WHO?
Allen Neal Jones, aka "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles.
5'11", 218 pounds from Gainesville, Georgia. Age 39. Wait... really? WWE World Heavyweight Champion. 3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion. 2-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. 6-time TNA X Division Champion. The first ever TNA wrestler to be ranked #1 in the world in the annual PWI 500. 2-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. PWG World Champion. RPW British Heavyweight Champion. ROH Pure Champion. ROH World Tag Team Champion. Married with three children. Trained by Rick Michaels and Perry Saturn. Once was Mr. Olympia. Once wrestled for WCW. No, seriously. Was going to go to the WWF in 2002, but turned it down when it required him to locate. Once the face of TNA... well, if you know, TNA took care of him as such. Debuted in the 2016 Royal Rumble. Former member of The Club. Former member of the Bullet Club. Possibly a member of Hair Club For Men. Needed four tries to defeat James Ellsworth on television. Hobbies include listening to Christian hip hop, video games, and beating up John Cena.
Shane Brandon McMahon.
6'2", 230 pounds from New York City. Age 47. WWF European Champion. WWF Hardcore Champion. Once was one of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the world according to Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Married with three children. Fourth-generation McMahon. Minority owner of World Wrestling Entertainment. Vice-chair of Wecast Holidngs Inc. Once was a referee and launched WWF.com...when it was the WWF. Part-owner of the Indian Larry Motorcycle Shop in Brooklyn. Once represented golfer Rory McIlroy. Left the family business in 2009 to run some Chinese broadband company... thing. Returned in 2016 to control Monday Night RAW. Got to control RAW for a bit before being assigned to Smackdown. Hobbies include collecting sneakers, getting hit and missing, wearing special sports jerseys with his name on it, and jumping off high things for entertainment, shits, and giggles.
WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING?
Because neither of these men have anything to do and they need to do something at Wrestlemania. Actually it's explained in the history.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Nothing, really. Maybe AJ's employment on Smackdown.
HISTORY
All AJ Styles wanted was to be in the main event of Wrestlemania. But he had three things working against him: (1) he worked for the competition, (2) he's not old enough yet, and (3) he's on Smackdown.
Actually, none of this is true. It might be if you really think about it for too long, but for argument's sake, let's say none of this is true.
Or maybe it is and the system is out to get him. But if the system was indeed really out to get him, why is he even on the show at all?
It's a far cry from three months ago when AJ Styles was on top of the world as the WWE Champion. Sure it took him four tries to beat James Ellsworth, and sure Dean Ambrose gave him fits, but there are less than fifty people walking the Earth—an Earth that AJ thinks it's flat for some reason—that could say they were the WWE Champion. He was the face that runs the place and the champ that runs the camp.
It all fell apart in San Antonio. His reign came to an end at the hands of the real "face that runs the place", John Cena at Royal Rumble. Just two weeks later, Styles was the last man out in the Elimination Chamber match, with Bray Wyatt taking the title in the end. A Wyatt Family feud looked to be in the works for Wrestlemania, but Randy Orton pledged his allegiance to the "Eater of Worlds".
In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity. An opportunity opened up, with a ten-man battle royal commissioned to fill the spot. AJ Styles and Luke Harper both went out at the same time (maybe), leaving no #1 contender. For now. The next week, AJ Styles would defeat Luke Harper on Smackdown the next week, and Styles finally got what he wanted: a Wrestlemania main event, and a WWE Championship match to boot.
If that were the end of the story, we wouldn't be having this conversation. AJ barely had time to enjoy the fruits of his labor, as the food was snatched away from him as Randy Orton turned on Bray Wyatt at the end of that very show, making Wyatt versus Orton back on.
What about me? What about AJ? Styles had one last opportunity to prove his worth, but fell victim to Randy Orton and the RKO in a #1 contender's match.
Not getting the straight answers he was looking for, Styles took his grievances straight to the top. Shane McMahon would be the victim of a heinous assault at the hands of an incorrigible Styles, with his head driven through a car window. Forget Wrestlemania. In that one act, general manager Daniel Bryan sent AJ Styles to the unemployment line.
His unemployment didn't last long; Shane gave AJ an offer he couldn't refuse. He would indeed get his Wrestlemania match, but against the Smackdown boss himself. It was AJ's only route to the Showcase of the Immortals, and he had to accept. Just as Styles waited to beat on Shane, Shane waited for AJ so he could return the favor. And return it he did.
Perhaps the most surprising part of this feud: it's a straight singles match, one AJ explicitly said Shane could not win. The thing is... AJ's probably right. Hell, John Cena needed three tries to beat AJ one-on-one.
It's true you can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.
WHO WINS?
It will probably come down to who will be brave enough to jump off a crazy thing, but said jump ending in disaster. Sure, it's a straight singles match, but I reckon there's gonna be a LOT of leniency here.
WINNER
Might be the easiest call of the night other than the mixed tag. My pick is one Allen Jones Styles.
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