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AJ Styles and Jey Uso will challenge for world titles at Backlash France on May 4. Ahead of the premium live event, former WWE writer Vince Russo questioned why both superstars' matches seemingly have predictable outcomes.
Cody Rhodes will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Styles in his first televised title defense since dethroning Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL. Elsewhere on the card, Rhodes' long-time ally Jey Uso will face Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Russo was WWE's head writer in the late 1990s when RAW often drew its highest television ratings. On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo, he told host Dr. Chris Featherstone he disagreed with the creative team's booking of the latest world title challengers:
"Not at all, bro, not at all," Russo said. "They're both horrible, terrible, easy choices. Bro, listen, they're booking this. They're writing this. They know who's going over. You should have for months been building a heel, for months been building a babyface, so at least we go into these matches and there's some question. Bro, there's no question Cody's going over and Damian Priest is going over. Like, there's no question whatsoever." [0:49 – 1:25]
Watch the video above to hear Russo's theory on why WWE storylines sometimes go downhill after WrestleMania.
Vince Russo compares AJ Styles and Jey Uso's booking to a WWE classic
In 1987, Ricky Steamboat won the Intercontinental Championship from Randy Savage at WrestleMania 3 in a match widely viewed among the best in WWE history. The two men continued to feud at live events for three months after WrestleMania, with Savage repeatedly failing to recapture the title.
Almost four decades on, Vince Russo believes title matches meant more back then compared to today:
"I can remember Savage losing the title to Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania 3. Bro, when they had the rematch, you really believed Savage was winning it back. You really believed he was gonna win it back. Now, bro, it's just so predictable because they didn't build opponents for these two guys [Cody Rhodes and Damian Priest] coming out of the shoot. And that goes back to, bro, WWE creating content because they will watch whatever we put out there." [1:31 – 2:05]
AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens and Rey Mysterio in a triple threat match before beating LA Knight to earn an opportunity at Cody Rhodes' title. Jey Uso, meanwhile, defeated Bronson Reed, Drew McIntyre, and Ricochet to become the number one contender for Damian Priest's World Heavyweight Championship.
What do you make of WWE's booking of AJ Styles and Jey Uso? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
