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What’s the story?
The WWE has confirmed, not once but twice, that AJ Styles is indeed dealing with an injury.
Apparently, Styles was kept off a couple of WWE live events over the weekend, with the WWE’s explanation regarding the same serving to fuel the speculation as to whether Styles’ injury is legitimate and not a part of the WWE’s storylines.
In case you didn’t know…
The professional wrestling community was set abuzz by banter regarding AJ Styles being legitimately injured, after a sequence of events transpired at WWE’s SmackDown-branded house show at Madison Square Garden on Friday, March 16th.
The vast majority of professional wrestling experts noted that the angle which played out at Friday’s live event—one in which Styles was attacked by Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, only to later come back and save Shinsuke Nakamura from an Owens-Zayn onslaught was, in fact, a part of the WWE’s storylines and not a legitimate injury.
The heart of the matter
Regardless, the fact that the WWE officials helped AJ Styles make his way backstage after being attacked by Owens & Zayn coupled with the referee throwing the “X” sign, which indicates a legitimate injury suffered by the performers, could perhaps mean that there’s more than what meets the eye.
Experts believe that the WWE may have booked the angle wherein Styles was attacked by KO & Zayn, so as to cover up an injury that Styles may have suffered prior to Friday’s live event.
Furthermore, Styles didn’t compete at Saturday’s SmackDown-branded house show in Odessa, Texas (March 17th) and last night’s show in San Angelo, Texas (March 18th)—with the WWE attributing Styles’ absence to the injury he suffered at Friday’s MSG live event (March 16th).
With Styles scheduled to defend his WWE Championship in one of the marquee matchups on the WrestleMania 34 card, the WWE continues to insinuate that Styles has in fact suffered a legitimate injury.
What’s next?
As of this time, pro-wrestling industry insiders believe that despite the WWE’s statements on AJ Styles, the entire injury angle may be a work.
WWE Champion AJ Styles is set to defend his title against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34 which takes place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 8th. Sportskeeda will keep fans updated on the WWE Champion’s injury status as and when further details are revealed.
Author’s take
Honestly speaking, the WWE seems to be hitting all the right notes when it comes to hyping up WrestleMania 34.
This is a key story in the sports-entertainment business right now, and should Styles’ injury turn out to be legitimate, the WWE would face a huge challenge to fill the void left by the reigning WWE Champion on the ‘Mania card.
Here’s hoping all is well with 'The Phenomenal One'.
