2 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Dec 12)

Downs...

5. The Worst AJ Styles Feud... Ever?

The AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal feud is, like everything else 'The Maharaja' has done since his elevation, the absolute pits.

What we have here is one of the best wrestler in the world desperately struggling to drag something passable from a man who would've looked out of his depth 20 years ago, let alone today. Styles is good enough to do this in the ring, but their weekly interactions are cripplingly dull, and have done nothing to generate excitement for their Clash Of Champions bout.

This week's shenanigans saw the WWE Champion open the show with a bog-standard promo. The Singh Brothers soon arrived, claiming that they were "done with Jinder," and that Mahal would have to fight AJ on his own. But it was all a ruse, and 'The Maharaja' eventually appeared, though he once again bailed in the face of conflict.

The trio jumped Styles later in the evening, finally pouring a smidgeon of heat on their upcoming but, but it was too little, too late. We're fortunate that this should be the feud's last week. All it has succeeded in doing is keep Styles locked in a holding pattern until his next storyline emerges, and the end can't come soon enough.