Next year, AJ Styles is set to compete at his final WWE WrestleMania, as he announced this past October that he will officially retire from professional wrestling in 2026. To honor Styles' legacy on the "Grandest Stage Of Them All," listed below is our ranking for "The Phenomenal One's" top five matches at the event since he joined WWE in 2016. Over his the course of his career, Styles has participated in nine matches at WWE's biggest show of the year, with WrestleMania 39 being the only time he missed the event due to an injury. Additionally, Styles competed in singles competition for eight of his nine matches at the show, with his WrestleMania 37 contest against The New Day being his only multi-man bout.
Although Styles has definitely had a few forgettable matches at the "Showcase Of The Immortals," he has often managed to impress at WrestleMania, especially when the rest of the card failed to deliver.
On paper, AJ Styles vs. Edge screamed match of the night before it even happened, and although both competitors didn't quite meet expectations, they still impressed in a hard fought battle that marked the genesis of one of the most popular factions in WWE. The slow and methodical pace between Styles and Edge became one of the main criticisms of the match following WrestleMania 38, with fans not taking a liking to the contest running nearly 25-minutes long. Moreover, it seemed like both men initially struggled to find chemistry together, but they made up for it through in-ring storytelling and the physical brutality showcased throughout the match.
Despite the in-ring action picking up near the end of the contest, Damian Priest's appearance in the final moments of the match is what most fans remember, as Styles gets distracted by "The Archer Of Infamy" before performing a Phenomenal Forearm, which leads him to be Speared by Edge in mid-air. Despite Styles and Edge's efforts not resulting in the dream match that many hoped for, the "Rated-R Superstar" coming out victorious helped construct the first iteration ofThe Judgment Day, which many didn't believe would still be a faction four years later.
AJ Styles and LA Knight unfortunately suffered from being on a stacked WrestleMania 40 card, as both men put together a strong twelve-minute performance that seemed to fly under the radar with matches such as Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre on the show. It wasn't a candidate for match of the night by any means, but Styles and Knight delivered in a fast-paced battle that saw both men put their athleticism on display.
After preventing Knight from competing for the World Heavyweight Championship in the months leading to WrestleMania 40, Styles would fail to emerge victorious when he attempted to hit a Phenomenal Forearm but instead ate a BFT. With Styles being a heel at the time and Knight coming off one of the hottest years of his career, it made sense that "The Megastar" picked up the win. However, Styles still looked strong in defeat, having created one of the most memorable spots of the match when he delivered a back body drop to Knight on the exposed floor outside of the ring. Nearly two years later, Styles and Knight's clash at WrestleMania 40 is definitely an underrated match from the entire weekend, but it's far from the two-time WWE's Champion's best effort at the event.
Similarly to Styles' match with Edge, his WrestleMania debut against Chris Jericho didn't exactly live up to the hype, but still proved to be one of the better contests on a disappointing night. If anything, the bout was overlooked by the amazing Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match that kicked off the show, leavingStyles and Jericho in a difficult position to follow Zack Ryder winning the title. Therefore, although both men displayedtremendous character work,proved to have chemistry, and delivered several finishers throughout the contest, fans struggled to get invested after witnessing a show-stealing opener.
Despite their position on the card, Styles' match with Jericho would arguably rank higher on this list if it wasn't for the finish, which saw "Y2J" defeat the former TNA star. After having just made his WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble, it was expected that Styles would conclude his three-month feud with Jericho by winning at WrestleMania, but instead he was pinned cleanly, and never got another opportunity to get his revenge on the Canadian star in singles action. Styles losing continues to be one of the biggest fan complaints of this match, but his notable in-ring work with Jericho makes it one of his better WrestleMania performances.
As WWE prepared to hold WrestleMania 36 inside of the Performance Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans were skeptical when it was announced that the first night of the show would be main evented by Styles and The Undertaker in a Boneyard Match. Being unable to host a show in front of fans allowed WWE to get experimental, leading Styles and The Undertaker to endure the tough task of delivering in a match that had never been seen before. Thankfully, not only was theBoneyard Match a success, but allowed Styles to give "The Deadman" a proper sendoff before retirement.
Styles was excellent in the lead up to the match, having spent weeks claiming that The Undertaker was a shell of his former self and had recently been appearing as Mark Calaway, rather than "The Phenom." Styles' desperation to get the real Undertaker at WrestleMania created the perfect tension for a match surrounded by tombstones and broken buildings, but also allowed fans to feel the anger in the legend's character, who delivered an old school beating to his opponent.
On top of Styles displaying a brilliant heel performance, his battle with The Undertaker remains arguably the best cinematic match WWE has ever done, with the main event looking like a horror movie from start to finish. Styles would eventually lose the match, but was absolutely respected in defeat for helping The Undertaker turn back the clock in his final performance.
It's hard to believe that AJ Styles' best match at "The Show Of Shows" was with Shane McMahon, but one could make an argument that their clash at WrestleMania 33 was the best contest from the entire event. Fans were initially surprised to see Styles and McMahon kickoff WrestleMania 33, with many expecting a title match to open the show, but it was absolutely the right decision given the amount of stunts and high-risk maneuvers both men planned for the encounter.
Similarly to many of his matches in the Attitude Era, McMahon delivers and endures truly painful spots throughout the contest. Hitting a Coast-To-Coast with a trash can on Styles was one of the highlights, but McMahon attempting to jump off the top rope to put "The Phenomenal One" through the announce desk was arguably more impressive. That said, nothing was more shocking than watching McMahon deliver a Shooting Star Press, which just barely missed and allowed Styles to pickup the victory.
The match is also Styles' best dramatic performance at WrestleMania, with each near fall resulting in a thunderous response from the crowd at Camping World Stadium. Sometimes in professional wrestling, the least expected outcome creates the best moments, and Styles' match with McMahon not only overdelivered but is still talked about as one of the better openers in WrestleMania history.
Outside of the five matches listed above, the rest of Styles' WrestleMania resume isn't remembered very fondly. Most fans will point to his matchup with Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, which many hoped would be similar to their classic at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10, but instead were witness to an underwhelming 20-minute contest. To make matters worse, WrestleMania 34 should've seen Nakamura crowned as WWE Champion after winning the Royal Rumble that year, but the company chose to have him fall short and turn heel instead. The clash between Styles and Nakamura in 2018 could possibly be one of the most disappointing WrestleMania matches of all-time.
The three other WrestleMania matches to Styles' name are not necessarily poor efforts, but just standard contests that are often forgotten about. His singles matches with Logan Paul and Randy Orton initially seemed like sleeper picks to steal the show, but unfortunately neither battle was much different from the wrestling on WWE's weekly television. Additionally, Styles' WWE Tag Team Championship win alongside Omos against The New Day felt like a filler match on a strong WrestleMania 37 night one card.
