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

2. Up - A Guy From Atlanta

Mickie James Talking Smack
WWE

AJ Styles may lose the WWE Title to John Cena at Sunday's Royal Rumble, so if this was his swansong as leader of the Blue Brand, it was an incredible way to go out.

Arriving infuriated, AJ had the climax of his Smackdown Live back-and-forth with Cena swirling around his head, and ripped into the Number One Contender in response to 'Big Match John's confident prediction of victory.

Styles accused him of 'acting', suggesting that he was masking an inferiority complex against an opponent who had beaten him twice last year, and angrily shutting down Cena's dismissal of AJ's work on the Independent scene by insisting that 'The Face that Runs The Place' couldn't have made it out there.

He then let loose on the 'insulting' treatment he suffered on The Today Show, where hosts plugging the Rumble with special guest Cena referred to his opponent as 'the guy from Atlanta', which AJ rightly pointed out was both incorrect and hugely disrespectful.

Concluding his rant with a shot at his perceived internal mistreatment ('There I was on the poster right next to Rich Swann!'), it was a near-perfect sales pitch for Sunday and beyond that underscored exactly why he's the best all-rounder in the world today.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett