From 2002 to 2004, Styles competed for the wildly popular organization ROH whilst still under contract with TNA. Style’s first notable run in the company came quickly, as within a year he found himself competing against Low-Ki and Paul London, two main event status wrestlers for ROH, for number one contendership of the ROH Heavyweight Title. The match would later see Paul London and A.J. Styles form a Tag Team that vowed to capture the ROH tag Team Championship. Styles however would run through a gauntlet of tag teams on his own, later choosing The Amazing Red as his tag team partner when Styles received his Tag Team title shot. The titles were won off of a tag team known as The Prophecy, but Paul London took issue with Styles and decided to challenge him to a match at the ROH Pay Per View, Night of Grudges. After all things were settled, Styles decided to eventually pursue the ROH Heavyweight Championship again, this time earning himself Number One Contendership status as he took the fight to then ROH Champion, Samoa Joe, but failed once again to capture the championship. But luck would soon be found as ROH developed the Pure Wrestling Championship, ROH’s 2nd Championship, which Styles would eventually win from CM Punk in a hectic match that saw legendary performer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat as the special referee. However this title win would mark Styles’ last title in ROH for a while, as TNA withdrew every contracted grappler from ROH in late 2004.
*A.J. versus CM Punk in ROH for the Number One Contender's Trophy*
Styles would however be brought back for rare appearances and story line angles for ROH throughout the summer of 2005 and 2006. Styles wrestled his final match for ROH against long time rival Samoa Joe at the pay per view Time To Man Up in 2006, but has not returned to ROH since, for A.J. Styles, 2006 would be a year fans wouldn’t forget, as Styles teamed up with a wrestler many saw as his equal in TNA; “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels.
During Style’s reign in TNA, he quickly rose to the top of the fan favorite list after shedding his heel character and disbandoning himself from Vince Russo’s Sports Entertainment Extreme stable. Through those years, Styles would set his sights on one of the more exciting championships in TNA: The X Division Title. Well into his many title reigns, A.J. had a phenomenal (Pun Intended) Iron Man Match against Christopher Daniels in which Style’s retained the X Division championship. After said match, Daniels was attacked from behind by Samoa Joe, who had put Daniels out on the injured list indefinitely at that point. Styles took issue and began feuding with Samoa Joe over the course of the next couple months, losing the title to Joe on December 11th at TNA Turning Point. After the match, Joe would try to do to Styles what Joe did to Daniels, only to have his plans thwarted by a returning Daniels. Daniels and Styles would both get their chance at Joe’s X Division Title at Against All Odds. Joe went on to retain in that match too, only to lose his title to Daniels in another Triple Threat rematch against Styles and Daniels. Daniels would lose the belt to Joe again, only to have the opportunity of a lifetime rise.
*America's Most Wanted versus Christopher Daniels and A.J. Styles*
Styles and Daniels decided it was time to put their unique skills to use and form one of the most talked about tag teams in TNA history, with a run from 2005 to 2006. They didn’t hesitate long, as they took the fight right to the then TNA Tag Team Champions, America’s Most Wanted. AWM would retain their titles against Daniels and Styles on two separate occasions, but at TNA Slammiversary, Styles and Daniels would finally add the TNA Tag Titles to their waists, giving Styles his 2nd of 3 TNA Championships. Styles and Daniels went on to defend their titles against The Latin American Xchange, a tag team comprised of Homocide and Hernandez, on several occasions, only to lose the titles for good to LAX during Bound For Glory, with the coming months seeing A.J. turning heel once again.
Fast forward to 2009 after years of high profile fueds, and A.J. has his sights set on the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. A.J. would win his first TNA Heavyweight Title in a Five Way Bout against Matt Morgan, Sting, Hernandez and the reigning champion at the time, former WWE Superstar Kurt Angle, becoming not only the TNA Heavyweight Champion, but TNA's first and only Grand Slam Champion; the only man to win all 3 major championship belts from the orginization. Styles would then see one of the longest TNA Heavyweight Title reigns in the company’s history, defending his title against tons of performers ranging from his former tag team partner Christopher Daniels to Samoa Joe to legendary performer Sting. Styles even surpassed the reign of Sting, who’s championship record lasted 189 days. Styles would eventually lose his title to Rob Van Dam the Impact after Lockdown, securing Styles’ place in history with a title reign that would last an astounding 211 days.
It’s clear to see, after viewing the life and accomplishments of A.J. Styles, that no one else in this business truly deserves the moniker of Phenomenal more that A.J. Styles does.
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