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Phenomenal! A. J. Styles is TNA's first PWI 500 winner!

Posted: Jul 15th 2010 By: mikeiles

A. J. Styles still vividly remembers the phone call that would change his life.

It was April 2002, and on the other end of the line was John Laurinaitis from the office of WWE talent relations. ?Johnny Ace,? as he is known, was offering Styles a developmental contract with the company. As exciting as that might sound for a 23-year-old independent wrestler who was supplementing his wrestling income by mowing lawns, Styles had other things to consider, like a wife who was still attending college, that he would have to relocate from Gainesville, Georgia, to Cincinnati, Ohio, and the fact that the job would pay a mere $500 a week.

Styles thanked Laurinaitis for the offer and told him he?d have to discuss it with his wife. Shortly thereafter, he called Johnny Ace and turned down the offer.

?It was a family decision,? Styles said. ?I was not going to leave my wife to go pursue a wrestling career, and maybe prevent her from going after her own dreams. I just didn?t think that was right. I remember hanging up after I told Johnny Ace that. I was sick. I was sick to my stomach.?

As it turned out, the decision would set Styles on a course to becoming one of the most accomplished and respected wrestlers of the past decade?a course that culminates in the pages before you.

On the heels of the most impressive year of his career?one in which he wore the TNA World championship belt for seven months and had thrilling matches with a wide variety of opponents?Styles becomes the first-ever TNA wrestler to achieve a number-one ranking in the ?PWI 500.?

And Styles can?t help but wonder if he would ever have come this far had that fateful phone call ended differently.

?I think about that all the time. Where would I have been if I had taken that contract with WWE? Would I have been released in three months?? said Styles, who joined TNA weeks after turning down the WWE offer, and even competed in the very first match in TNA history. ?It seems like to me that it was a blessing. Coming to TNA and growing with them and growing the name of A. J. Styles turned out to be the best thing for me. And your magazine is proof positive.?

Styles, 32, said he was both excited and ?flabbergasted? when he learned of his number-one ranking. His surprise has nothing to do with his own self-worth, but rather the realization of WWE?s dominance in the sport. A WWE wrestler has ranked number one in 17 of the 19 previous ?PWI 500? lists, including the past 11 in a row.

?I think we have a lot of great wrestlers on this roster that deserve to be right up there, as well. But we go up against a monster known as WWE, and sometimes it?s hard for other people to take notice of what we think is the best,? Styles said. ?What an honor it is for the PWI staff to say, ?You know what? This guy deserves to be number one.? It means a lot to me. It really does, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.?

Styles gradual climb up the ?PWI 500? has mirrored his rise in the sport, and the peaks and valleys he encountered along the way. He broke onto the list in his third year as a pro at number 458 after creating a buzz in NWA Wildside.

?It was like barely making it in, and I thought, Oh man, that?s awesome. I thought it was so cool,? said Styles, who jumped to number 199 in 2001 after getting a bit of national exposure in WCW. ?And year after year you?re like, I wonder where I am, and you?d check out where you were ? But I always checked it out. I know guys who wore jackets that had their ?PWI 500? rankings on them. So, obviously it means not just something to me, but to a lot of other people.?

It was in TNA that Styles made the wrestling world take notice. He jumped to number 11 in 2003 after his first full year in the fledgling company, and earned spots in the top 10 in both 2004 and 2005?years in which he wore TNA?s heavyweight championship.

But it took until this most recent ?PWI 500? grading period for Styles to fully realize his potential. Styles? incredible run in the sport began in September, when he won his first recognized World title at TNA?s No Surrender pay-per-view.

In the months that followed, Styles stole one TNA show after the next with thrilling title defenses against the likes of Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and Sting.

The Gainesville, Georgia, native, counts as the highlights of his year his series of matches against long-time adversary Kurt Angle, including ?tearing it up? on the special live edition of Impact on Monday, January 4.

?I know we went out there and left it all in the ring ? We had nothing else to give,? Styles said. ?That will always be one of those moments that I?ll never forget.?

Styles said he also grew exponentially as a performer over the last year by working alongside such greats as Hulk Hogan and his on-screen mentor, Ric Flair, whom he called a wrestling ?genius.?

But Styles also acknowledges that the past year in TNA has not always gone smoothly. Styles said he has at times had to defend his employer from criticisms lobbied from fans and observers, and at other times been the source of some criticism.

?It?s a roller-coaster ride. There?s good and bad. Something may work. Something may not,? said Styles, who publicly questioned whether recent TNA content was suitable for younger children.

?If there?s any negativity,? he said, ?it?s because I only want this company to do well ? And that?s what everybody wants.?

Styles said he realizes that his personal success in the sport is linked to that of TNA as a whole. For his part, Styles said he intends to keep learning, keep having the most entertaining match on every TNA show, and keep convincing one fan after the next that he really is the best wrestler in the sport today.

?I know I?m here for the long haul, so I?m going to force you guys to put me at number one again,? Styles said. ?That?s all there is to it. There?s no way you?re going to keep me out of there.?

Tags: A. J. Styles, TNA, WWE, WCW, Ric Flair