As it looks like we're going to have Styles vs. Jericho IV for WrestleMania rather than them being involved in the IC title match, the most obvious question is: where does AJ Styles go after his feud with Chris Jericho ends?
While we all thought, for a while at least, that the program was over, this match will probably be the last in their series after which I expect Jericho will disappear again for a good long while and WWE will be left with putting Styles on a different path. I think the two most likely paths for Styles involve going after either the Intercontinental or United States Championships. He's had a couple of brilliant matches on television with Kevin Owens so going after Owens isn't a stretch. However, I think it's more likely that Sami Zayn will be in front of the line to take on Owens as it's a singles feud that makes the most sense; granted, I know that Vince frequently tosses logic out the window when it suits him, but I have a feeling that Owens and Zayn will feud. As for the United States Championship, I think it depends on whether or not Ryback defeats Kalisto for the title at WrestleMania, which is obviously a very real possibility. In their only outing on SmackDown a few months back, however, Kalisto scored a clean win over Ryback but with Ryback on this "a good big guy beats a good little guy every time" schtick, I can easily see Ryback capturing the title. If that's the case, then Styles is a logical opponent as he could be fitted into the "little guy" mold seeing as how he's bout 5'10" and around 210 lbs.
Another possibility is that they could have Styles sort of tread water for the next 2.5 months after WrestleMania until it's time for Money in the Bank on June 19th. The potential problem with putting Styles in that situation, particularly if he doesn't go into the match with a title or goes into it without a title and doesn't win, is that the "WWE is burying AJ Styles" bullshit is going to start up in a huge hurry. It'll be bullshit but, at the same time, Styles has a great deal of talent, fan interest continues to grow and WWE paid a lot of money to lure Styles from New Japan so it seems like a huge waste for him not to be involved in something worthwhile that leads to him making his way up the roster. By the time MITB comes around, Styles will be 39 years old so there's a strong possibility that there won't be a vast reservoir of time to get the most out of Styles before he starts going downhill. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Styles still can't be a viable asset to WWE for many years to come, but the odds are against it considering the toll it takes on a wrestler's body and that Styles has been doing it almost his entire adult life.
