WWE Rumors: AJ Styles Post-‘WrestleMania 33’ Plans Revealed
It seems almost ridiculous to think about, but AJ Styles had no WrestleMania 33 plans set in stone despite being one of the top stars in the WWE for the last year. Originally, Shawn Michaels reported that the WWE asked him if he would wrestle AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33 but when he turned them down, they chose to go with AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon.
Comicbook reported that things should look up for AJ Styles again once WrestleMania 33 has come to an end. According to the report, as soon as AJ Styles has dispatched Shane McMahon, he will immediately move back into the WWE world title picture once again.
AJ Styles had enjoyed an amazing career for the last 15 years, wrestling as the face of TNA Impact Wrestling before moving on to become the IWGP champion in New Japan, a title that Brock Lesnar also once held. He then made his debut not in NXT but on the main WWE roster at the Royal Rumble in 2016.
By the time he had been in the WWE for just half a year, he was already the WWE world champion, winning the title from Dean Ambrose. He turned in some great matches with Ambrose and then did the impossible by beating John Cena regularly both before and after his world title win.
Every match that AJ Styles wrestled was a Match of the Night contender and he quickly proved that his fans were right when they said he was good enough to make it in the WWE all along. There was no one better than AJ Styles in 2016 when it came to in-ring work and match quality.
However, by the time 2017 rolled around, the WWE was dropping the ball with AJ Styles. First, they had him in the middle of an extended feud with James Ellsworth that was played for comedy and as part of his feud with Dean Ambrose.
Finally, when AJ Styles’ one-year anniversary rolled around, the WWE had him drop the WWE world title to John Cena just to give Cena his 16th world title reign, a way to tie Ric Flair’s record. What makes the loss even worse was that Cena only held the title for a month before losing it at Elimination Chamber.
Since then, AJ Styles has drifted along. The WWE teased that AJ Styles would be in the world title match at WrestleMania 33 against Bray Wyatt when Randy Orton refused the title shot after winning the Royal Rumble.
AJ Styles and Luke Harper tied in a battle royal and then AJ Styles beat Harper to become the new No. 1 contender. When Randy Orton betrayed Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan gave Orton a chance to get the title shot back and he beat Styles to become the No. 1 contender again.
In a move that made zero sense from a booking standpoint, AJ Styles blamed Shane McMahon, despite the fact that it was Bryan who made the decision and attacked Shane to set up their match at WrestleMania 33. Fans who believe that AJ Styles deserves a high profile match seem disappointed because Shane is not a great wrestler but it is still a huge match because McMahon is involved.
The only way for this to all work out is if AJ Styles rebounds after WrestleMania 33. With John Cena leaving for another long break to make a movie, that leaves an opening for someone to take over leadership of SmackDown Live again.
With Randy Orton likely winning the title from Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33, and the WWE setting him up as a face despite him playing the heel more that Wyatt in their feud, AJ Styles seems the best bet as the heel to challenge him next.
[Featured Image by WWE]
