When AJ Styles made his debut at the WWE Royal Rumble back in January, fans immediately formed a long list of potential opponents for “The Phenomenal One.” Atop quite a few of those lists was none other than John Cena. Still, no one expected such a meteoric rise for Styles. He made a tremendous impact at the Rumble, and entered a program against Chris Jericho. There seemed to always be this sinking feeling that he was going to slip back down the card, as many other big name independent wrestlers have in years past.
But, that feeling dissipated when Styles won a WWE World Championship match, and subsequently entered a program, against Roman Reigns. Then, in June, it was announced that Styles would indeed wrestle Cena at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. That dream match became a reality within the first six months of Styles’ WWE run. It was apparent that Styles wasn’t just here for a nice little Intercontinental Championship run.
After Cena was sidelined for months with an injury, Styles was among the first to welcome him back on an episode of Raw. When Anderson & Gallows showed up, Styles appeared to have Cena’s back. The Club had recently imploded, and Styles was on the outside of the faction. Alas, this is wrestling – and everything ends up being a scheme.
Styles turned on Cena and The Club reunited to beat him down on Raw. Cena insisted that Styles could not beat him without the help of Anderson & Gallows, and offered Styles two contracts for the match at Money in the bank – one allowing The Club at ringside, and one banning them from ringside.
Styles agreed that Anderson & Gallows should be banned from ringside – but guess what. This is pro wrestling. When the referee was knocked down, The Club came out anyway – furthering the argument that Styles could not beat Cena without them.
This feud produced two of the greatest one-on-one pay-per-view matches of the year; the first at Money in the Bank, and the second – an instant classic at Summerslam. To freshen things up, Cena enlisted the help of Enzo & Big Cass to take on Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows in a six-man tag match at Battleground in between those two contests.
It wasn’t simply about the wrestling, though. The promos that Styles and Cena had were among the best of the year. It was really a master class in mic work that created high drama and sold the culmination of the feud at Summerslam.
Styles connected with a couple of Phenomenal Forearms, and pinned Cena clean, fair and square, in the middle of the ring. Both men received a standing ovation, as the match was one of the greatest contests in Summerslam history, and Cena removed his armband and left it in the ring.
The two would eventually cross paths later on in a triple threat contest featuring Dean Ambrose as well. But, it was this feud that led Styles to the WWE World Championship and built his credibility as the cornerstone of the Smackdown brand. It was pure, exciting, and refreshing.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLJilNa3QO8]
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Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, Contributor to FanSided’s Bama Hammer, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo, @Bama_Hammer
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