8 Things WWE Have Promised For WrestleMania 33 (And Must Deliver)
2. That Shane McMahon Is The Right Opponent For AJ Styles
Corey Graves put it best when he said: “AJ Styles versus Shane McMahon does nothing for me.” It was a surprising thing for the company man to say on Bring it to the Table, but it echoed a lot of fans’ sentiments perfectly.
Shane is great for nostalgic car crash matches, and he has wrestled in some genuine classics throughout his time in WWE, but he’s not even close to being on the same level as AJ Styles, arguably the smoothest and most technically gifted professional wrestler currently working in America. But WWE have pushed their match as a marquee bout for Smackdown, insisting that it’ll be a real doozy.
It’s possible that we may be being duped – AJ himself questioned Shane’s intentions on Smackdown LIVE, when he pointed out that this wouldn’t be a Hell in a Cell match or a No DQ brawl, it would be a proper wrestling match.
Perhaps we’ll see a stipulation added at the last minute, or a replacement called in to wrestle on behalf of Shane. Whatever happens, WWE needs to find a way to merge both AJ and Shane’s decidedly opposing styles and make the match work.
Otherwise, the legions of naysayers will be proven right once again.