Why AJ Styles has to win his feud against John Cena

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

AJ Styles has surely taken WWE by storm. He has received one of the biggest pushes a debuting wrestler can receive and is constantly featured on main event matches.

Now, he just turned heel (although I can't fully consider him a heel, he just made a statement by attacking John Cena. Does that make him a heel? This is wrestling: you attack people in order to challenge them. Roman has the Usos attack Styles as well, when Styles was playing fair and didn't want the Club to get involved, however Roman isn't viewed as a heel) and he has set his eyes on John Cena, the face of the WWE.

In the past years we've seen Cena lose to guys like Kevin Owens, Rusev, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Alberto Del Rio. So I'm sure that Styles will be able to get a win out of John Cena as well.

However something Cena never loses, is that he never (rarely) loses in a feud. He won his feud against Owens. He was like 3-1 to Seth Rollins during their WWE/US title feud. We never really got to see a feud with him and Del Rio or with him and Bryan. It was just one match. He won his feud against Rusev and Bray Wyatt.

The last feud Cena lost, was with Brock Lesnar and that's debatable. Cena won at Extreme Rules in 2012. Lesnar killed him at SSlam 2014 and then Cena got a DQ win at NoC. So the score is 2-1 to Cena, or 2-2, if you're counting Royal Rumble 2015 as well.

The only feud Cena has lost in his career, is the feud with CM Punk in 2011. Punk and Cena had traded multiple victories on RAW before that, but it was Punk who got the two decisive victories against Cena at MITB and Summerlam.

Ever since coming in the WWE, AJ Styles has been in 2 feuds. One with Jericho and one with Roman. With Jericho he tied 2-2 in singles matches and he's 0-2 against Roman Reigns. So AJ Styles hasn't won any feud after coming here.

So, why should AJ Styles win in the feud against Cena?
a) In order to give Styles a won feud under his belt. AJ Styles is 39 years old and isn't getting any younger. He's not a Bray Wyatt or a Kevin Owens, guys that could stick around for the next decade and earn credibility through time. If you want to run with AJ Styles, you have to run now. His name has value and he also has a huge fanbase behind him.

b) Cena talked about the New Era passing through him. This is the perfect example. It can back up Cena's words. AJ Styles passing through John Cena.

c) Give The Club credibility. I won't lie, beating the Usos was impressive, but they failed to give Styles the belt. Styles couldn't get the job done alone. If he can't get the job done with the Club besides him, then what's the point? Why is he a threat? Why are the Club a threat?

d) Progress the story. There's a great story that can be told with the Club and AJ Styles. But if they lose to Cena, they lose credibility and anything else that comes after that, just won't feel right. There's money in The Shield vs The Club. There's money in getting Human Balor/Demon Balor involved. There's money in getting the japanese wrestlers of the WWE involved. The Club can be a moneymaking programm for the next year easily. All they need is to go through John Cena. Not squash him, not beat him cleanly. Just beat him, so the scoreline can in someway read Styles: 2 - Cena: 1.

e) Bring chaos. Everytime Cena loses a feud, something big comes afterwards even if that is the Summer of Punk or Brock Lesnar. With the Brand Extension coming and the fact that WWE sort of hit a "reboot" button after Wrestlemania they need all the mainstream appeal and push they can get. Club beating John Cena can do that. Club losing to John Cena just puts them in the same level as Bray Wyatt and Kevin Owens. There's nothing wrong with that, but as I said, Styles is 39. You have to run with him, now.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

You said it yourself. AJ Styles is 39 years old. Why should they push him to the moon then? I mean, so many people on here proclaim that the older generation should put over the newer generation. I think we can all agree that 39 years old is an older generation in professional wrestling. So because you like AJ Styles that doesn't matter? Well there's the usual double standard that exists around these forums. Cena is a bonafide commodity. Styles is not, at least in WWE. He hasn't been around long enough to be even considered for it. You can claim that Styles is part of the new era, but then you'll find many people around here who claim that "fans know who Styles is already." So which is it? Is he known, or new?

