AJ Styles

Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best in-ring performers of all time, he is also known for his time with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from 2014 to 2016.

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 TNA, having been described as "the cornerstone of the company since tsinception"; 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, and wrestled in NJPW between 2014 and 2016, where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship twice.

Jones first appeared in 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, Jones is recognized by WWE as the first wrestler to win the title outside North America. At 371 days, this is the eighth-longest reign in title history. He also won the United States Championship three times, and the Intercontinental Championship and the Raw Tag Team Championship once each, thus 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. Overall, in major promotions (WWE, Impact, ROH, NJPW, RevPro), Jones has won 31 championships, including nine world titles.

Jones has been a pillar of the wrestling industry for over two decades and is well respected by fans and co-workers. Long considered one of the world's greatest professional wrestlers, Jones 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. Jones 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.

Early life

Allen Neal Jones was born at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina on June 2, 1977. Note that birth date appears only on archived version of site. He grew up in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic father. The family's poverty was such that they could not afford cable television, which resulted in Jones being unable to watch professional wrestling, his childhood passion. When he was one year old, his family moved to Gainesville, and he grew up in a trailer park with his brothers. He attended Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia, graduating in the class of 1996. Jones took up amateur wrestling in high school and became a two-time state wrestling champion. Jones then attended Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina, where he was on a wrestling and physical education scholarship. He was then invited by some of his friends to try professional wrestling. He entered a professional wrestling school because his friends were doing it and to find out whether he had a natural aptitude for it. To supplement his income, he worked by mowing lawns and driving an ambulance.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1998–2001)

Jones was trained by Rick Michaels and debuted in 1998. In the Georgia-based National Championship Wrestling (NCW) promotion he wrestled as Mr. Olympia, a masked wrestler, losing to Michael Brooks in his first singles match. By August 1999, he had won the promotion's Television Championship.

From 1999 to 2001, he generally competed in less notable independent promotions. In December 1999, NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside