Before he debuted with the company in 2016, many believed AJ Styles would never reach the WWE. “The Phenomenal One” spent nearly a decade as the face of TNA/Impact Wrestling, then became one of the top stars in both New Japan and Ring of Honor. And yet in the three-plus years since he first showed up in the Royal Rumble, Styles has become one of the biggest names in the company. And after recently reaching a massive milestone, he now has the numbers to back it up. As pointed out by both Reddit and WWE’s Instagram account within the last week, Styles has been a reigning champion in the WWE for more than than half of his total time in the company, a feat virtually unheard of in the modern product.
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Let’s break down the numbers. As of this writing Styles has been with the company for 1,367 days (his debut took place on Jan. 24, 2016). He’s held the WWE Championship on two occasions for a combined 511 days, and is currently on his third reign as United States Champion for a cumulative 191 days. Add those two numbers together and you get 702 days as champion, meaning he has held a title for 51.35% of his WWE career.
View this post on Instagram@ajstylesp1 has been a CHAMPION in WWE for more than half of his WWE career!
Styles admitted in a recent interview with Lilian Garcia that his current multi-year contract, which he signed earlier this year, will be his last as a pro wrestler.
“… I can tell you that the contract that I signed, here in the WWE, is my last,” Styles said. “This is it for me. This is where I’m going to end my career no matter what happens. I got to, you know? I want to be there for my kids.”
Back at the start of July Styles chose to turn heel and reform The Club alongside Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Now known as The O.C., the trio helped Styles capture the US title from Ricochet at Extreme Rules. Since then he has retained the title against the likes of Cedric Alexander and Braun Strowman.
Unfortunately the champ didn’t have much luck on Monday as he took a Stunner from Kevin Owens during Monday Night Raw’s main event. Owens’ arrival was just enough of a distraction to help the Street Profits win their debut match against Gallows and Anderson.
