[7] On the March 5, 2001, episode of Nitro, they were entered into a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship but were eliminated in the first round by eventual winners Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo.

On October 26, 2001, Styles participated in All Pro Wrestling's King of the Indies tournament, defeating Jardi Frantz in his first-round match but was eliminated by Christopher Daniels in the quarter-finals the following night.

[15] On November 1, Styles debuted in IWA: Mid-South, taking part in the promotions annual Ted Petty Invitational tournament, but was defeated by Christopher Daniels in the first round.

He appeared on the first weekly TNA pay-per-view, teaming with Low Ki and Jerry Lynn and losing to The Flying Elvises (Jimmy Yang, Jorge Estrada and Sonny Siaki).

[7] In 2003, Styles began focusing on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when, after defeating David Flair on January 15 to become the number one contender, he recruited the help of Larry Zbyszko and associated himself with Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.)

[69] On the October 30 episode of Impact!, Styles and Joe formed a faction of younger wrestlers known as The TNA Front Line to combat The Main Event Mafia, who recruited Scott Steiner.

[70] Styles challenged Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Turning Point[71] and again in an eight-man tag team match at Final Resolution, but was unsuccessful each time.

[75] At Slammiversary, Styles competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was unsuccessful after Samoa Joe turned on The Front Line and helped Angle win.

At No Surrender, Styles won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a five-way match against Matt Morgan, Sting, Hernandez and defending champion Kurt Angle.

[82] Styles was mysteriously attacked by an anonymous assailant backstage leading him to believe it was Samoa Joe or Christopher Daniels, both of whom he faced the following month at Turning Point to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

[98] On the following episode of Impact!, Flair, who had aligned himself with Styles, Desmond Wolfe, Kazarian, Robert Roode and James Storm, announced that he would reform the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune, stating that each of them would have to earn their spots in the group.

[126][127] During the final match against Magnus and Samoa Joe on the January 5, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling, Kazarian abandoned Styles and aligned himself with Christopher Daniels, effectively ending Fortune.

[138] On the June 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Styles and Carter revealed their secret—they were not having an affair but were helping an addicted pregnant woman named Claire Lynch overcome her problems.

[145][146] Styles was pinned by James Storm in a three-way number one contender's match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Turning Point, also involving Bobby Roode, preventing him from receiving another title opportunity until Bound for Glory 2013 as per the pre-match stipulation.

[150][151] Styles, now sporting a beard, unkempt hair, and all-black attire, returned to TNA with the Calf Killer submission hold as his new finisher, which he used to defeat James Storm in his first match back.

On October 21, Styles won the vacant IWA: Mid-South Heavyweight Championship, defeating Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, and Petey Williams in a four-way dance match.

[177] On August 15, Styles teamed with Shinjiro Otani to face Kurt Angle and Masahiro Chono on Day 5 of New Japan's G1 Climax – Heroes of Supremacy event, in a losing effort.

[182][183] Styles defeated Roderick Strong in his return match on the January 4, 2014, taping of Ring of Honor Wrestling,[184] and picked up victories over Jay Lethal at the 12th Anniversary Show and Chris Hero at the Flyin' High event.

[185][186] At All Star Extravaganza VII, he became the number one contender for the ROH World Championship by winning a four-way match involving Adam Cole, Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong, but he unsuccessfully challenged champion Jay Lethal at Final Battle.

[194] On May 29, 2015, reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Styles (representing Bullet Club with manager Jonny Ferrari) defeated Justin Gabriel at House of Glory High Intensity 4 in Jamaica, New York.

[218][219] On October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Styles lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi in his third defense, after the returning Yoshitatsu stopped Bullet Club's newest member, Jeff Jarrett, from interfering in the match.

[265] On the following episode of Raw, Styles defeated Jericho, Kevin Owens, and Cesaro in a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender for Roman Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

[280] Due to his victory at SummerSlam, Styles immediately re-entered the renamed WWE World Championship picture and received another opportunity at the title at Backlash against Dean Ambrose.

[296] On the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles defeated Corbin and Sami Zayn to become the number one contender for the United States Championship at Backlash on May 21,[297][298] but lost his match for the title against Kevin Owens by countout.

[302] At Battleground on July 23, Styles lost the title back to Owens,[303] but regained it two days later on SmackDown Live in a triple threat match also involving a returning Chris Jericho.

[335] After retaining the title against Rusev at Extreme Rules on July 15,[336] Styles became the longest-reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history on August 14, surpassing the 280-day record set by John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL).

[387] During the following weeks, Styles made successful defenses against the likes of Drew Gulak and Gran Metalik[388][389] before losing the title to Jeff Hardy on the August 21 episode of SmackDown, ending his reign at 70 days.

[417] On the August 1 episode of Raw, Styles defeated Miz and Mustafa Ali in a triple threat match but lost to Ciampa later that night, failing to earn an opportunity at the United States Championship.

[434] At Royal Rumble on January 27, 2024, Styles failed to capture the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from Roman Reigns in a fatal four-way match also involving Knight and Orton.

[461] In 2009, Styles was featured on MTV's Made trying to help a young high schooler become a professional wrestler alongside Taylor Wilde and The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky).