AJ Styles and 5 WWE Royal Rumble Star-Making Performances

5. AJ Styles – 2016

We’re going to start with AJ Styles from the 2016 Royal Rumble. Did he dominate the match? Not quite. He survived 28 minutes, eliminated two people, and had Kevin Owens eliminate him. This doesn’t exactly scream “star-making performance.”

However, there’s one thing in favor of Styles here—this was his WWE debut.

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When the Phenomenal One’s new music started playing, the Amway Center seemed confused as to who this would be. Then they say “I am phenomenal” on the titantron and erupted in excitement for the main roster arrival of Styles, who had been with ROH, TNA, and NJPW for the majority of his wrestling career. This turned him into a global star, someone who WWE fans were well aware of.

What also helped was the rumors that WWE spread on their website about Styles potentially joining the company. This created an almost daily, “Will AJ Styles debut at the Royal Rumble?” headline.

Styles debuting at the Royal Rumble would trigger his immediate superstardom in WWE. He’s now the WWE Champion heading into the 2017 version of this show. It’s been quite the 365 days for him, which will come full circle on Sunday.