They brought back The Dudleys to put other tag teams over. No one bitched. They brought back Sting to help put Rollins over. No one bitched. But because it's Styles people bitch? I get people bitching Styles lost to Jericho. There was no point in that. But he also lost to Reigns and people bitched. Reigns is certainly part of the new era, so where's the problem? Oh wait, don't like him, double standard.

I know that Cena is always a controversial topic on these boards. And I also know that his feuds have been booked too repetitively. But to use a "new era" argument on someone who's 39 and not a proven commodity is just dumb.

I'm not saying there aren't fair arguments for why The Club should go over. It's not like it's really going to hurt Cena. But frankly, they're heels. I'm not even saying I'd have any real problems with them winning the feud. But any win they get is not likely to be clean. It's Cena's first feud back. People around here think that losing to Cena is instantly going to turn Styles into Zack Ryder. Those are the people that are a) never happy, and b) throwing hyperbole around like it's going out of style.

It's like people want to turn Cena into Jericho in the span of 6 months.

 

[OYDK]

I know that Cena is always a controversial topic on these boards. And I also know that his feuds have been booked too repetitively. But to use a "new era" argument on someone who's 39 and not a proven commodity is just dumb.

Basically. AJ is 39, so is Cena. In my opinion, Cena has a much higher chance of sticking around the WWE longer than Styles, and he draws more revenue and eyes to the product. Why would they put AJ Styles, the guy that just signed 6 months ago, over their proven commodity in John Cena, especially when they both have the same amount of time left in the industry? It doesn't make much sense.

I would love to see Styles go over Cena, but from a business perspective, he most certainly does not have to. Perhaps if he was 27 I would agree, but considering the age, Cena probably has more upside. Even if he doesn't, the WWE will think that he does.

The only way I see Styles going over in this feud is if Cena personally asks for him to go over.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

You said it yourself. AJ Styles is 39 years old. Why should they push him to the moon then? I mean, so many people on here proclaim that the older generation should put over the newer generation. I think we can all agree that 39 years old is an older generation in professional wrestling. So because you like AJ Styles that doesn't matter? Well there's the usual double standard that exists around these forums. Cena is a bonafide commodity. Styles is not, at least in WWE. He hasn't been around long enough to be even considered for it. You can claim that Styles is part of the new era, but then you'll find many people around here who claim that "fans know who Styles is already." So which is it? Is he known, or new?

They brought back The Dudleys to put other tag teams over. No one bitched. They brought back Sting to help put Rollins over. No one bitched. But because it's Styles people bitch? I get people bitching Styles lost to Jericho. There was no point in that. But he also lost to Reigns and people bitched. Reigns is certainly part of the new era, so where's the problem? Oh wait, don't like him, double standard.

I know that Cena is always a controversial topic on these boards. And I also know that his feuds have been booked too repetitively. But to use a "new era" argument on someone who's 39 and not a proven commodity is just dumb.

I'm not saying there aren't fair arguments for why The Club should go over. It's not like it's really going to hurt Cena. But frankly, they're heels. I'm not even saying I'd have any real problems with them winning the feud. But any win they get is not likely to be clean. It's Cena's first feud back. People around here think that losing to Cena is instantly going to turn Styles into Zack Ryder. Those are the people that are a) never happy, and b) throwing hyperbole around like it's going out of style.

It's like people want to turn Cena into Jericho in the span of 6 months.

All I'm saying is if the WWE didn't want to use Styles in his full potential, then why sign him? The Bullet Club has been one of the most talked topics outside of the WWE, in worldwide wrestling. Styles is bringing the Bullet Club in the WWE. These guys are hot, but not THAT hot. Them beating Cena will give the Bullet Club so much needed credibility, and possibly more eyes tuning in to see what their next move is, let's say their fans from Japan.

And no I'm not saying turn Cena into Y2J. All I'm saying is to give Cena just a feud loss. What's the problem with that?

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Guys, you're not getting it:

If Styles was 27-31 years old, then he shouldn't go over John Cena, because he would still 10 more years ahead of him to mature and go into the main event scene naturally. if a guy in his 27s, defeats John Cena, then what's left for him to do?

