5 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Nov 30)

by Scott Carlson

1. Styles’ Strategy Sound

The Miz AJ Styles
WWE.com

Let’s give it up for AJ Styles, one of the smartest characters on Raw today.

Styles earned his world title match at TLC by defeating Riddle and Keith Lee in a triple threat, but that doesn’t mean that he is on cruise control to the PPV. When Miz & John Morrison approached him about possible helping them take down Drew McIntyre and letting Miz cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, AJ accepted.

Simply put, he’d have an easier time beating Miz at TLC than McIntyre, plus it would remove the possibility of Miz later cashing in on Styles if he were to win the title. It would be the best of both worlds for him. Unfortunately for AJ, Miz was thrown off by Styles exuberance to cash in, and it didn’t happen.

But credit to Styles for actually being a three-dimensional heel here rather than just a straight-ahead villain.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.