Five Fast Facts About AJ Styles

AJ Styles is currently one of the top wrestlers in the world and will surely go down as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Back in the day he was literally the only reason yours truly watched TNA; I couldn’t be happier that he made his way to WWE.

Here are five fast and interesting facts you might not have known by AJ Styles.

5. He Attended College on a Wrestling Scholarship

AJ Styles is renowned as one of the best pro wrestlers in the world, but you probably don’t know that he has a background in amateur wrestling.

Styles attended Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina on a partial wrestling scholarship, but he dropped out to pursue a pro wrestling career after tagging along with some friends to a tryout.

4. He’s a Family Man

Failed marriages and broken families are an unfortunately common occurrence in the pro wrestling industry, but Styles is one of the good guys. In a February 2016 interview, he said that his Christian faith helps keep him on the straight and narrow in an industry full of beautiful women.

Styles and his wife, Wendy Jones, were high school sweethearts and have been married since 2000. They have four children together – three boys and a girl – whose birth dates Styles has tattooed on his ribs.

3. He was NJPW’s First American IWGP Heavyweight Champion Since Brock Lesnar

After Styles left TNA Wrestling in 2013, he found major international success working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

Styles signed with NJPW in March 2014 and quickly aligned himself with the Bullet Club, a villainous faction of “gaijin” (foreign) wrestlers. Soon after, on May 3, 2014, Styles defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first American to win the title since Brock Lesnar in 2005.

2. He Turned Down a WWE Contract Offer in 2002

Styles’s WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble is one of the best debuts of all time; but it could have happened 14 years earlier.

Two months after working as an enhancement talent for WWE in 2002, the company offered him a $500-per-week developmental contract – but he turned it down so as not to disrupt his wife’s education. Accepting the contract would have meant moving to Cincinnati, which would have forced his wife – who was a full-time student at the time – to move back in with her mother.

I told you he was a family man!

1. He’s a Six-time World Tag Team Champion

Styles has racked up tons of singles’ accomplishments throughout his storied career, but did you know that he’s also a six-time world tag team champion?

While in TNA, Styles won the NWA World Tag Team Championship four times – once with Jerry Lynn, once with Abyss, and twice with Christopher Daniels – and the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice – once with Tomko and once with Kurt Angle.

Who knows… maybe he’ll win another world tag title in WWE?

So there you have it: five facts about AJ Styles! Did you learn anything knew about him you may have not known before? Share your comments below!