However, they present Styles as a guy who has wrestled all around the world. A true veteran. He's not a Kevin Owens or Sami Zayn or Bray Wyatt. They present him as he's in a whole different level than those guys.
If you add the fact that they also present the Club as a dangerous asset, then it makes even more sense to have the Club beat John Cena and leave the WWE "headless". And with guys like Roman Reigns, Styles, balor, Owens etc, there would be a chaos in order to find out who's going to be the one to fill the gap.

I'm just looking at it from a story stadpoint, kayfabe. Forget about everything else. From a story standpoint, Styles and the Club beating Cena presents so many opportunities going forward, than them losing.

 

[Azane]

The New Era isn't a thing, just because they keep saying it is, in fact, saying it is regressively keeping the Era in the PG Era.

That aside.

Ya, another lost feud with AJ is just WWE burying TNA even further, for people who don't know about TNA, it's 1 more LOLCENA wins, for people who do know it, it just demoralizes and subconsciously tells them that TNA is inferior to everything.

AJ needs to win if he wants to be relevant at all, but I fear that his WWE time is simply going to be jobbing to WWE's top dawgs to make TNA look bad.

I've also learned from years of watching WWE, when a story has multiple branches on 1 side, and a very linear dull path on the other side, the Dull side wins, because WWE wants simple storylines to follow, AJ losing and just going away has less potential branching than AJ going over and running amok in the Main event as a heel (All be it, all the ME faces get boo'd, and all the heels get cheered, because WWE)

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

If Styles was 27-31 years old, then he shouldn't go over John Cena, because he would still 10 more years ahead of him to mature and go into the main event scene naturally. if a guy in his 27s, defeats John Cena, then what's left for him to do?

Well then it's a good thing Cena won his feud with Wyatt, Rusev and Rollins. Owens is just outside of that at 32. Cena that bastard he broke the rules. Oh wait he's ok I think because Owens beat him clean first.

 

[L@RISANO]

You said it yourself. AJ Styles is 39 years old. Why should they push him to the moon then? I mean, so many people on here proclaim that the older generation should put over the newer generation. I think we can all agree that 39 years old is an older generation in professional wrestling. So because you like AJ Styles that doesn't matter? Well there's the usual double standard that exists around these forums. Cena is a bonafide commodity. Styles is not, at least in WWE. He hasn't been around long enough to be even considered for it. You can claim that Styles is part of the new era, but then you'll find many people around here who claim that "fans know who Styles is already." So which is it? Is he known, or new?

They brought back The Dudleys to put other tag teams over. No one bitched. They brought back Sting to help put Rollins over. No one bitched. But because it's Styles people bitch? I get people bitching Styles lost to Jericho. There was no point in that. But he also lost to Reigns and people bitched. Reigns is certainly part of the new era, so where's the problem? Oh wait, don't like him, double standard.

I know that Cena is always a controversial topic on these boards. And I also know that his feuds have been booked too repetitively. But to use a "new era" argument on someone who's 39 and not a proven commodity is just dumb.

I'm not saying there aren't fair arguments for why The Club should go over. It's not like it's really going to hurt Cena. But frankly, they're heels. I'm not even saying I'd have any real problems with them winning the feud. But any win they get is not likely to be clean. It's Cena's first feud back. People around here think that losing to Cena is instantly going to turn Styles into Zack Ryder. Those are the people that are a) never happy, and b) throwing hyperbole around like it's going out of style.

It's like people want to turn Cena into Jericho in the span of 6 months.

This is something that continues to puzzle me. One side, the complaint is that no one is booked strong and WWE goes too much on 50/50(something I strongly agree with btw), however, the couple of guys who are booked to matter(Cena, Lesnar and Reigns to be specific) are cried down as being booked too strongly.


Which is it?
I'd actually love if a few more guys receive such protected booking as it helps elevate many superstars simultaneously, ntm, it helps make the Main Event scene stronger as well so that TV isn't going through the motions and waiting for the Part timers to return in order to generate interest.



That said: I have made one observation on WWE's booking since Mania 30. It is with regards to how they book the "Indy Favourites". I notice that they are hell bent on pushing their "Chosen Guys" as the default babyfaces in storylines, whilst said babyfaces get heel reactions, and the "Indy" guys, on the other hand, regularly are teased for big moments, but ultimately lose the feuds most of the time, but WWE are fully aware that regardless of how they book them... said "Indy talents" will remain firm favourites going forward.

