5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SummerSlam 2016

1. Winner: AJ Styles

John Cena vs. AJ Styles was always SummerSlam’s most predictably “great” match. They’re two of the best big match performers on the planet, and with one top notch match already under their belts at Money in the Bank, the rematch had all the hallmarks of a classic in the making.

This was their rubber match. After trading pinfalls at MITB and Battleground, Cena and Styles would finally settle their score with no interferences or shenanigans. This was to be the ultimate showdown between two of the best in the business, and it would’ve been foolish to expect anything less than excellence.

That’s exactly what they delivered, and after taking (and delivering) some huge offence, AJ Styles won the Holy Grail: a clean, no-nonsense pay-per-view win over John Cena.

The result is says a lot about both men, particularly Cena. It’s been whispered that his days as a maligned main event burial merchant were coming to an end, and this all but confirms it. As a dejected Cena left his “Never Give Up” armband in the ring and walked-out to a standing ovation, it was hard to shake the feeling that the torch has been passed, and Super Cena’s stranglehold is finally loosening.

Styles has become a WWE megastar. Very few wrestlers gain the honour of a clean victory over Cena, and even fewer win-out a feud with the former champion. For the most part, Cena always gets his win back, but that’s not happening here. The rivalry is over, Styles is the victor, and he’s been set up as Dean Ambrose’s next logical challenger.

There’s no gold around his waist yet, but nobody came off as a bigger star than AJ Styles last night. He’s headed towards immortality, and there’s nothing that John Cena (or anybody else) can do to stop him.