#1 AJ Styles
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That’s right; AJ Styles has been given the short end of the stick at this year’s event. After having such an impressive year including a lengthy WWE Championship run, AJ Styles has undoubtedly been the face of SmackDown and one of the main reasons people have been tuning in every week.
As he lost the title to John Cena, AJ Styles lost a lot of momentum. Granted, the match he had with John Cena was nothing less than five stars, and I don’t have a problem with him losing. The problem is, AJ has seemed to lack something following his Championship loss.
He has become embroiled in a feud with Shane McMahon as he has failed several times to gain his spot at WrestleMania since Randy Orton’s betrayal of Bray Wyatt. After the Royal Rumble, it seemed Orton would stick with Bray, and we’d see AJ Styles fight for the WWE Championship against the Eater of Worlds. However, Orton turned face and beat AJ Styles in a new #1 contenders match, booking his place at the Showcase of the Immortals.
AJ Styles has since used his time on Talking Smack to place the blame on the SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon. Having smashed Shane’s face through a car window last Tuesday on SmackDown Live, AJ Styles was fired by Daniel Bryan, but Shane reversed the decision and announced a match between himself and the Phenomenal One at WrestleMania 33.
AJ Styles deserves better than this. I’d feel much better about this if it was at a minor pay-per-view. Shane McMahon is a spot monkey, and that will likely take the attention from AJ Styles at the event. What makes this worse are the recent reports that Brock Lesnar was supposed to face Shane but flatly refused to do so. It seems like they placed Shane with one of the best wrestlers to try and get the best out of him if he has to perform at WrestleMania.
AJ Styles should be in the main event, especially given his run throughout the year. It feels like he is taking a step back here. He lost at last year’s event to Chris Jericho, so I expected him to pick up the win at this year’s event. They will likely be quite low on the card too. Better luck next year AJ.
Who else will be held back?
Aside from the talent I have mentioned, there are still some superstars who don’t even have a match but may well do by the time the event comes to pass. People like the Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin are likely to end up in a gimmick match, but they could be left off altogether.
Despite the fact that the talents mentioned are being criminally under-utilised in this year’s event, I remain hopeful that they will make the best of the situation they have been given. They are all top talents that have just been a bit unlucky with their placement on the roster as WrestleMania has come around.
Shows like this need matches lower down the card, so I guess they do serve a purpose but the quality that WWE has put there to prop up the main event and the mid-card is unbelievable. If we look at it from a positive mindset, this amount of talent being thrown away in the lower matches not only shows the depth the WWE roster now has compared to a few years ago but should also result in not one match being ‘missable’.
Have I missed anyone out? Do you agree with my choices? Let me know in the comments section below!
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