AJ Styles will enter WWE Royal Rumble 2018 the same way he entered last year’s Rumble – as the WWE Champion. The question is, should he retain in a handicap match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, collectively known as “Kami”?
There’s no doubt that AJ Styles is willing to defend his WWE Championship against anyone and everyone, and the man that build SmackDown Live will have to put his courage to the test at WWE Royal Rumble 2018 after Daniel Bryan booked him in a handicap match against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
It’s almost hard to believe that Styles will be able to defeat two men in a match, especially two wrestlers as accomplished as Zayn and Owens. Zayn is a former NXT Champion, whereas Owens has won every major singles title in WWE besides Styles’s WWE Championship. Furthermore, Owens and Zayn are a well-oiled machine, as they’ve worked together to knock off opponents like Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Styles.
At the Royal Rumble, Owens and Zayn will look to take the title off of Styles, becoming co-champions in the process to further their “best friends” storyline as we head into WrestleMania 34. Meanwhile, Styles will look to carry the WWE Championship into ‘Mania for the first time, something he was unable to do last year due to John Cena.
Here are three reasons why Styles should retain at the Rumble.
1. AJ Styles Has Some Huge Dream Matches
For months (a year?), the WWE Universe has been buzzing about a potential match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. The hype started before SummerSlam 2017, as Styles and Nakamura had a staredown with the Money in the Bank briefcase hanging above them. Neither of those two men would win MITB – that honor would go to Baron Corbin – but the seed was planted.
More importantly, the crowd reaction to the staredown between Styles and Nakamura was overwhelmingly positive, and this vindicated Styles, who came up with the idea for this “spot”. Vince McMahon was skeptical that fans would care about this stand-off, but I’m guessing he changed his mind after that.
Nakamura is one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble, which would set up a match between him and Styles, provided the latter retains the WWE Championship. After their history together in NJPW, Styles vs. Nakamura is more than worthy of a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, even if it won’t be the main event.
Let’s say the WWE gets cold feet with Nakamura vs. Styles and wants to go with a more established (or, “boring”, depending on how you’d like to put it), then Styles vs. Randy Orton wouldn’t be half bad either. I mean, there’s no way Styles vs. Orton would flop as much as Bray Wyatt vs. Orton did, especially because Styles and Orton already put on a legitimately great match on SmackDown Live in the build to last year’s WrestleMania.
2. Are We Really Going To Get Co-Champions?
If Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeat AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, then we will be getting co-champions, as per what the duo stated on an episode of SmackDown Live. Now while it’s unlikely things would go smoothly between the co-champs after a period of time – they never do in WWE, and you can refer to Owens vs. Chris Jericho as an example of this – the whole situation seems way too messy.
I mean, Owens and Zayn have told a betrayal story before, and there’s no doubt that they will tell another compelling betrayal story again. They’ve been the centerpiece of SmackDown Live for months, ever since Zayn’s shocking heel turn at Hell in a Cell. So for this story to be wrapped up, it’s going to take time. Does a rushed storyline over the title leading up to WrestleMania seem best? If anything, Zayn and Owens seems like a feud that should develop into SummerSlam.
The whole thing would seem like a booking mess, and WrestleMania feuds need to be simpler. On top of that, the more convoluted the story, the more difficult it is to book it and streamline it properly so that a mass audience can understand the storyline more easily.
3. AJ Styles Is, Like, Really Good
To me, the most important argument for AJ Styles retaining at the Royal Rumble is the simple fact that he’s the best wrestler in the company. Everybody knows it, and it’s obvious whenever he has a match or comes out to a rousing ovation from the crowd. Styles has already given us so many memorable moments in the WWE, and he’s the only person on the roster to put together two stellar matches against Jinder Mahal.
Styles is a model of consistency, and that’s exactly the kind of guy who can deliver on the big stage at WrestleMania. Last year, he produced a legitimately good wrestling match against SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, stealing the show on some level in the process. It was a remarkable performance from Styles, whose selling and timing in the ring are unparalleled in the WWE.
Brock Lesnar is expected to retain the Universal Championship into WrestleMania, and the only other person who seems likely to dethrone him before then is Braun Strowman. The argument can be made that either of those two is booked as the most dominant man on Raw. But on SmackDown Live, there is no argument that the show is the House That AJ Styles Built.
Next: Ranking AJ Styles's 10 Best Matches Outside WWE
So it’s only fitting for Styles to finally defend the WWE Championship at WrestleMania and deliver yet another awe-inspiring performance for all the world to see.