WWE Buy Or Sell: AJ Styles Will Move To Raw In 2018?
By Josh Raibick
Since the brand split in 2016, there has not been a superstar more closely associated with a brand than AJ Styles with WWE SmackDown Live. If Styles drops the WWE Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE WrestleMania 34, will it be time for Styles to join WWE Raw?
Styles’ assured fans in 2017 that he wanted to stay on SmackDown, because he is the face of the show and it is “the house that AJ Styles built”. In The Phenomenal One’s time on the blue brand he has held the WWE Championship twice and feuded with the likes of John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal, and even the show’s commissioner Shane McMahon.
If plans stay the way they are then Nakamura will also be added to that list in one of the most anticipated matches at this year’s WrestleMania. More times than not WrestleMania sets up the challenger on an improbable road to dethrone the current champion.
If that holds true this year, then Styles will drop the WWE Championship to Nakamura, maybe get a rematch, but then what? Styles has had numerous meaningful feuds since joining SmackDown, and unfortunately that is the biggest reason for him needing to leave for Raw.
Once Styles leaves the WWE Championship picture, he is not going to reappear in it for a while. Styles needs feuds that keep him trending upwards in the time that he is not battling for a major championship.
The problem with that is Styles has already feuded with upper management twice, and most of the mid-card to main eventers on SmackDown. Yet, maybe there is a reason for Styles to stay. There is a superstar who has shared a ring with Styles that hasn’t had a real story driven feud, Randy Orton.
If Styles were to stay on SmackDown, he needs a feud after Nakamura that can keep him high on the card. A feud with The Viper could be used to buy time before a superstar shake-up that would bring fresh talent and rivalries to the blue brand.
Once the shake-up would take place, a big name like Seth Rollins could be the first to feud with Styles. When two A+ in-ring performers are booked together the WWE Universe’s ears perk up.
Whereas a switch to Raw in a few months could and should raise questions from fans of Styles. Where will he be positioned on the card? Who will he feud with? What are the long term plans?
Raw has traditionally been the show that books part-time talent like Brock Lesnar and Goldberg in high-profile main event matches. Styles could very well get lost in the shuffle as just another really talented superstar being underappreciated.
There are positives and negatives in projecting moving Styles to Raw in 2018, but I am BUYING the idea that it will be beneficial for Styles to make the switch. Styles most likely dropping the WWE Championship and being out of the title picture for the near future after WrestleMania is a major concern for me.
Styles will be in fresher marquee matches if moved to Raw, and also could insert himself immediately into the Universal Championship picture. Raw is also where Finn Balor and Balor Club are currently located, and quite frankly that is a storyline that I would be interested in seeing play out.
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The best all around performer in the WWE right now is Styles, and while many superstars have gotten lost on Raw before, those superstars were not A-J Styles! It is approaching the time for the best in the business to join the A show, because it is “best for business”.