10 Booking Steps To AJ Styles Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Finn Bálor At WrestleMania 34

5. An Instant Classic At The Royal Rumble

AJ Styles Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

This is a different AJ Styles however, and the newly-gracious champion is quick to distance himself from Gallows and Anderson. The 'Phenomenal One' celebrates his championship win in the most muted fashion possible, expressing his disgust at the actions of his former partners. AJ says he isn’t happy with how he won the championship, and challenges Shinsuke Nakamura to a re-match at the 2018 Royal Rumble.

Prior to the event, SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan informs Gallows and Anderson that if they involve themselves in any way, they will be fired on the spot. Gallows and Anderson aren’t happy about this, but console themselves in a fairly suspicious manner, hinting that they have a plan for the Royal Rumble match in the main event.

The second AJ/Nakamura match is everything the first should have been, an instant classic that finally shows the WWE Universe just what the King of Strong Style is capable of. The match is a true back and forth battle, a high-octane thriller from the word go. Neither man is able to put the other away however, despite hitting Kinshashas, Phenomenal Forearms, Styles Clashes and the rest.

Frustratingly, the match goes to a time-limit draw. Styles and Nakamura both plead for five more minutes, but the impending Rumble match means that isn’t possible. The two agree to do battle again down the line.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.