| AJ Styles |
 |
| Height |
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
|
| Weight |
215 lb (98 kg)
|
| From |
Gainesville, Georgia
|
| Wrestling debut |
1999
|
Allen Lloyd Jones (born June 2, 1978 in Gainesville, Georgia) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, AJ Styles. A mainstay in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he's competed during their inseption, Styles was a major influence in Ring of Honor during their first two years. Forced to leave ROH in the wake of the Rob Feinstein controversy in 2004, Styles returned sixteen months later in the summer of 2005, wrestling for ROH for one more year before leaving in 2006.
AJ Styles was initially trained by Rick Michaels of NWA Wildside, and made his professional wrestling debut on February 15, 1999. Styles would compete for NWA Wildside for two years, before being signed by World Championship Wrestling. His time in WCW would be short lived as WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, and Styles, along with several other wrestlers, was released from his contract. Styles would return to NWA Wildside, where he would compete until 2005.
Styles debuted in Ring of Honor at their third show, Night of Appreciation, on April 27, 2002.[1] He quickly became a main event wrestler, competing against Low Ki for ROH Championship at Honor Invades Boston.[2] After failing to win the title, he became the first holder of the "Number One Contender's Trophy", which was viewed as a second title at the time.[3] At the One Year Anniversary Show in February 2003, Styles competed against Low Ki and Paul London in a three-way match, with the winner receiving a shot at the ROH Championship later that night. London won the match but failed to defeat Xavier for the championship. After the show, Styles and London agreed to form a tag team and compete for the ROH Tag Team Championship.
Set to compete for the number one contendership for the titles at the following show, London was unable to attend after having emergency sinus surgery the day before. Instead, Styles competed by himself and defeated
The Backseat Boyz,
The SAT and
The Carnage Crew to receive a title shot. He chose
The Amazing Red as his partner, and the two defeated
The Prophecy (
Christopher Daniels and Xavier) for the championship in the show’s main event.
[4] When London returned, he was upset when Styles chose to remain a team with Red instead of forming one with him. The two wrestled against each other at
Night of the Grudges, with the match ending in a draw.
[5] Styles and Red, as the ROH Tag Team Champions, defeated the
Briscoe Brothers on three separate occasions. However, the duo were not so lucky against The Prophecy. At
Wrath of the Racket,
Jim Cornette made his first appearance in ROH and aligned himself with Christopher Daniels and
Dan Maff.
(more...)
