WWE SmackDown Grades: Shane O’Mac Pays For His Fastlane Sin
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4. AJ Styles vs. Rusev
Rusev has been as over as any superstar in the WWE over the past few months with his Rusev Day gimmick alongside Aiden English. The Bulgarian Brute was fresh off the heels of an impressive showing against Shinsuke Nakamura at Fastlane and would have another big opportunity last night.
After the opening segment of the night featuring Nakamura and AJ Styles, Styles was set to battle Rusev just two days after both men participated in stellar matches at Fastlane. Rusev came close to knocking off the Royal Rumble winner, so how close would he come to defeating the WWE Champion?
The match was a solid one with Rusev controlling much of it while Styles sold his offense like only The Phenomenal One can. But towards the end, the match abruptly ended when English got involved and he and Rusev decided to attack Styles. Nakamura was sitting ringside during the match and decided to give the WWE Champion a hand when this chaos ensued.
The King Of Strong Style fended off the attack of English and Rusev to keep Styles out of harm’s way with just under four weeks until their epic WrestleMania 34 showdown. Styles vs. Rusev was a good match, but the non-finish takes away some of what it could have been despite it being the right booking decision to help further the Styles vs. Nakamura match and not have Rusev keep losing.
This match probably would have had a better grade if it had a clean finish, but it still did what it needed to do in the long run.