5 must-watch matches of AJ Styles before WWE

‘The Phenomenal’ AJ Styles is undoubtedly one of the greatest wrestlers to ever grace the sport of Professional Wrestling and ever since making his debut in the year 1998, Styles has been subsequently achieved an enormous amount accomplishments around the entire globe for several notable wrestling promotions.

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Currently, in his second reign as WWE Champion, Styles has previously competed for top global promotions such as Ring of Honor Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling—where he is a former two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the former leader of the legendary Japanese faction, The Bullet Club.

However, it was during Styles’ run with TNA when the 40-year-old Georgia native became one of the most popular names in the world of Professional Wrestling and throughout these past two decades, ‘The Phenomenal One’ has also contributed towards some of the greatest matches in WWE and outside of it aswell.

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Thus, with that being said, let us now take an in-depth look at AJ Styles’ 5 best matches outside of the WWE.

#5 AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada- NJPW: Dominion 7.5, 2015

The Dominion event is considered as NJPW's second biggest show of the year following their annual Wrestle Kingdom show and back in 2015, Kazuchika Okada and AJ Styles headlined a stacked Dominion 7.5 show at the Osaka-jo Hall with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on the line.

Prior to their showdown at Dominion 7.5, Styles had already defeated Okada on two different occasions, with the former winning the IWGP Heavyweight title from 'The Rainmaker' in their very first meeting inside the squared circle, however, on this occasion, the roles were reversed as 'The Phenomenal One' came in as the challenger, with the rest of The Bullet Club backing him up in the corner.

As expected, the likes of Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Cody Hall, Tama Tonga, and The Young Bucks played a vital role in the opening stages of this contest thanks to their surplus amount of outside interference, in classic Bullet Club fashion.

But, once referee Red Shoes eventually ejected The BC from ringside, the pace of the contest seemingly picked up aswell and Styles' in-ring attitude went from a confident, cocky heel to a vulnerable challenger, who now didn't have the backup of his fellow brethren.

The rest of the match went along in a really smooth pace with both Okada and Styles going back-and-forth, with some incredibly close false finishes further adding to the drama.

Okada would eventually connect with The Rainmaker and get the pinfall victory over Styles in order to bring an end to 'The Phenomenal One's' second IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign.

#4 AJ Styles vs Kota Ibushi- NJPW: Invasion Attack, 2015

During his second reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, AJ Styles had just the one successful title defense which came against 2015 New Japan Cup winner Kota Ibushi, who despite being a freelancer was and still is considered as one of the best talents to ever step foot into NJPW.

Styles and Ibushi had previously competed in the G1 Climax and this was the rematch between the two men, who in addition also managed to successfully sell out the Sumo Hall in Tokyo a full week before the show.

A much faster and athletic Kota Ibushi started off the contest in a really quick fashion to gain the upper hand on the champion AJ Styles, who much despite being one of the greatest X-Divisions of all time somewhat failed to keep up with the quickness of the former three-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.

But, regardless of that, Styles did put up an amazing fight against Ibushi and proved why he is considered as one of the greatest and smartest workers in the Pro Wrestling industry.

In the closing stages of the match, we witnessed one of the most epic finishes to wrestling match, when Ibushi climbed up to the top rope for a Phoenix Splash only for Styles to catch him mid-air after a distraction from Ibushi’s longtime friend Kenny Omega, who at this point was firmly on the side of his fellow Bullet Club stablemate AJ Styles.

Shortly after getting a hold of Ibushi in mid-air, Styles eventually connected with the Styles Clash to pick up the win and retain his championship belt.

#3 AJ Styles vs Minoru Suzuki- G1 Climax, 2014

During his run with New Japan Pro Wrestling, AJ Styles had two of the greatest and adaptable G1 Climax runs a Professional Wrestler could ever ask for and despite failing to win the prestigious G1 Tournament on either occasions, ‘The Phenomenal One’ did manage to live up to all of his hype thanks to his brilliant in-ring performances during the Grand One Climax.

Styles’ showdown against Minoru Suzuki from 2014 is definitely one of the standout matches of an incredible 2014 G1 Climax and was arguably one of the best Pro Wrestling matches of all time.

Styles, who despite leading the Bullet Club at that point of time, failed to somewhat attract the attention of the Japanese crowd, but this match was basically the turning point for AJ’s career in NJPW as he and Suzuki Gun leader Minoru Suzuki absolutely stole the show in a 20 minute classic at the Korakuen Hall.

Throughout the entirety of the contest, Suzuki targeted Styles’ arm and fingers in particular, with the latter putting in an amazing selling performance simultaneously as well.

The two run-ins from members of the rest of The Bullet Club and Suzuki Gun was also an amazing touch to the match aswell and by the closing stages of the contest, Styles finally managed to hit the Styles Clash on MiSu to bring an end to an absolutely thrilling contest.

#2 AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe – TNA Unbreakable, 2005

If you’re a long-term Pro Wrestling fan then you’ve definitely heard about this match at least once in your life. Often being billed as the greatest TNA match of all time, this was a 25 minute classic between three of the very best competitors of the Pro Wrestling business.

The veteran Christopher Daniels walked into this match as the heel champion, whereas, Samoa Joe was built as the monster challenger, with Styles also playing the role of a challenger who has been screwed out his opportunity on numerous occasions in the past.

The match kicked-off with Joe and AJ teaming up on Daniels only for things to eventually fall apart within the next few minutes of the match.

Some absolutely jaw-dropping high-flying spots add an extra bit of spice to this match and following a few near falls, AJ Styles subsequently picked up the win and capture the TNA X-Division Championship by pinning the champion, Daniels.

This match is definitely one of the most talked about Pro Wrestling matches of all time and if you really consider yourself to be a Pro Wrestling fan then I suggest you check out this contest immediately if you haven’t already.

Personally, I also feel that this match seemingly put AJ Styles on the map in the very first place.

#1 AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura- Wrestle Kingdom 10

Styles vs Nakamura- Wrestle Kingdom 10 — Styles vs Nakamura - Wrestle Kingdom 10

This was both Styles and Nakamura’s last singles match in a New Japan ring and this was quite possibly the best way for both men to bring an end to their NJPW careers.

This was also the very first time when Styles and Nakamura faced-off against each other in a wrestling ring and thus, this match certainly had a special, big match feel to it and the fact that the two men were the co-main event of Wrestle Kingdom 10 was the icing on the cake.

This IWGP Intercontinental Championship bout was special and this was the first time in NJPW when Styles had challenged for a different championship other than the IWGP Heavyweight Title.

Both men seemingly started off this dream match in a usual slow pace and slowly and steadily decided to pick up the momentum of the contest.

If you’re a fan of both fast-paced action and Strong Style Wrestling then I suggest you sit back and enjoy this masterpiece of a wrestling match and I can certainly assure you that this match is definitely not what you’ve been recently seeing from both Styles and Nakamura during their recent clashes in a WWE ring.

There were plenty of amazing transitions and back-and-forth action between the two men, with both countering each other’s offense in absolutely astonishing manner, with Nakamura eventually picking up the win over Styles after hitting him with two Boma-Ye knees.

Edited by Anthony Akatugba Jr.