WrestleMania 36: AJ Styles needs an evil plan to beat The Undertaker

AJ Styles probably bit off a whole lot more than he can chew when he challenged The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 36, and he’s going to need more than Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to bail him out.

Three years ago at WrestleMania 33, AJ Styles and Shane McMahon put on a match that was way better than it had any business being. Many fans thought it stole the show, as Styles entrenched himself as one of the best wrestlers on this planet by having an actually great wrestling match with a man who isn’t, shall we say, known for having great wrestling matches.

This year, Styles has challenged The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 36. He did so out of anger after Taker won a random Gauntlet Match in Saudi Arabia, which served no other purpose than to set up this dream match between two of wrestlings biggest icons – who are icons in very different ways.

Styles is used to being the underdog, even when he’s the villain. He was a massive underdog in his rivalry with John Cena, and he ended up walking away from multiple battles against the 16-time champion as the victor, including an all-time classic at SummerSlam 2016.

However, there’s something different about Styles and The Undertaker. The dynamic is different. And it goes beyond Taker being a mythical legend of the past or a wrestler with less athletic ability than Cena who puts more pressure on Styles to have a great match.

No, what’s different is Styles’ demeanor. Whereas he was brazenly confident when going up against Cena, he is visibly terrified of The Undertaker. On the last episode of Raw, he practically begged and pushed his stablemates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to speak with The Dead Man, showing a type of cowardice even uncommon for the heel Styles. This isn’t the “animal” Vince McMahon wanted to awaken in late 2018.

There is only one thing that will save AJ Styles from a sure-fire loss against The Phenom at WrestleMania 36. Gallows and Anderson showed on Raw that they will be powerless against Taker if the plan is the regular old interference trick The O.C. likes to pull. The Undertaker has shown time after time that he has the veteran guile and the magical force to completely undo the supposedly tried-and-true “numbers advantage”.

Styles needs an evil, cunning plan. He needs to pull something out of his hat so devious that even Ric Flair would raise an impressed eyebrow. Styles needs to do something so shocking and dastardly if he wants to beat The Undertaker that he would be banished from Raw and immediately sent to SmackDown as the devilsh man the new Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, must put in place.

Whatever that plan is, exactly, I’m not sure. And I’m not sure I want to find out either. We’ve seen Styles is willing to go at any length to humiliate and destroy those in his path. Age has not made him kinder. Ask Aleister Black.