All the noise on Raw over the past year about whether Roman Reigns is “The Guy” all might be for naught. That is because the current “Guy” in WWE is wrestling on Tuesday nights for the SmackDown brand, and his name is AJ Styles.
AJ Styles has been fast tracked as one of the most popular superstars in WWE since his arrival at the 2016 Royal Rumble. Since Styles debuted in the WWE he has captured the WWE Championship, the United States Championship, and stolen the show at this past WrestleMania with Shane McMahon.
Now there are plenty of other superstars that can flaunt more impressive WWE resumes, so what are the prerequisites to being “The Guy” in WWE? The Guy must have the capability of drawing every demographic that is traditionally in a wrestling crowd.
Since merchandise sales and live event numbers are not consistently published by WWE (usually reported by Dave Meltzer or leaked from a quarterly review with investors), I try and look at if Styles has the foundation to be The Guy. There are certain aspects that a main event draw needs from in-ring performance to charisma to familiarity from the crowd.
Styles was known already by adult wrestling fans well before he debuted in WWE, and still has the respect of those fans for the matches that he is currently putting on in the company. Adult fans, check. What about the other demographics?
More from SmackDown
- Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline
- Potential Challengers for Roman Reigns before WrestleMania
- WWE SmackDown Predictions: AJ Styles Will Help Randy Orton
- WWE SmackDown Predictions: Street Profits Will Dethrone Judgment Day
- SmackDown reminded us of how pointless the brand split is
The final demographic, while the most easily influenced is also the most important, and that is the younger demographic. The younger demographic is responsible for the heights that John Cena and Hulk Hogan reached, mainly because of their influence on merchandise sales.
While Cena had different bright colored shirts, hats, and arm bands, Styles’ merchandise is starting to branch out now as well.
The gloves currently listed on WWE Shop are now available in three different colors. While that does not sound mind-blowing, it shows WWE’s commitment to selling that specific product.
Yes, most of my notes are opinionated, but it is all I can responsibly go on. Think about the superstars that Styles would be competing with to be The Guy, they are all on Raw. Monday nights has much more depth than Tuesday nights so it is difficult to come to the conclusion that anyone is a bigger draw than Styles because Raw consistently has more fans tuned in than SmackDown.
If it is not clear that Styles has every demographic in the WWE Universe in the palm of his hands, just turn up your television on Tuesday nights and the chants of “AJ Styles” will remind you that no other superstar is getting that reaction.
We know that Styles garners the loudest reaction, but what makes him the best? Simple, it is his in-ring performances that are currently the best in WWE and it is not even close.
It seems that whoever Styles is competing with in the ring is the match of the night, and after a while that isn’t chalked up to coincidence. Styles is so good in fact, at WWE TLC 2017 was called in as a late replacement to face Finn Balor.
WWE did make the match as a tip of the cap to indy wrestling fans. No, WWE made the match between Balor and Styles because they thought, “Who can put on the best possible match with Balor?” The decision was clear, and even WWE recognized that there was not a better choice than Styles.
Even Styles promos are better than what I expected them to be in WWE. Also, to be clear we have seen superstars get so over with the WWE Universe that they did not need good promo skills. While Styles is at that status now, I assure you that promos are far from a weakness for him.
Whether it be with The Miz, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, or Kevin Owens, Styles has proven that he can cut an effective face or heel promo. So where do we go from here?
Always remember the lesson that we learned from the Daniel Bryan story leading up to WrestleMania 30. Just because our guy isn’t being pushed to the main event of WrestleMania, you can’t give up on them because it only justifies WWE’s reason for not pushing that particular superstar in the first place.
Next: WWE Survivor Series 2017 Needs AJ Styles to Dethrone Jinder Mahal
WWE does not decide who The Guy is, that is the fans’ jurisdiction. Based on the support of Styles from the WWE Universe, his payoff could be coming soon.
Add us as a preferred source on Google