WWE: Who Was The Best Champion For Each Title In 2018?

Credit: WWE.com

WWE Championship: AJ Styles

SmackDown Live has been dubbed the house that AJ Styles built, but that hasn’t been the only thing The Phenomenal One has built in that time.  As much of an impact as Styles has had on the blue brand over the past couple of years, he has had as big of an impact on the WWE Championship.

Styles spent the end of 2016 and early stages of 2017 as WWE Champion, but his second reign with the top prize in the game was the one that really stood out.  The Phenomenal One ended the six-month reign of Jinder Mahal on the November 7, 2017, edition of SmackDown to begin a title reign that lasted over a year.  He defended the WWE Championship a total of 13 times on either pay-per-view or TV in 2018, resulting in many standout matches.

The Styles vs. Nakamura feud was hit or miss, but their Money In The Bank encounter ranks among the best of the year.  He also had memorable matches with the likes of Rusev, Samoa Joe, and most recently Daniel Bryan, who took the WWE Championship from Styles on the Nov. 13 edition of SmackDown while turning heel in the process.  The Phenomenal One failed to regain the WWE Championship at TLC, but that doesn’t diminish his work in 2018 as champion.

The New Daniel Bryan has already made a profound impact as WWE Champion, but Styles held the WWE Championship for the entire year before losing it in mid-November.  That can’t be ignored and despite not everything turning out perfectly, his reign ultimately did much more good than bad.  Not to mention, Bryan’s new heel character probably wouldn’t have gotten off to as good of a start as it has without Styles being involved.

Nearly the entire year consisted of Styles as WWE Champion, so he more than earns the right to be called the best WWE Champion of 2018.