Whether or not he walks out the winner of his career-threatening bout against Gunther on the Royal Rumble, AJ Styles has long made it clear that 2026 might be the ultimate 12 months of his in-ring profession.
Debuting in 1999, Styles has since gone on to overcome effectively every corner of the wrestling globe. He’s a former three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, two-time TNA World Champion, two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time RevPro British Heavyweight Champion, in addition to a litany of other secondary and tag team titles with each of the aforementioned and more promotions.
In brief, he conquered wrestling outside of WWE. After which he went to WWE in 2016, debuting within the Royal Rumble, and continued to overcome all the identical.
If his profession does come to an end by the hands of Gunther, Styles will retire as a two-time WWE Champion, three-time United States Champion, two-time Tag Team Champion, and a one-time Intercontinental Champion to finish the Grand Slam. If it doesn’t, he could have the prospect so as to add to that list before an undoubted Hall of Fame induction.
But what if he never joined WWE in 2016? What might have been? Well, read on for this author’s tackle that timeline.
AJ Styles and Kenny Omega feud
Prior to his Royal Rumble debut, Styles did not wrest the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from fellow WWE signee Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom.
Following that loss, he and his protege, the junior heavyweight the world had yet to actually discover, Kenny Omega, teamed in victory over Nakamura and YOSHI-HASHI. After the bout, Omega lifted Styles onto his shoulders and dropped him with a One-Winged Angel, joined by the remaining of Bullet Club in attacking and betraying him.
If he weren’t to go to WWE, then that story would have continued. Nakamura would have still vacated the Intercontinental title on his way out, and there could have been a special bout in February to find out the brand new champion.
Omega beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to capture his first title at heavyweight on that night, but it surely could have been Styles who stood opposite him in the right grudge match and a really perfect succession for the title. Likewise, it might have been Styles running the route Tanahashi had within the G1 Climax, won by Omega later within the 12 months; Tanahashi drew with Kazuchika Okada on the ultimate day of the block stage, eliminating each of them at the identical time.
Having drawn with Okada, he might have entered the title picture as Omega turned his attention to difficult “The Rainmaker” at Wrestle Kingdom in 2017. That event famously saw Okada and Omega meet for his or her iconic Tokyo Dome battle, but that may just have gone in a different way if Styles was still available.
A distinct face to NJPW USA
With Omega and The Elite’s popularity soaring NJPW had entered into partnerships with ROH and PWG as a part of its expansion into the USA.
That saw Omega crowned the inaugural IWGP United States Champion, in addition to Cody Rhodes holding the ROH World title and planting the seeds with the Young Bucks for All In in 2018.
That every one takes on a brand new complexion with the presence of Styles, especially as Chris Jericho’s foray into NJPW comes into play.
Styles and Jericho worked together right off the bat when the previous actually got here into WWE, and it was his first WrestleMania match. But when that were never to occur, the promise of Styles against Jericho in NJPW might need been much more of a landscape shift than Jericho-Omega. Add all three to the combo, in addition to the likes of Okada, Rhodes, and Kota Ibushi lurking on the surface, and there is a wholly different feel to the dimensions of things.
Allowing for that alongside this, The Elite had been ejected from Bullet Club by Tama Tonga in favor of recent leader Jay White. How does that situation develop with Styles still in the combo?
Which will have been the making of a real expansion into the US for NJPW. Though it could have made the eventual exodus much more of successful to the promotion, with 2019 marking the 12 months that The Elite left NJPW and made their selection. Go to WWE, or, as Styles had done on this fantasy scenario…
All Elite AJ Styles
Omega, the Young Bucks, Rhodes, and “Hangman” Adam Page selected to reject WWE for a brand new opportunity entirely, banding along with Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham football club executive/son of Shahid Khan, Tony Khan, to found All Elite Wrestling.
Find it irresistible or hate it, AEW stands because the foremost wrestling promotion outside of WWE. And The Elite have all gone on to be concrete fixtures in the corporate at one time or one other; Rhodes inaugurated and held the TNT Championship thrice before joining WWE in 2022, while the others remain with the corporate as multi-time World and World Tag Team Champions. The likes of Jericho took up the chance alongside them, having found a special level in his profession after years with WWE. And if he wasn’t to go to WWE, it might only make sense for Styles to make his home in Jacksonville at some stage.
If he did from the beginning, he could have been the person who stood opposite Jericho or Page at the primary Double or Nothing, and maybe even the primary man to carry the AEW World Championship. He and Rhodes could have clashed prior to they’ve done since, perhaps, as a TNT title feud much in the identical vein as Styles’ years within the X-Division. Styles and Jon Moxley could have feuded for the AEW World Championship years after they did for the WWE Championship, and at very different stages of their careers, that feud might need even been higher.
There are untold dream matches one could list off and undergo. That is the essence of what might have been, especially when talking about top-of-the-line wrestlers of all time. He could have dominated AEW, returned to TNA, collected belts, in addition to or as a substitute of Omega. Nevertheless it’s been a very good run nonetheless, so if this is actually the last time, thanks, AJ Styles.