Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: AJ Styles Has Been WWE's Best Superstar in 2016

1. The Phenomenal One Living Up to His Name

AJ Styles can go ahead and start prepping his Slammy Award acceptance speech. The No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is the clear front-runner for the Superstar of the Year prize.

Just four months after joining the company, Styles has established himself as one of WWE's top in-ring performers, one of the most compelling figures on the roster and a bona fide star. 

Stone Cold said it best. In reviewing Styles and Roman Reigns' match at Payback, Steve Austin said on his podcast, "If this kid is on a pay-per-view, I want to watch him work, especially if he's going to work with someone high-profile and in a money spot. This kid is way too good to be anywhere else but at the top." 

Next up for Styles is a world title bout rematch at Extreme Rules that is a part of an enthralling rivalry. On paper, it made little sense to pit two babyfaces against each other and have the polarizing Reigns face an Internet Wrestling Community favorite like Styles. But the storyline with its many shades of gray has been a hit.

Styles and Reigns' animosity pops on the screen. The Anoa'i family-versus-The Club subplot adds plenty of punch to the feud. And each time these enemies face off, there is no shortage of sparks.

Give Reigns plenty of credit for that as well, but Styles has been the key to the success of this marquee feud.

He has elevated Reigns. During this rivalry, The Big Dog has looked like he belongs at the top of the card more than ever. That's a product of both their great matches together and a sense that Reigns is stepping up to match Styles' level of production.

As Voices of Wrestling pointed out, if this ends up being the cure for the Reigns backlash, Styles should be rewarded mightily:

Styles is getting the best out of Reigns, just as he got the best out of The Miz earlier this year. The Miz had largely been a forgotten man, a midcard afterthought, but against Styles he put together some career-best matches.

The Phenomenal One also produced several top-flight bouts against Chris Jericho.

There's an electricity that crackles around Styles as a result of all of this. It's easy to be excited about what's ahead. WWE wisely treated him like a main event player not long after he walked through the door, and it's paying off in a big way.

With John Cena, Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt all expected to be back from injury soon, suddenly WWE is flush with great options to showcase Styles. And judging from how 2016 has gone so far, the master of the Phenomenal Forearm is bound to thrive opposite any one of those men.

2. No Plan for Crews?

Apollo Crews' win-loss record suggests WWE thinks highly of him, but his placement on the card says he is a back-burner prospect.

According to his CageMatch.net profile, Crews hasn't wrestled on Raw or SmackDown in two weeks. He had no bout at Payback and won't be part of Extreme Rules. His only storyline is a semi-feud with Stardust that has seen them collide on Main Event and Superstars.

On the other hand, Crews is 13-0 in singles matches. That's the kind of start usually reserved for stars WWE favors.

Credit: WWE.com

Even if he doesn't have a real rival in the next few months, the company should play up that winning streak. It should have him face a new opponent each night, showcasing his skills as he begins to look unbeatable. WWE just has to make sure to keep him in fans' minds rather than let him skip shows, as he's done recently.

That would be a smart segue into his first significant feud and an easy way to book him until WWE figures out something else for him.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Mr. Wrestling II (Johnny Walker)

As Jim Ross noted on his blog, the man who once wrestled as Mr. Wrestling II is set to undergo aneurysm surgery. 

That bit of scary news will make fans of his work flash back to his glory days. One of Walker's most memorable feuds came against Magnum T.A. when both men were competing for Mid-South Wrestling. It was a classic friends-turned-foes tale, but one ripe with palatable animosity.

Hopefully Walker will make a speedy recovery.

4. Trending Upward Again

The NXT women's division always seems to replenish itself after each departure. Paige and Charlotte left, leaving Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to step up to top spots. Banks and Lynch have since moved to the main roster, leaving Bayley and Asuka to thrive in their stead.

It's not clear how long those two women will remain at the NXT brand, but when they leave, a whole crop of promising talent is poised to replace them.

