WrestleMania 33 is rapidly approaching, and from what we can tell, Shane McMahon is all set to take on former WWE Champion AJ Styles. Now while that may well be one of the more divisive matches in the history of the company, it also throws up a lot of exciting possibilities when it comes to how the match will be booked. After all, it's not every day that we see Shane o Mac compete inside of the squared circle.
But then again, there may well be a reason for that. During his two matches since returning to the WWE just over a year ago, Shane has suffered injuries in both bouts - which is surprising given the nature of some of his stunts. However, it does highlight his age and despite the people in charge thinking that we need a big spot from Shane at the showcase of the immortals we really don't.
Alas, no matter what we say it's not going to make one shred of difference because one way or another Shane and AJ are going to be squaring off in Orlando. Because of this we may as well try and make the best of what is considered to be a bad situation, as there's a slim chance that the boss's son and The Phenomenal One could steal the show at the Citrus Bowl.
With that being said, here are five ways to book Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles.
#5 The Club intervenes
Everyone knows and sort of loves The Club at this point with Styles, Gallows & Anderson re-aligning this year to try and take over the WWE. It kind of worked out in a weird way with all three men winning championship gold, but there's still a lot that can be achieved within the group as we approach WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
The best possible course of action when it comes to them getting the band back together in this match is to have them interfere on AJ's behalf. It may make Styles look a tad weaker, but if the rumours about Styles going over to Raw are right then you could definitely start a storyline up with Balor down the line. There's so much potential in this story that it almost seems like a waste for it not to come to a head at the Citrus Bowl.
Everyone loves a good Shane comeback.
#4 Shane keeps fighting
The one major problem that people had with Shane vs Taker at WrestleMania 32 was that nobody really believed in the story they were trying to tell. After all, Shane had been gone from the WWE for an awfully long time and the fact that we were supposed to invest in the idea that Shane can hang with Taker for 30+ minutes inside Hell in a Cell is almost insulting.
With that being said, we'd like to see more desperation from McMahon this time round as he realises that he just can't compete with Styles in the ring. Have AJ continually try to put Shane away, only for the former European Champion to keep fighting back. It would get AJ over big time as a dominant force, while also ensuring that Shane looks like a bad ass too.
Does anyone miss 90s heel factions?
#3 The Corporation returns
The Corporation were great back in the day, despite how convoluted a lot of their storylines ended up being. They featured a mixture of behind the scenes characters and larger than life superstars, with Shane McMahon being one of the central figures of the 'organisation' so to speak. You can see where we're going with this one, right?
We want heel Shane back. Whether or not he'd end up defeating AJ and causing a riot at the Citrus Bowl is a different matter, because they could always pull the trigger on this during the match's aftermath. Either way, we want to see a string of new upper midcarders and main event guys join forces with Shane in order to make him one of the most influential figures in all of wrestling once again.
We'll stay with Shane O’ Mac for this next point.
#2 Shane risks it all
Shane McMahon did the unthinkable last year in Dallas when he climbed to the top of Hell in a Cell and jumped down to the announcer's table below. It was a crazy moment, and despite the fact many people thought it was too played out, it was still the highlight of the match, and it's something that you just don't expect to see in today's WWE landscape.
With that in mind, we'd like to see Shane risk it all one more time - but we aren't quite sure how. Depending on how high up the staging is going to be he could always jump off of that, but if you want to play it safe then having him launch himself off of a giant ladder onto a motionless AJ Styles would be a clever way to go. Well, clever may not really be the right word but still.
We conclude with the option that everyone wants to see.
#1 The AJ Styles Show
Wouldn't it be great to focus all of the attention in this match on AJ Styles? Yes, yes it would. The former WWE Champion deserves to be shown in the most positive of lights this year after losing in his Mania debut against Jericho and that's just a fact. This bout should showcase everything that fans love about Styles, leaving McMahon as nothing more than a supporting player.
That's not an insult either; it's just the truth about how this thing should go. Shane was relevant last year because of injuries and due to the fact he felt incredibly fresh, but those days are gone now. Let's just get through this match with as few problems as we possibly can, ensuring that the spotlight by the end of the night is on the man who has carried WWE on his back for the last twelve months.
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