WWE star AJ Styles has stepped inside the ring with some of the best wrestlers of all time during his illustrious career.
But the Phenomenal One has managed to narrow down his list of favourite opponents to just five and there are several absentees.
The most notable of which is undoubtedly the Undertaker, whom Styles faced in the Deadman’s final ever match at WrestleMania 36.
The cinematic Boneyard match was a show stealer in 2020 and the positive reception it received proved to be the catalyst behind Taker finally hanging up his boots.
Fast forward three years and Styles will take on Seth Rollins at Night of Champions this weekend looking to be crowned the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
And it’s a match Styles is relishing for a number of reasons, with the Architect one of his top five favourite opponents inside the ropes.
During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT’s talkWRESTLING podcast, Styles said: “Seth Rollins is excellent no doubt about it.
“John Cena is one of the guys I love being in the ring with.
“Samoa Joe is another – an amazing talent, but I guarantee you throw me in there with Christopher Daniels we’re going to tear the house down too.
“So that leaves one more and there’s several guys you can’t go wrong with – Rey Mysterio is definitely one of those guys.
“I watch Rey and go, ‘I wanna be like that guy! I wanna do what he does’, cause he got into wrestling at such a young age you don’t realise he’s only a couple of years older than myself but he was one of those guys that was the pioneer of Lucha Libre but bringing that over to the American style and making it all work.
“He’s definitely one of a kind!”
16-time world champion Cena has transitioned to Hollywood in recent years but was involved in several match of the year candidates with Styles after the latter arrived in WWE.
The pair were often considered polar opposites during their rise to the top, with Cena the face and voice of WWE and Styles the most celebrated all-around in-ring competitor in the independents.
Styles had wrestled for TNA during a 12-year period from 2002 until 2014 where arguably his best match came in a triple threat with Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe at Unbreakable in 2005.
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