10. Neville
Actually, I’d pretty much love to see Neville against
almost anyone. It’s a far cry from when I first saw him as PAC at an ROH show
and he severely underwhelmed. He won me over as champion during NXT’s fantastic
2014. Anyway, this could work for a variety of reasons. Neville is a freak
athlete and incredible high flyer. That kind of sounds like AJ Styles himself
early in his TNA run. I feel like this could work as kind of a look back for
AJ. AJ is no longer the risk taker that he once was, but he’ll know what to
expect from Neville because that’s how he used to be. It’s similar to the vibe
I got when watching Styles wrestle Kota Ibushi in New Japan. AJ kind of gets a
glimpse into the past and has to either combat that by going back to those
days, or outsmart Neville with his veteran knowhow. Neville is also different
from other people on this list because he’s actually faced Styles in the past.
I’ve never seen those matches, so I still included him, but I heard some pretty
high praise. If that is the case, they should already have chemistry and it
could only be better considering how both men have matured over time.
9. Brock Lesnar
This would be a lot higher if we didn’t know the way that
Brock Lesnar matches go these days. I’m not complaining about the Brock
matches, because I love seeing him toss people around. It’s just not something
I’d care for that much when it comes to AJ Styles. It could come off like the
pretty bad Seth Rollins/Brock Lesnar match from Battleground. That being said,
just seeing AJ Styles share a ring with Lesnar would be pretty rad. It’s
actually something that I badly wanted to see in the Royal Rumble, but they
never got the chance. If they were given the chance to have a mildly
competitive match, it could be fun. Styles is the kind of guy that would bump
for Brock very well. Everything that Brock does already looks violent and
painful, but Styles would go the extra mile to make them look even better. Plus,
during AJ’s G1 Climax runs, he showed that he is one of the most versatile
wrestlers in the world. He adapted to any and every one put in front of him and
I’m sure he’d do the same if given the chance to work Brock Lesnar.
8. Cesaro
Like some of the earlier matches I listed, this one isn’t
about making the most money for the WWE. Cesaro vs. AJ Styles doesn’t sound
like something that would rack up millions of dollars for WrestleMania. What it
does sound like, is something that I would not miss by any means. These are of
the slickest, best in-ring performers on the planet and it’s almost a guarantee
that they would put on a classic match. Cesaro is great at working with smaller
guys and while AJ Styles is not small like a Kalisto, their styles could match
up well. I would love to see these two be given a platform to just wrestle. I
don’t need any extra nonsense thrown in or anything remotely like that. It’s
one of those times that I want two wrestlers, in a wrestling ring, having a
wrestling match and nothing more. I can just picture some of the spots they
would do in my head. I see Styles selling the popup uppercut in tremendous
fashion. I can picture both guys teasing their similar finishers, the Styles
Clash and Neutralizer. Add in that they’ve never wrestled each other and you’ve
got a must see match. Unfortunately, due to Cesaro’s injury, we won’t be seeing
it for a while.
7. Randy Orton
I realized that a good chunk of this list are guys that
made their names on the indies and away from the WWE. Randy Orton does not fit
that mold. Orton screams the WWE mold and has been one of the poster children
for the company. He is mostly dull on the mic but is one of the smoothest
wrestlers I’ve ever seen. I think that a match against AJ Styles could be
pretty fantastic. Orton would have to want the match though. If it’s a case
where the WWE books him in it and he’s not interested, Orton has the potential
to phone it in and deliver a piss poor performance. When Orton is on and
motivated though, he’s easily one of the very best. This would be a collision
of two of the crispest workers in the business. I’d like to see it if Orton was
working as the vicious “Viper” heel gimmick. It’s him at his best and Styles,
while he developed into a good, solid heel, usually does his best work as a
babyface. That dynamic could make for magic and a potentially great match. It
would even work as a first big program for AJ in case they want to move him up
to face guys like Cena or Reigns.
6. Dean Ambrose
Here’s one of the matches I’ve thought about that has
potential to take place within the next few months. With the WWE Championship
picture pretty much sealed up heading into WrestleMania, I can’t see AJ Styles
involved in that. Add in all of the injuries that leave other top guys like
John Cena, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins out, and I could totally see AJ Styles
in the Intercontinental Championship picture. Who just happens to hold that
title at the time of this writing? Dean Ambrose. Ambrose is the rare
Intercontinental Champion in recent memory that is actually booked like a main
eventer. Due to that, this won’t seem like a waste of AJ Styles. These two
would make for interesting television considering the fact that Ambrose is one
of the more intriguing and different guys in all of wrestling. Styles would
certainly find a way to adapt to his personality and it should produce a good
match. It would also allow for the Intercontinental Title to be a very
prominent title as there is almost no way this wouldn’t be heralded as a big
deal. Despite spending time on the indies for a while, I don’t believe these
two have ever met.
5. Kevin Owens
There seems to be a very good chance we get this match
before any of the others on the list. When AJ Styles debuted in the Royal
Rumble, I wanted to see him last until at least the final four to really make
an impact. Instead, he was eliminated after about 28 minutes by none other than
Kevin Owens. Owens even mocked AJ’s signature taunt after dumping him out. Those
planted seeds were enough to make for an intriguing match. During the Rumble,
they went into a rough exchange of right hands and the crowd absolutely nuts. Even
as Owens threw him over the top, he shouted something along the lines of
“welcome to the WWE”. This is something that I could see working better as an
actual program than a one-off. Kevin Owens is just so good at drawing heat.
He’s so good on the microphone, that he could carry that aspect mostly on his
own since it isn’t AJ’s strongest suit. Owens, like Cesaro, is someone that
works beautifully with guys of a smaller stature than him, as evidenced by his
matches with guys like Balor, Zayn and Neville. He and AJ would engage in a
great back and forth of athleticism, power and wits. I’m all for this happening
at Fastlane or even WrestleMania 32.
4. Sami Zayn
Of the guys on this list that were indy darlings, my
personal favorite is Sami Zayn. He was the first guy to show up at my first
live Ring of Honor event and I was hooked on El Generico. He went on to have
some of my favorite matches ever. Since moving to the WWE and NXT, Sami Zayn
has somehow become someone I like even more. This would be a personal dream
match. Sami has shown that he can deliver regardless of the situation. From
Adrian Neville and Kevin Owens to guys like Titus O’Neil and Baron Corbin, Sami
always has good matches. AJ Styles is of a similar mold in that he can make
almost any match work as well as you could expect. As far as I know, they’ve
never wrestled during their time on the indies so this would be extra special
as a first time ever encounter. Sami is tremendous at getting you emotionally
invested into a match and the actual straight up wrestling parts of this would
already be great as it is. I’d consider this a heavily wanted dream match of
mine.
3. John Cena
TNA and WWE are clearly in VERY different leagues. That
much is clear. I don’t think the difference between the man of TNA for so long
and the man in WWE for the past decade is anywhere near that large. John Cena
and AJ Styles are, love them or hate them, two of the very best and most
successful wrestlers of the past twenty years. Of all of the potential matches
on this list, this would be the biggest money one. You’ve got the guy that has
defined everything the WWE stands for the past decade and the guy that has been
the biggest name and best American wrestler outside of the WWE during that
time. It would be the best kind of Styles Clash, pun intended. Over the past
year, Cena has shown that he can work well with guys that made big splashes in
other companies. Hell, his best United States Title matches in 2015 all
involved guys like that (Owens, Zayn, Neville, Cesaro). Don’t bill this match
as some sort of situation where AJ is a rookie, handle it like AJ wants to
prove that he belongs in the WWE. He’s conquered every other endeavor in his
career, but beating John Cena would top them all. He should actually beat him
to solidify that he is on the best, but I could see it going the other way.
2. Finn Balor
Yea, this one pretty much writes itself. Finn Balor, then
Prince Devitt, formed the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling. After about a
year of doing that and building the group to a pretty popular place, Devitt
left NJPW to join the WWE. As Devitt stepped away from being the leader, AJ
Styles debuted and replaced him. It’s so interesting because they’ve never
crossed paths. Right as Devitt left, AJ showed up and now that AJ is in the WWE
with Balor, Finn is still in NXT. He also doesn’t seem to be leaving there
anytime soon. While the Bullet Club stuff didn’t take place in the WWE, they
would be wise not to ignore it. It’s a readymade story. Hell, now that Doc
Gallows and Karl Anderson are reportedly headed to the WWE, they could add to
this. As for the match itself, I think would be pretty fantastic. Both guys are
among my favorites to watch. They both utilize the Bloody Sunday Brainbuster,
both take to the sky when necessary and I truly believe they would mesh very
well together. We’d either need a Finn call-up or a special appearance in NXT
by AJ Styles, but it would be worth it.
1. Seth Rollins
The WWE roster is chock full of incredibly talented
performers. There might be more pure talent right now than at any other time in
history. One guy stands out above the rest in my opinion and that’s Seth
Rollins. When I first saw Seth in Ring of Honor in 2007, I was instantly
enthralled. His aerial ability reminded of my favorite wrestler, AJ Styles. I
made it a point to follow Seth’s career all the way to his WWE Championship run
last year. A match between he and AJ Styles is something I’ve dreamed about for
a very long time. It could run in the same way as my suggested Neville/AJ
match. Styles could kind of see a lot of his younger self in Seth Rollins. A
few months back, Seth was interviewed and asked about a potential match with
Styles. He admitted to being of the generation of wrestlers that were inspired
by guys like AJ, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, while saying they’re both at the top
of their games and it would make for some interesting television. Not only does
this top the list as what I want the most, but it also is the one I think would
be the best.
