What’s the story?
Many fans among the internet wrestling community have expressed their disappointment about the impending match between AJ Styles and Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33. However, Vince McMahon’s opinion of his son contrasts greatly with that of the IWC.
In case you didn’t know...
Several matches have been made official for WrestleMania 33. Those that haven’t will likely be confirmed for the card in the coming weeks, including AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon. While wrestling fans tend to criticise WWE whenever they don’t do something logically, which happens quite a bit, the AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon feud has gradually built up over the last few months, dating back as far as mid-January when Styles called out Shane for being incompetent.
Things came to a head this week on SmackDown when Styles confronted Shane backstage after losing his match to Randy Orton, for a chance at Bray Wyatt and the WWE World Championship at WrestleMania.
The heart of the matter
While it was said there was major friction between Vince and Shane previously, especially after Shane walked out of the WWE in 2009, Vince is said to be very proud that his son managed to achieve his own success away from the WWE. When Shane returned, sources say that Vince McMahon was stunned and overwhelmed by the reactions Shane was getting. Vince’s admiration grew after his match at WrestleMania 32, where Vince was said to be visibly emotional backstage, during and after the bout.
It is said that Vince considers Shane to be a major a star, on the same level as Triple H, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar and that getting the “Shane McMahon match” at WrestleMania is looked upon as a major privilege.
Therefore, while many fans are disappointed by what AJ Styles will do at WrestleMania 33, the WWE higher ups consider it to be “a major reward” for a solid year. Vince McMahon is said to be very high on AJ Styles and was very pleased with his championship reign.
In fact, Vince even took the call to cut short the title run of Dean Ambrose and give it to AJ Styles.
What’s next?
The Styles-McMahon build is likely to intensify this Tuesday on SmackDown, and the match will probably be announced before the end of the show. Come April 2nd it’s likely that AJ Styles will carry Shane McMahon to a good match, further raising his stock with the owner of the company.
After that, many websites have been reporting that AJ Styles will be moving to the Raw brand, however, that remains to be seen. It certainly would be a huge void for SmackDown to fill.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The thought of a McMahon family member in another major WrestleMania match isn't sitting well with fans who want to see a Match of the Year candidate from Styles. Shane McMahon was paid around $150,000 last year, for his one-off match at WrestleMania 32. The WWE got quite the return on that investment, with McMahon's role at WrestleMania 32 helping the show become one of the most successful pay-per-views in company history.
That alone, explains why the WWE wants to put McMahon in another high-profile WrestleMania, and It isn't going to be as bad for Styles as many pessimistic fans think. Styles vs. McMahon is a fantastic opportunity to seriously raise Styles' profile and make him an even bigger star than he has already become. Especially in the eyes of his own Boss.
According to an article by Forbes, Styles' great matches and rivalries with the likes of John Cena, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose won't give him the spotlight that comes with a WrestleMania match against Shane McMahon. Forbes indicated that an analysis of Google search data shows that storylines revolving around the McMahon family generate more interest than ones that don't.
His shocking return to Raw last year led to a huge spike in viewers, with the show averaging 400,000 more viewers than the previous episode and averaging a whopping 4.2 million during the hour in which Shane appeared. That same show saw its Twitter ratings explode thanks mostly to the return of Shane-O-Mac:
The report also says: "Shane’s 2016 return had a unique audience of 2.802 million, which represents the number of Twitter accounts that commented on the show. This is up from last week's 1.273 million. RAW had total impressions of 20.689 million, which represents the number of times tweets about the show were seen.” This was up from the previous weeks’ 7.834 million impressions.
Knowing what I know, from the conversations I have had with the credible sources outlined in this piece, I am not worried about AJ Styles’ future. I believe the only way is up for AJ. With both men held in such high regard, this will be considered and treated as a major WrestleMania match, given plenty of time on TV and on the night itself. The backstage segment between Shane and AJ last week already proved to me that the WWE writers have been told to come up with fresh ideas to build this feud, therefore, making it a high priority. Styles fans have nothing to worry about.
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