WWE SmackDown Grades: The Real AJ Styles Is Royal Rumble Bound

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1. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Mustafa Ali

The New Daniel Bryan has been an impressive development over the past couple of months.  Not only has Bryan developed into one of the top heels in the entire WWE, but he has also proven to be a great WWE Champion as well with a couple of marquee title defenses already.

Bryan’s plans were still up in the air for the Royal Rumble, however, until last night when a Fatal 5-Way match took place to determine who would face Bryan for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.  The match featured AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Mustafa Ali, who all wanted the same thing.

This match got a fair amount of time to shine, and shine it did.  This was one of the most well put together matches in a while with everything clicking and everyone having impeccable performances.  The action was very up-paced throughout this match and it even featured an announce table spot that saw Joe put Styles through the table.  That wouldn’t keep The Phenomenal One down for the count, however.

Ali looked like he had a chance to win, but the numbers game caught up to him and it eventually shifted to Orton in front.  However, once Orton was down and everyone else was out of the picture, Styles hit Orton with a springboard 450 splash to get the win and advance to the Royal Rumble.  Styles said he would show Mr. McMahon the real AJ Styles after his actions last week, and he did so by absolutely stealing the show with his performance in this match.

The Real AJ Styles vs. The New Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble should be very intriguing.

Final Grade: A