10 WWE SummerSlam 2016 Predictions

5. AJ Styles Breaks The Pattern

finn balor
WWE.com

People who follow WWE regularly know that the past few years haven't been kind to John Cena's opponents.

Since stepping down from the main event position, he's feuded with the likes of Bray Wyatt, Rusev, and Kevin Owens, and all of those programs went the same way - despite some early luck for the up-and-comers, Cena won in the end and their careers suffered for it. Even Owens, who's managed a pretty good bounce-back, never had the same aura he did before losing to Cena.

AJ Styles is the latest wrestler to be put in a make-or-break feud with Cena, and the jury's still out on what will happen. They've already split victories - Styles won the first singles match at Money in the Bank, while Cena pinned him in a six-man tag at Battleground. This one's for all the marbles.

Expect "The Phenomenal One" to succeed where Owens, Rusev, and Wyatt failed, beating John Cena and parlaying the win into some real success. AJ may not be any younger than Cena, but he's a fresh face and an incredible athlete. He deserves to go over and he will, hopefully leading to a WWE Championship run in the near future.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013