AJ Styles is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, and is the leader of The O.C. stable. 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, now 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 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. 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.[7] 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.[8] He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including the respective premier events of WWE and TNA, WrestleMania and Bound for Glory. 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.