A.J. Styles

Profile Overview

Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (alternatively stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a talent scout and coach at the Performance Center. He is also best known for his tenures in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Ring of Honor (ROH). Jones debuted in 1998 and competed for various independent promotions as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before gaining initial mainstream exposure in TNA.
Jones gained prominence after signing with TNA, 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 simultaneously appeared in ROH from 2002 to 2006, where he became the inaugural ROH Pure Champion. Jones also wrestled extensively internationally, in promotions such as 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. 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 WWE United States Championship three times, the WWE Intercontinental Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship twice, becoming the second wrestler after Kurt Angle to become a TNA and WWE Triple Crown winner and first Grand Slam champion in both promotions, as well as the third man (after Brock Lesnar and Angle) to be both IWGP and WWE Champion.
During his 28-year long career, Jones headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania 36 – Night 1 and Bound for Glory twice (in 2009 and 2013), the flagship events of WWE and TNA, respectively. He ranked atop the annual PWI 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. He 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 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame's class of 2026.