5 Ups And 1 Down From Last Night's WWE Talking Smack (Jan 24)

6. Down - Shane And AJ?

Layered within his blistering final address on John Cena (more on that later), the continued resentment from WWE Champion AJ Styles towards the Smackdown Live authority figures was more pronounced this week as he sat alongside co-host and show commissioner Shane McMahon.

From the moment Styles greeted the 'Boy Wonder' with a limp and dismissive handshake, it was apparent that the show's authorities were as much the subject of his vitriol as the leader of the Cenation.

Twice bickering during the intended placidities of a go-home interview with the WWE Champion, Shane bit back at accusations of bias on the brand, and as Styles stormed off the set to bring the show to a close, Renee posited that the pressure of this Sunday's blockbuster AND the possibility of the McMahon-booked Elimination Chamber may be resting too heavily on his shoulders.

Shane largely played down any significant problems in the same way he has during similar in-ring petulance, but the seeds finally appeared sown for an AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon Wrestlemania match.

Though all plans can always change, Styles' task of carrying an increasingly-less-able 'Shane-O-Mac' on 'the show of shows' doesn't feel like it fits WWE's narrative of Wrestlemania being that great stage you spend every year working towards.