WWE: 10 biggest stories of 2016

3. AJ Styles

With John Cena gone, somebody needed to step up and fill the void, and AJ Styles did just that in 2016.

As rumors swirled prior to the Royal Rumble, the question of whether or not the former face of TNA would show up were quickly answered when AJ Styles came out at No. 3 to a thunderous ovation. Styles would last nearly half an hour before being eliminated by Kevin Owens and he was off and running. During his first few months in WWE, he would find himself in great programs with Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns before beginning an amazing summer run with John Cena. I’m sure having his Bullet Club running mates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows helped his transition but Styles is the ultimate professional and his matches with Cena at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam showed fans who may not have been familiar with him just how phenomenal of a wrestler he is and that he has that nickname for a reason.

His run as the new “face that runs the place” has been nothing short of spectacular and he obviously won over everyone in the back, which was proven when he made history and won the WWE World Championship at WWE Backlash. And can we talk about how great his feud with Dean Ambrose was as well? He plays the heel exceptionally well and has even gone as far as getting someone like James Ellsworth over. He’s brought his own unique style to WWE and Vince has got to be kicking himself for not signing this guy ten years ago. Can you imagine some of the matches we could have gotten during that time?

But Styles is certainly making the best of his run in WWE and is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s only a few months younger than John Cena but having not been in the company makes it a little different. The casual fan is getting a lot of what Styles does for the first time and they’re loving it. There are constant “AJ STYLES” chants in these arenas, even when he’s bashing them. That’s how you know you’re good. And there’s no better wrestler in WWE right now than AJ Styles.