Eg: Dean Ambrose on the Road to Mania 32.

 

[Phenomenal]

I don't see how the main player of TNA can beat the main player of WWE, John Cena is the biggest draw in wrestling since Attitude era, there is no way he is beating Cena.

He got made like a bitch by Roman Reings twice and not only that, in my opinion AJ lost all his steam when he lost to Y2Jobber at WM.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As I alluded to in the Styles turning heel section, the odds of him actually winning this feud against John Cena are slim to none. Over the course of the past 12 years or so, the only guys that I've seen come out of a feud on the winning end against Cena were CM Punk and Brock Lesnar. Punk may have wanted to get the Cena push and spot, but it didn't happen, quite possibly, because of the guy's bad attitude, constant complaining about everything, etc. In the case of Lesnar, Vince became so paranoid that he basically fed the Wyatt Family as a whole to him and the Family has never really gotten back that momentum. Vince has this obsessive need to protect Cena to the detriment of the product as a whole and nobody has been able to talk sense into him. So yeah, the odds of Styles actually "winning" this feud aren't good at all.

I think the best we can hope for is what we saw with Cena vs. Owens last year: Owens won their first bout decisively while Cena claimed the other two. Owens hasn't lost any momentum since then and neither will Styles if WWE keeps momentum on him. Personally, I don't feel the odds are good that Styles beats Cena without aid from Anderson & Gallows because, again, Vince just has this borderline psychotic need to portray Cena as this almighty superhero who can overcome any obstacle.

As far as Styles' future in WWE, it's hard to really tell. One problem that's ALWAYS present among internet fans is that many want their favorites to be in the main event scene, win the title and have a significant run as champion. That itself isn't the problem, the problem comes with the unrealistic expectations that most of or all of their personal faves can be in the main event, be champ and be a strong champion. As of right now, there are "indie darlings" like Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Cesaro on the main roster; you've got guys like Bray Wyatt that a lot of people want to see be given a real main event opportunity. If reports are accurate, then you have a ton of top guys from NXT coming to the main roster sometime this year like Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries, etc. and all of these guys can't have a shot at the main event AND win the title AND have significant runs as champion.

There's a possibility that Styles may well have waited too long. WWE, reportedly, reached out to Styles several times over the last 10 years but Styles decided to stay with TNA. The result is that AJ Styles is a 38 year old man, who just turned 38 today btw, that's been involved in a very physically demanding occupation virtually his entire adult life and he's not going to be someone that's helping carry the company in 10 years.

 

[Woodstuff]

If you want Styles to go over Cena and 'win' this feud, you'd better pray the majority of fans accept Roman Reigns as champion. WWE needs a No. 1 guy, an undying hero that rarely loses and is screwed over whenever he does. Hogan, Austin, Rock, Cena.

I think WWE have come to realize they're not booking the show to one audience anymore. The older crowd (go figure) are all too eager to shit all over whatever WWE try to do if 'their guys' aren't featured prominently. But with the PG market being where the money is at, they need a dominant face to keep the kids interested in the product. If Reigns isn't that face, chances are they'll place a safe 'Cena Wins' bet until the next guy comes along (Rollins?). But if Reigns continues to draw a consistent face reaction every week, I'd bet on WWE giving The Club a few wins over Cena to quick-dry cement them in the main event picture.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

That's Y Cena needs to have that adversary. THAT GUY who is on equal ground and always seems to get the BETTER of Cena. AJ can be THAT GUY. This is a good program no matter what. The company is firmly behind AJ STYLES and He will be a World and WWE CHAMP during his tenure here.

 

[stingray11214]

AJ is going to be Cena food. Why? Because AJ Styles is not Vince's guy, Cena is. Vince would rather lose $2 with his guy than make $100 with someone that is not "his". He has ALWAYS been like that.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Yeah, odds that AJ Styles would win this feud against returning no1 face of WWE are slim to none. Cena is still not considered Jericho who would come and put people over by losing to them(Jericho even lost to Fandango). And even Jericho was allowed to beat AJ Styles.Best you can expect is that The Club can beat Cena and New Day by pinning Xavier Woods or Kofi. And then when Cena faces AJ to beat him in good match. All other then that would be quite suprising.

