AJ Styles vs Luke Harper – Winner faces Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania
Harper shoved AJ Styles to begin the match. Harper started off very dominant, with AJ failing to get any offence in early on. He slammed AJ against the barricade. AJ finally caught Harper below his legs and hit a Pele kick on Harper.
JBL endorsed AJ saying that he is the closest thing he’s seen to HBK since he’s retired. Harper continued his dominance over Styles. Harper showed how agile he is, hitting a suicide dive through the ropes. The crowd was hot for the match, with duelling chants for both competitors.
AJ reversed a powerbomb attempted by Harper, but Harper once again caught AJ. After the commercial break, Harper was still dominant. Styles escaped a fireman’s carry by Harper. He hit the phenomenal forearm, and Luke Harper’s feet touched the ropes, but the referee didn’t see it and counted to 3.
AJ thought he won, but Shane McMahon came out and restarted the match. Outside the ring, Luke Harper accidentally kicked Shane McMahon in the chest. Inside the ring, AJ caught Harper and hit him with the 450 splash, defeating him.
AJ Styles defeated Luke Harper
Dasha interviewed John Cena and Nikki Bella backstage, and Carmella and James Ellsworth came in laughing and started trash talking Cena and Nikki Bella. Cena and Nikki set up a match between the two “couples” next week.
Dean Ambrose was seen backstage walking towards the entrance.
Backstage, AJ Styles was walking and ran into Daniel Bryan. Bryan congratulated AJ, but AJ refused to shake his hand and said that he should probably be there in person for Bray Wyatt’s invocation.
Dean Ambrose calls out Baron Corbin
Dean Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds on Curt Hawkins before their scheduled match even started. He took the mic and started talking about life lessons he learned. He referred to Baron Corbin’s constant assaults on him. He called Corbin out for a fight, but Corbin appeared on the big screen.
Corbin said that he wouldn’t come out when he called him. Baron Corbin talked about the similarities between the two, and Ambrose vowed to teach Baron Corbin a lesson. Corbin then left.
Dolph Ziggler vs Apollo Crews – Chairs match
Apollo Crews attacked Ziggler as he made his entrance. Apollo started the offence but Ziggler still managed to counter. Apollo Crews hit a reverse moonsault on Ziggler with the chair on Ziggler’s body.
Ziggler attempted a superkick but got suplexed onto a chair. Ziggler caught Crews after tripping him and getting his throat slammed against the chair. Ziggler then slammed Crews between his legs on the chair and then pinned him to win.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Apollo Crews
