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What’s the story?
WWE Champion AJ Styles was recently interviewed by Planeta Wrestling in order to promote WWE’s annual showcase event of 2018, that is, WrestleMania 34, which takes place later next month in the city of New Orleans.
As noted, throughout the interview, Styles spoke about his forthcoming WWE Title defense against “The Artist” Shinsuke Nakamura at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, next month in Louisiana. He also addressed working alongside Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33.
In case you didn’t know…
After seemingly having dissension with each other, two-time WWE Champion AJ Styles and Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon were engaged in a heated rivalry in 2017, prior to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida.
Styles and McMahon’s fiery feud eventually led to a brutal backstage brawl between the two and a successive match against each other at the Camping World Stadium and as noted, Styles would go on to pick up his first win at ‘The Grandest Stage of Them All’ after defeating Shane O’Mac last year at ‘Mania 33.
The heart of the matter
While speaking with Planeta Wrestling, WWE Champion AJ Styles spoke about a host of topics and below are a few highlights from the interview:
On possibly opening the show at WrestleMania 34:
As noted, AJ Styles and Shane McMahon previously opened the show last year at WrestleMania 33, however, when asked about possibly opening the biggest show of the year for the second year in a row, Styles stated that almost every superstar in the WWE have the similar mindset of main-eventing the ‘Showcase of Immortals’, that is, WrestleMania.
"I think you wait on the last match to put on the best show. I think that's it, that's where everybody wants to be. But at the same time, there's a lot of matches, so you don't want the person to get sleepy or tired, so going on first like Shane McMahon and myself did last year was pretty awesome."
If working against Shinsuke Nakamura will be more difficult than working with John Cena or Kevin Owens:
According to AJ, the most vital part of a potential feud and an in-ring match eventually turns out to be the story that the two superstars are willing to tell and the likes of John Cena and Kevin Owens have certainly proved themselves as good storytellers.
In addition, “The Phenomenal One” also claimed that his match against Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t going to be any different, in terms of the story that the two Smackdown Live stars are going to portray at WrestleMania 34.
"John Cena would obviously tell some good stories, same thing with Kevin Owens. And Shinsuke Nakamura, the story that we're gonna tell will be no different."
On working with Shane McMahon and his work ethic:
Styles noted that working with Shane McMahon was certainly an awesome experience and the two men surely did put up an amazing match at WrestleMania that the people definitely did not expect.
Additionally, Styles also praised McMahon’s work ethic by labeling it as “unbelievable” and claimed that he certainly would love to working alongside the McMahon family member once again, if he ever had the chance to.
"We gave people a match they definitely didn't expect. I think it stole the show, but I think that has a lot to do with the McMahon's work ethic. They want it to be perfect, they want everything to be just right, and I applaud Shane McMahon's work ethic."
What’s next?
AJ Styles will square-off and defend his WWE Title against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, next month in New Orleans, Louisiana on the 8th of April at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Author’s Take
AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura is indeed the match every WWE and Pro Wrestling fan have been waiting to witness, the two men have previously squared off in an NJPW ring back at Wrestle Kingdom 10 and let us hope that their rematch at ‘Mania 34 lives up to its hype.
