timetable for Sting’s return but he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the upcoming months.
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Those are just two examples of how WWE has been unable to further wrestler’s careers when they made it to the biggest wrestling company in the world.
A benefit that Styles has is that he’s in the prime of his career at 38 years old. Styles has been putting on classic matches over the past couple of years away from the WWE spotlight.
Neither Goldberg nor Sting entered WWE with as much momentum as Styles has.
Another difference for Styles is that he had to legitimately work his way into WWE. After Styles left TNA late in 2013, WWE lowballed him on a contract offer. Styles bet on himself that he could make his name bigger on the independent scene and he did.
The announce team said at the Royal Rumble that the hottest free agent in professional wrestling had signed with the WWE. Let’s hope that wasn’t just talk because Styles is at the top of his game right now.
If the WWE doesn’t let Styles flourish then it’s clear that foreign talent never will.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the culture editor of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
