What’s the story?
Dave Meltzer showered praise on the WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and John Cena at the Royal Rumble while recapping the pay-per-view for Wrestling Observer’s Figure Four Online and referred to it as one of the best the WWE has had in a long time.
In case you didn’t know…
John Cena equalled Ric Flair’s record of 16 world titles when he became the WWE Champion after beating AJ Styles in an epic encounter at the 2017 Royal Rumble. In the match which lasted a little over 24 minutes, Cena and Styles threw everything at each other, with the ‘Phenomenal One’ even using the former’s STF submission move. It eventually took back-to-back Attitude Adjustments from ‘The Cenation Leader’ to put AJ Styles away and become a 16-time world champion.
The heart of the matter
According to Meltzer, the Cena-Styles was a super match and the WWE were perhaps attempting to do the match of the year. The renowned pro-wrestling journalist reckoned that the match was all about both superstars doing every move in the world and managing to kick out, quoting several moments from the match when this happened.
In a final word, he claimed that considering this match and the Universal title clash between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns, it was the first time in a while that a WWE show included two high-quality matches. Here’s what Dave Meltzer wrote:
“Super match. They went 24:00 and this was clearly their attempt to do the match of the year. The match was basically them doing every move in the world and kicking out. Styles kicked out of the first AA early and a second one off the middle rope. Styles used the forearm, the Styles clash, with Cena kicking out.
With this match and the Owens-Reigns match it's been a long time since WWE has had a show with two matches of this quality.”
What next?
With John Cena having finally managed to beat AJ Styles in a one-on-one match in his third attempt, we can expect their rivalry to be put to rest at least for the moment. However, there could be a possibility of Styles invoking his rematch clause on this Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live before the build-up to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view begins.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The WWE Championship match between John Cena and AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble has added another great chapter to the monumental rivalry that has been witnessed between the two superstars over the past several months. The intensity of the crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas during the match only proved that the WWE Universe can’t wait to see Cena and Styles go at it once again.
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