The 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event was a particularly anticipated one. Not because the annual Royal Rumble match secured the winner the WWE Championship, not just a chance at it; not because of the last man standing match between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens (which, in fact, was fantastic); but because of the rumors surrounding the debut of a new superstar.
Now this wasn’t just any debut, this was the arrival of AJ Styles, who was, and still is, widely considered one of the most talented performers in the world. No introduction necessary. He sauntered to the ring to the tune of 15,000 fans going absolutely wild at the sight of him.
Almost two years later, AJ Styles has not only maintained that extreme level of popularity, but has undeniably surpassed it. At this point, the crowd is invariably a sea of AJ merch, and he gets by far some of the biggest reactions in the entire company. He has captured the admiration of not only the hardcore crowd who knew who he was before he ever stepped foot in a WWE ring, but also the casual fans who might watch once a week if they have nothing else to do.
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Styles is the epitome of the total package. First of all, he is an incredible in-ring talent; not only does he consistently make himself look like gold, but is so good that it carries over to anyone he happens to be working with at the time. Second, he has more than proven himself to be both an excellent good guy and an excellent bad guy, depending on which is needed.
Those things alone would be more than enough, but he is also an outstanding speaker, has a ton of charisma, a great look, and, on top of all that, has recently demonstrated that he is the type of guy who would travel five thousand miles on a moment’s notice to save a pay-per-view. WWE clearly recognizes this talent, otherwise, they wouldn’t have asked that of him in the first place.
Photo Credit: WWE.com
All this experience comes at a price, however. AJ Styles won’t be around forever and it’s not often that someone comes along with every capability of being the face of the company. With guys like John Cena and Brock Lesnar on their way out, Styles is the perfect man for the job. The roster is packed with outstanding talent, but AJ’s matches and appearances are always among the most highly anticipated; he always stands above the rest.
Although he’s already regularly in the main event scene, I’m glad we’re getting even more AJ Styles in our lives. He deserves to be pushed to the moon, and if it were up to me, WWE would propel him all the way to being the true face that runs the place.
What are your thoughts on The Phenomenal One? Let us know on twitter, @TheRumbleRamble.
