In 2024, at the age of 46, it’s hard to believe that AJ’s current character is much better than years previous, but you’d be wrong. Instead, Styles is proving why he’s still got enough talent left to remain one of the top talents on SmackDown. While he has slowed down (understandably so after one of the greatest careers of all time), he’s not letting that get in the way of still providing us with entertaining moments upon his return.
While from 2021–2023, AJ really wasn’t at his best (albeit still phenomenal), his current character feels like a breath of fresh air from those previous years. So without further ado, this article explains exactly why.
AJ Styles In Recent Years
In 2021, we had the pairing of AJ and Omos. I will admit, Styles had some entertaining moments at the time. AJ being a snarky douche who hides behind his massive security was a fun change of pace for him. That being said, it’s obviously true that the match quality wasn’t really there, so we never really got fireworks in the ring from this pairing.
From 2022 to 2023, we saw the return of the phenomenal one. In this time, he only had one notable rivalry, and that was the underwhelming one against Edge. While that was more of a fault of the booking, as turning Edge heel made it feel more like a grudge match than a dream match, it was still underwhelming. Besides that, throughout the rest of the time before his current character, his only other notable matches were his match against Finn at Survivor Series 2022 and Seth at Night Of Champions 2023. The man was devoid of momentum post-Seth match, with him taking losses to names like Finn and Solo in the following months.
Thankfully, he was able to get some of this momentum back thanks to his return at the end of 2023…
Why His Current Character Works So Well
A new, darker version of AJ is really what he needed, as he had really made no changes over the past few years. With his age, it only makes sense that he’d take on some slower, heelish offence. Sadly, in the words of AJ himself, “the older you get, the harder that stuff is”. This is recognising that it’s in his best interest to take on this offence. That being said, he has been making the best of the tools that he has, and I can now say that I’m a lot more captivated by the average AJ Styles segment by his current character than I was previously.
The LA Knight feud has been so promising, with AJ playing this dark character so well. In the most recent episode of SmackDown, AJ exhibits this with an entertaining promo to build the LA Knight feud. Even down to his more sadistic demeanour when speaking, it just captivates you more than anything else he was doing previously, so things like this are great to see. This calculated, brooding AJ Styles is the perfect antithesis to the brash, upfront LA Knight, overall making this character, and feud, all the more worth watching.
Shades Of A Lone Wolf
One thing that I admire about this gimmick is it’s similarities to AJ’s Lone Wolf gimmick in 2013. They were both played off as a new side of AJ, which the respective audiences had never seen before. Both gimmicks came at a time when AJ was low on momentum and was desperate for a change. Furthermore, the looks also changed, with both of them looking more rugged than seen previously, with clothes that also match a more serious, rugged demeanour. Even down to the smallest details, like how on both occasions he attacks one of the most over faces upon his return (James Storm in TNA and LA Knight in the WWE, respectively).
Obviously, the Lone Wolf gimmick had it’s problems. The main complaint about it was the new wrestling style he debuted. It was much more calculated and grounded, which was completely different from the high-flying style people were familiar with at the time. With his current character, however, this style translates a lot better, as a modern-day AJ Styles isn’t able to pull off moves at the same pace he could all those years ago. A slower, grittier style just makes more sense for a 46-year-old AJ, giving him the perfect opportunity to go full throttle with a Lone Wolf-esc character once again.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article; if you want to read my previous article, click HERE.
