WWE's Crystal Ball: 8 Predictions For Superstars In 2016

8. AJ Styles Will Solidify The Mid-Card

aj styles number 1 contender.jpg
WWE.com

Okay, let€™s start with a downer. Spoiler alert: AJ Styles is going to lose to Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This is extremely disheartening news to anyone who has yet to join the Roman Empire, which sounds like around 96% of the WWE Universe at any given special event on the WWE Network. Yeah, it stinks. AJ Styles is one of the best in the world at professional wrestler, pulling out flawless maneuvers and innovative offense that keeps the WWE€™s bumbling announce teamsoutside of the outstanding Mauro Ranallo from the Smackdown boothon their toes. Despite this, he will be the second victim in Roman€™s third reign as Champion.

Why? For starters, Vince McMahon will not allow a man who has built a legacy outside of the WWE to ever hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in this day and age. So long as it€™s his decision to make, a man from New Japan and TNA will not be the main guy in his company. Beyond this, AJ Styles will be considered too southern with limited charisma to be the face of the WWE, regardless of where he came from. This can be a bitter pill to swallow for many fansmyself includedbut so long as it€™s Vince€™s show, we better get used to it.

That said, Vince McMahon is far from stupid, and the fact that AJ Styles has such a high-profile contest so early in his WWE career is a testament to the fact that he is such an exceptional talent. You can expect AJ Styles to become the savior of the fledgling mid-card in the WWE, as he should hold one of the two main mid-card titles by year€™s end.

What I€™d love to see from Styles in particular is a type of year-plus Intercontinental Championship reign similar to what Rob Van Dam did with ECW€™s TV Title in the late €˜90s. The Phenomenal One could provide the prestige and esteem that every mid-carder claims they will bring to them.

Advertisement
In this post: 
Samoa Joe
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

David McCutcheon is an American freelance journalist and writing consultant. Over the course of sixteen years, he has written for the likes of IGN, Future US, GamesRadar, PlayStation Magazine, Shout! Factory, and many others in the fields of video games, movies, and more. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife. You can find him on Twitter @ZoopSoul.