AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble appearance on Sunday night went down to an enormous pop and a quickly sold-out batch of T-shirts in the WWE Shop, according to wrestling news site PWMania .
Fans in attendance were beside themselves, chanting Styles’ name throughout, and before all was said and done, he would make it 28 minutes before final elimination.
This, the announce team said, was ample reason to hold one’s head high. However, there was something off with the packaging.
No one expected AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble appearance to result in him capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Most expected pretty much what they got — for AJ to make a respectable showing before getting tossed. But was it really that respectable?
Unpacking his performance, you get the distinct feeling WWE is setting him up as Sting 2.0.
WCW Legend Sting was unceremoniously buried by WWE Creative following a surprise appearance at Survivor Series 2014. At his debut pay-per-view, he ruined things for Triple H and The Authority, setting up a match at the following year’s WrestleMania in which fans were certain he would get the nod over The Game.
Didn’t happen.
Not only did he lose, he and the NWO went on to get wiped out by HHH and the New Age Outlaws. It was Vince McMahon emphatically sealing his victory from the Monday Night Wars so long ago.
Here, finally, the self-made wrestler, who’d become a superstar on his own without any help from Vince for decades, was acknowledging and bowing to his master.
Still not content with that, McMahon would later book Sting to job himself out to Seth Rollins, bringing his WWE career to a probable close at 0-2 as a singles competitor.
This was the price Sting had to pay to be included in the WWE Hall of Fame, and now AJ appears to be headed for a similar fate.
https://youtu.be/w-u3dMqkMBY
For starters, Vince McMahon has a reputation of being down on any talent that achieved the bulk of their success outside the WWE. That in mind, there are a few reasons AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble appearance is a sign of the “mid card hell” to come.
First off, there is the actual performance itself. Styles came in to a tremendous pop and went head-to-head with Roman Reigns. Respect, until you see how Roman got the better of that initial exchange.
Then, as the match wore on, other WWE talent stifled Styles’ finisher attempts to the point that he never really got a moment to show what he could do.
The eliminations he did get credit for were against people McMahon had already soured on (Tyler Breeze), or they were simply unimpressive in their execution (a push here, handful of hair there).
The 28-minute nod commentators gave him along with the “nothing to be ashamed of” line, possessed a “throw the fans a bone” flippancy that indicated Styles wasn’t going any further in the company. Also, there was this after Kevin Owens eliminated him.
https://youtu.be/hzrCZnd36Ls
And finally, there was the Chris Jericho litmus test.
The fact AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble appearance was considerably shorter than that of a less-than-part-timer-in-every-sense-of-the-word shows WWE’s plans for him have already hit the pinnacle, no matter what this recent update on his long-term contract would indicate.
And all of this would be disappointing yet considerably easier to swallow if AJ were going to be used to help build new talent. But it’s likely he will instead be used to help start pushes for talent that quickly and inexplicably fizzle out (i.e. Breeze, Neville, etc).
At 38-years-old, he’s not getting any younger.
If he’d come up as one of Vince’s guys (like Cena or Triple H), he could still have one or two championship runs ahead of him. But in McMahon’s mind, he’s a 38-year-old rookie.
None of his previous accomplishments matter.
He might as well be an NXT guy. Pushing him to the top at this point would be allowing him too much dominion in the current WWE landscape, and he’s too old to start that run from scratch. That’s why AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble appearance was the start of Sting 2.0.
But what do you think, readers? Is there cause for hope? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Image via AJ Styles’ Royal Rumble entrance screen grab]