Alexa Bliss, for one, has been killing it as an arrogant, dismissive heel. She is among the most compelling figures on NXT TV right now. She only needs a marquee feud to show off the star she is capable of being.

Nia Jax has done strong work as an overwhelming beast. Carmella's charisma and improved ring work will put her in the mix for the NXT women's title. Liv Morgan and Aliyah have both shown early promise. Once again, the women's division looks mighty strong.

Whoever is doing the scouting for female wrestlers for WWE has plenty of leverage to ask for a raise.

5. Who Signed Off on This?

When one thinks of Extreme Rules, visions of broken tables and lacerated flesh come to mind. For some ad executives, though, the PPV inspired thoughts of insect intercourse.

This Extreme Rules promo is one of the weirdest, most off-base commercials in WWE history:

Suddenly, the David Otunga's 2012 Tables, Ladders & Chairs ad seems like a brilliant idea.

6. House of Fun Lite

Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose's rivalry will soon travel to a strange place. The rivals are set to clash in WWE's inaugural Asylum Match. Judging from Ambrose's introduction of the bout on Monday's Raw, it's essentially a cage match with weapons hanging up for one's use.

It feels like a PG version of the Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match, a bout Raven created and brought to TNA.

But while that violent bout featured barbed wire and steel chains, the Asylum Match looks a lot less ominous. A bucket and a mop were among the weapons hanging from wires in Ambrose's "asylum."

7. Damien Sandow Note

As a reminder of just popular the recently released Sandow is, the Wrestling Observer noted, "The most read story this past week on Rolling Stone's website was an interview with Damien Sandow."

"

Ok , this is cool. pic.twitter.com/rXsG8ik2yP

— Aaron(Damien Sandow) (@TheDamienSandow) May 14, 2016"

It wasn't that Sandow said anything juicy in that interview with Aaron Oster. Sandow has just attracted people throughout his career.

8. Puerto Rico's Best

In all the bragging The Shining Stars have done about their native Puerto Rico of late, they surprisingly haven't mentioned the island nation's rich history of wrestling. Primo and Epico talked cuisine and women rather than the squared circle.

That's a missed opportunity considering all the star power Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council has hosted over the years and how many big matches have unfolded in that promotion. 

For those curious about the Colon family and the WWC, be sure to check out these memorable bouts:

• Ric Flair vs. Hercules Ayala: WWC Aniversario (1985)
• Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher: June 15, 1986
• Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher: Feb. 28, 1987
• Carlos Colon vs. Steve Strong: Nov. 23, 1989
• Carly Colon vs. Eddie Colon: WWC Aniversario (2004)

Several of these were gritty brawls boasting a primitive energy. WWC has clearly ventured into the extreme in order to tell its stories. And note how raucous some of these crowds got.

Hinting at any of that and bragging about coming from that tradition would have been the ideal move for the re-debuting Shining Stars.

9. The Pre-Show Wolf

Baron Corbin will once again go to battle before a pay-per-view begins in earnest. He and Dolph Ziggler are set to follow their pre-show match at Payback with one at Extreme Rules.

Credit: WWE.com

That's an odd position to put a guy who won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. One would assume that WWE would have worked to showcase him more after that victory, but he's been an afterthought in a way.

On the last Raw before Sunday's PPV, Corbin didn't even appear on the show. WWE just mentioned in offhand fashion that this rematch was set to go down. There was no added buildup, no advancement of the narrative.

That speaks to Corbin's place on the company hierarchy, which is clearly lower than where Colin Cassady stands.

10. Luke Harper on Twitter

Apparently some fans have taken issue with The Wyatt Family members' use of Twitter. The clan is portrayed as a swamp-dwelling cult, a group some don't believe should be using social media.

Harper had a perfect response to those criticisms:

If you're analyzing the logic of Harper and his crew typing their eerie rhetoric onto their smartphones, you really need to lighten up. If you spend too much time searching for plot holes, you end up not seeing much of the show.