After dominating SmackDown Live for over a year, the reign of AJ Styles as WWE Champion finally ended last month in shocking fashion.

Challengers had come and gone during The Phenomenal One's run, but the low-blow of Daniel Bryan was AJ's undoing, and he dropped the title just five nights before Survivor Series.

Despite being a well-loved superstar and one of the top guys after just less than three years in the company, there were points in his title run that hit a bit of a flat spot.

His feud with Shinsuke Nakamura never really got going, and at times against Samoa Joe there were calls from the WWE Universe that wanted Joe as champion.

But losing the strap seems to have relit the fire underneath Styles, as he produced an instant classic in his rematch against Bryan at TLC this past week.

Whilst not being on the winning end, it paves the way for potential new storylines which could come out of next months Royal Rumble match, should he be an entrant.

We all know the Rumble leads to WrestleMania, and there could be a wealth of options when it comes to his opponent at the Grandest Stage Of Them All.

And AJ has hinted at a potential showdown with a man he's surprisingly never crossed paths with before.

"You know I’ve never been in the ring with EC3 before so that’ll be fun to see," Styles told WrestleZone, per NoDQ.

"But there are several that are coming up through NXT I’m sure shortly and there’s a number of them that I could have amazing matches with.”

“It isn’t up to me who I want to steal the show with, it’s up to the fans. Whatever they want, that’s what I wanna give them then I will steal the show with the opponent that they would like me to in the ring with.”

He's not even debuted on the main roster yet, but calling out EC3 already is definitely out of the left field.

The pair never faced-off in TNA Wrestling during both mens times there, and you'd have to think EC3 would have to establish himself a bit on the main roster before getting a crack at Styles.

A more realistic opponent at the MetLife Stadium would potentially be someone like Randy Orton - it wouldn't be a first-time match but it would definitely put butts on seats.