 

[ShinChan]

In one line,

He SHOULD win the feud but he WON'T!

People who are saying that AJ is 39 and doesn't need to win are wrong. Cena has credibility here, AJ doesn't. AJ hasn't won any feud since he debuted. He needs the win and the presence of his goons makes it easy for him to win the feud.

A feud loss would definitely hurt AJ, but it won't affect Cena in any way.

But still AJ won't win.

 

[Navi]

I think this is a toss up really. AJ Styles is not part of the New Era, or whatever they are calling it these days. He has been around just as long or longer than Cena has. He is just new to the WWE.

Cena has cemented his legacy and in a way so has AJ Styles. Yes it would be nice to see him win this one, and we all know old man McMahon loves his John Cena, but we've seen what happens this past year when you don't elevate newer talent.

The only reason this feud is happening is because didn't Styles said he's always wanted to go up against Cena, and you never know maybe the respect is vice versa. If the WWE wants to keep the product fresh then wrestlers like Cena have to start stepping back a little. He could lose this feud and it wouldn't hurt him at all, especially if he loses to a heel faction who cheats to win.

Cena has had a chokehold on the main event for over a decade now and rightly so, but it's time for a new group to step forward. It will never happen if they are always fighting a losing battle. So I can see Styles possibly winning this feud, then he can go on and put others over. There is nothing wrong with having two main draws helping out the up and comers. If they are going to call it a New Era, then the ghosts of the Old Era have to give way a little.

 

[MWRedskins]

first things first, i dont see AJ Styles winning the first match that he and Cena has . it's Cena's comeback match and WWE has to (for some reason) book Cena strong in his comeback match. now will he win the feud?? that depends on the Brand Extension in my book. if WWE does create Two World Championships for both shows (which i kinda hope they do), then WWE would be smart to let AJ Styles win the feud. have the first match being a regular match where Cena wants payback on AJ, then in the next month, have it be AJ vs. Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship and have AJ Styles win that, then finally end the feud with Cena getting a last shot at AJ and losing to him there. that's how i think WWE should book it IF they have two world champions (one on RAW and one on Smackdown). now if they dont have two world champions, then Cena will highly likely win the feud because he's a crowd (of should i say, kid) pleaser. i want AJ to win the feud no matter what because he has top heel potential, but if there's not two world champions, then i can't see AJ winning the feud.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Here's the thing, if Cena wins and they make AJ look strong in defeat then AJ can easily rebound going forward, whether they take that opportunity or not is really what's going to matter down the road. I think AJ needs to solidify himself as a top tier talent and a win or 2 wouldn't hurt matters either. Frankly I think it's weird as shit that Jericho got the big match victory over AJ as it really didn't help anything for anyone going forward, it feels like they botched a layup in that feud and now they got to work a little harder to keep AJ relevant and his title feud with Reigns definitely helped that out.

In wrestling wins and losses aren't that big of a deal, the big deal is the story you tell. If Cena beats Styles and Styles puts on a great performance you can just talk about the performance and make people forget about the loss fairly easily. As long as AJ looks like he belongs in the ring with Cena then in my mind the goal is accomplished. Whether AJ wins or loses isn't nearly as relevant as how he gets treated in the feud and how he is treated going forward.

 

[Messiah]

Styles is not winning this feud, nor should he.. Styles and Cena are the same age, but Cena has a much brighter future in WWE.. I don't see Styles being around much past 2 year's.

 

[Woodstuff]

In one line,

He SHOULD win the feud but he WON'T!

People who are saying that AJ is 39 and doesn't need to win are wrong. Cena has credibility here, AJ doesn't. AJ hasn't won any feud since he debuted. He needs the win and the presence of his goons makes it easy for him to win the feud.

A feud loss would definitely hurt AJ, but it won't affect Cena in any way.

But still AJ won't win.

If AJ has no credibility, why is he being booked as such a threat to Cena? Why is he constantly hyped by the announcers? How does he constantly draw a big reaction? Why has he already had two world title matches? All in 6 months.

Fans know AJ Styles is legit, because that's how he's being booked. The only ones who think him not winning a feud makes him less of a superstar are people like you who over-think everything and become way too invested in the show.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

In this case, I doubt that winning or losing a feud will hurt styles in the long because let face it, aj is over no matter what happens and he actually over with vince mcmahon which mean that even if he loss, vince will still continue to push him anyway, he might even get a run with the title before the end of the year. I think if you want to advance the cena storyline, he need to win feud until a new superstar that got a long career in from of him like amrose or reigns come in and beats him in a series of matches.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

AJ doesn't have to win. It's gotta be the opposite. The younger guys have been the ones that were ultimately hurt. Rusev and Wyatt ultimately slid down the ladder. Owens was the exception, but you have no where to go but down after a Cena feud. Like him or hate him, he's their top guy, and there's no one greater to feud with than the top guy.

If the idea was to have some kind of petty WWE>TNA feud then AJ and The Club would be losing to the Social Outcasts on the pre show at MITB. Instead Styles is facing WWE's biggest draw in what will surely be a great match. Cena is excellent when paired with a high caliber opponent. This match could be Cena vs Punk good or Cena vs Bryan good.

It hasn't been a week and the tin foil hats and B-words are already being thrown around like Cena defeated all three members of The Club with a single AA. I doubt WWE will take a proverbial dump on the investment they've made in these guys.

It doesn't matter who wins at all. It's going to be a good (if not great) match, there will likely be tons of interference. Styles is clearly being pushed into a top heel role. I'm just not seeing the panic buttons people are pushing when Styles was booked strong through both shows this week.

You just can't criticize a feud or a match that's already happened. Yes, many careers that we internet fans wanted to see take off died on the altar of hustle, loyalty, and respect. The matches Cena lost are far more memorable. The summer of Punk springboarded off Cena, why not the summer of Styles?

History could repeat itself, but there's really no point complaining or throwing around words that rhyme with married until he pinfalls are counted. AJ doesn't need to win, everything they've done with him so far has been conducive to building him up as a top guy. Losing to Cena isn't a burial, the mediocrity that follows is what does in talent.

 

[Navi]

Actually I'm not sure anyone has to win or lose anymore in this day and age. We've already seen the lines between heel and face blurred so anything is possible. It really depends on how the person to made to look in a loss, if they are booked correctly then it shouldn't be much as we all know they can come back the next time. If it's a total squash then yea you might have an issue.

Although I know Lesnar took Cena apart, but that's Cena we're talking about here.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

It all depends on where WWE goes with Styles after his feud with Cena.

Take Damien Sandow for example. After his loss to Cena, Sandow's career fell off a cliff. However his loss to Cena wasn't to blame for this, it was WWE's booking afterwards. They literally forgot about him. He did absolutely nothing until his partnership with Miz, where he was just a comedy character.

On the other hand, look at Kevin Owens. After his loss to Cena, he had a great reign as IC Champion and a great feud with Dean Ambrose. Now he's the best heel on the roster except for Rollins. His feud with Cena did wonders for his career even though he lost.

It all matters how WWE books Styles after his feud with Cena. As longs as Styles look good and puts up a great fight he'll be fine. He still has a bunch of fans and gets great pops. He also has plenty of credibility - two World Title matches and feuds with Reigns, Cena, and Jericho, so he'll be fine no matter what.

 

[Garak]

So, why should AJ Styles win in the feud against Cena?
a) In order to give Styles a won feud under his belt. AJ Styles is 39 years old and isn't getting any younger. He's not a Bray Wyatt or a Kevin Owens, guys that could stick around for the next decade and earn credibility through time. If you want to run with AJ Styles, you have to run now. His name has value and he also has a huge fanbase behind him.

b) Cena talked about the New Era passing through him. This is the perfect example. It can back up Cena's words. AJ Styles passing through John Cena.

How does one 39 year old winning over another 39 year old have anything to do with putting over any New Era?

Ya, another lost feud with AJ is just WWE burying TNA even further, for people who don't know about TNA, it's 1 more LOLCENA wins, for people who do know it, it just demoralizes and subconsciously tells them that TNA is inferior to everything.

Each time someone comes from somewhere else and loses in WWE, they're automatically being buried? For people who don't know about TNA, it's not WWE's job to educate them on that matter.