AJ Styles

Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler.

He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand.

Allen Neal Jones was born at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on June 2, 1977.

He grew up in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic father.

The family's poverty was such that they could not afford cable television, which resulted in Jones being unable to watch professional wrestling, his childhood passion.

He attended Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia, graduating in the class of 1996.

Jones took up amateur wrestling in high school and became a two-time state wrestling champion.

Jones then attended Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina, where he was on a wrestling scholarship, and studying physical education.

He was then invited by some of his friends to try professional wrestling.

He entered a professional wrestling school because his friends were doing it and to find out whether he had a natural aptitude for it.

To supplement his income, he worked by mowing lawns and driving an ambulance.

Jones debuted in 1998 and competed for various independent promotions before gaining initial mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001.

He gained prominence after signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, later known as Impact Wrestling), having been described as "the cornerstone of the company since its inception"; he won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times, and was the inaugural titleholder of the X Division Championship, which he won six times.

He is also the first TNA Triple Crown and Grand Slam champion.

Jones was trained by Rick Michaels and debuted in 1998.

In the Georgia-based National Championship Wrestling (NCW) promotion he wrestled as Mr. Olympia, a masked wrestler, losing to Michael Brooks in his first singles match.

By August 1999, he had won the promotion's Television Championship.

From 1999 to 2001, he generally competed in less notable independent promotions.

In December 1999, NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside, and Jones was renamed A.J. Styles.

He appeared sporadically even after signing with NWA-TNA, and is a former NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion, having defeated Rick Michaels for the title on December 22, 2001, at Christmas Chaos.

Atlanta-based World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had observed Styles' and Air Paris' program in NWA Wildside and offered each a contract in early 2001.

Styles (renamed Air Styles) and Paris were placed in a tag team, which was named Air Raid.

The team's gimmick saw both men dress in G-suits, with Air Raid also appearing on Thunder.

On the March 5, 2001, episode of Nitro, they were entered into a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship but were eliminated in the first round by eventual winners Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo.

On July 9, 2001, Styles had his first WWF tryout match against his trainer, Rick Michaels, before the taping of Raw.

Styles won with a Shooting Star Press but was not offered a contract.

Jones simultaneously appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2006, where he became the inaugural ROH Pure Champion.

Jones has also wrestled extensively internationally, in promotions such as New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the United Kingdom based Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), where he is a former RPW British Heavyweight Champion.

Jones first appeared in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2002, but declined a developmental contract.

Styles made two more appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2002: on the January 26 episode of Metal (taped on January 21), in a losing effort against The Hurricane, and a dark match before the January 27 episode of SmackDown!

(taped on January 22), where he was defeated by Rico Constantino.

After these matches, WWF offered Styles a developmental deal contract, which would require Styles to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) developmental territory was located.

He ranked atop the annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 in 2010, the first TNA wrestler to do so, was voted PWI Wrestler of the Year three times between 2016 and 2018, and Wrestler of the Decade in 2020.

Between WWE, TNA, ROH, NJPW, and RevPro, Jones has won 30 total championships (including nine world titles), having also won 10 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, including Wrestler of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and was inducted in their Hall of Fame in 2017.

He returned to the company in 2016, and won the WWE Championship twice.

With his second victory in Manchester, England, Jones is recognized by WWE as the first wrestler to win the title outside North America.

At 371 days, he is tied with Randy Savage for the eighth-longest reign in title history.

He also won the United States Championship three times, the Intercontinental Championship and the Raw Tag Team Championship once each, becoming the second wrestler (after Kurt Angle) to become a TNA/Impact and WWE Triple Crown winner and first Grand Slam champion in both promotions.

Jones has been thought of as a pillar of the wrestling industry for over two decades, being respected by fans and co-workers, and is considered one of the world's greatest professional wrestlers.

He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including the respective premier events of WWE and TNA, WrestleMania and Bound for Glory.