AJ Styles should still be WWE Champion

[rko57]

When AJ Styles first lost the WWE Championship to John Cena, I was hoping it would somehow lead to a match between the two at WM33 and wanted to give the storylines a chance. I heard the rumors of AJ Styles/Shane McMahon at Mania (which ended up being fucking awesome) and of Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton for the WWE Title at WM33, but I was hoping they weren't true. I remembered the No Mercy main event between Orton/Wyatt and figured their WM match would be forgettable as well, which it was. In fact, it may have been the worst match of the night.

Now that WM33 is behind us and we're on our way to Backlash, we now have AJ Styles/Kevin Owens for the US Title and Randy Orton/Jinder Mahal for the WWE Title. With the Orton/Wyatt culmination being so forgettable, and Cena's reign only being 2 weeks long before Wyatt won, I am annoyed that AJ Styles is not the champion anymore. The Wyatt/Orton feud did not need the WWE Title then, and it certainly didn't need it looking back. I have no problem with him dropping the belt if something meaningful happened with the belt since then.

His feud with Kevin Owens is pretty much the top feud on Smackdown right now, and it should be for the WWE Title instead of the US Title. The reigns from Cena to Wyatt to now Orton have done absolutely nothing for the blue brand. AJ Styles could have remained champion and faced Cena again or Orton at WM33. This could've led to his current feud with Kevin Owens after the Superstar Shakeup if he turned face as he currently has. He could have feuds with Randy Orton or Sami Zayn and eventually Nakamura if he stayed heel.

Yes, he will probably win the title back sooner than later. And no, he can't be Champion forever. But because of the situation with the WWE Championship since he dropped it, he should have just kept the belt and had a really incredible reign as WWE Champion. Do y'all agree or disagree?

 

[therockiswwf]

AJ lost it to Cena so Cena could lose it to Bray. Cena was a transitional champion. Cena put over Bray twice. Bray defeating a 16 time world champion twice legitimizes him quickly.

There's two possible reasons they did Orton vs Wyatt for the title:
1) They thought the feud was going to be hotter.
2) They knew it would suck and thought the title would create some interest for it.

They already had a long-term plan with Bray/Orton. Styles would have made no sense in that feud and would have been a distraction.

Cena was in a shit but personally important tag match. Bray would have been left without an opponent without facing Randy. He could have maybe faced Harper but that would have made the Bray/Randy storyline pointless.

It wasn't really that they took the belt off AJ for no reason. They just horribly botched the execution of Randy vs Bray. So I am fine with it. Not happy with what they did with it but I understand it.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I agree with you but only in hindsight. When AJ lost the belt to John Cena, I was hardy surprised. But I was surprised with the quick switch to Bray. Had the execution of Bray Wyatt's reign been better (so, he would still be champion in my mind), then none of this would matter. But instead, we had a really cool build-up to a really flat match at WrestleMania (which was probably the worst of the night, you're right), and a House of Horrors fiasco that I've tried to defend but in retrospect was not very good at all. A hot mess really.

My point is, as much as the WWE Championship picture has, in all, been a bit of a wreck since AJ dropped the title, I don't think that was necessarily the plan. Like the above post said, the Orton/Wyatt saga could and should have been much better than it ended up being, but then again, they rushed that away so they could get Jinder in the title match.

AJ Styles was a great champion, but I think his next eventual reign will be much better than his first. He has some great contenders to fight against (Owens, Nakamura, Zayn, Corbin, Orton etc.) that he hasn't fought before. Until then, we have to see what WWE can do. Personally, Orton as champion doesn't interest me much at all. But he's the champion we've got, and while Styles is busy with the United States Championship, it looks like we're gonna have to deal with it.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

But at the same time you have to take into consideration that AJ styles vs Shane Mcmahon was already planned for mania before he lost the title to cena. The mania card was set it stone for a while now and so changing the plans only to please a certain section of the fans isn'T good business.

Personally, i think it was a good think what happened because A.J Styles doesn'T really need the WWE title right now, he's already super over right now so he can use this to elevate the u.s. title and his feud with Owens will do that, it will help the u.s title be looked at the same way as the WWE title as an important title.

If you look at how the booked the wwe title since the beginning of the year, i think it made total sense, they needed to get rid of the 16th title reign for Cena so that they could make a big deal out of the 17th reigns so they did that before putting Bray over and helping him get up the the upper mid card level by having him beat cena twice, then flip it to Orton so that he can be the veteran that give the rub to some of the lower level guys in hope that they can create upper level heels which they really need right now on both shows.

SO A.J not being the champion right now isn'T a bad thing because he is a superstars and he is over so he can have great matches with Owens for a while and help the u.s belt being looked at as an important championship and the wrestling title, while orton is wwe champion goes on and feud with guys like Jinder and baron corben over the WWE and in the process maybe create some upper level heel for smackdown.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

First of all, the plan was always to have Orton become the champion at Wrestlemania. I'm even sure they decided to do that after that hard hit Orton took at Summerslam from Lesnar. Him winning the Rumble and the title at Wrestlemania, would save face for him.
We have to look to why the title match wasn't Orton vs Styles though and it was Orton vs Bray.

I guess it all comes down to Shane McMahon having to wrestle at Wrestlemania. If Styles hadn't fought him, then Bray would have or somebody else. They really wanted Shane to wrestle. So they decided to go with Styles vs Shane and Bray vs Orton, which was an already existing storyline.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Nah, plan was always Cena or Orton no matter what happens. Cena was scheduled for longer reign but Cena himself has requested "Nikki moment" for Wrestlemania. And Orton was always due for Rumble win.

People(well if you consider IWC as people ) fail to realize that title doesnt always mean you are top dog. Owens(who I personally really like) was main RAW Champion for few months. And still played second fiddle to Reigns and even Charlotte and Sasha who main evented before him. Having match with Shane is great deal. Shane generated lots of buys when his match with Undertaker in last year Mania was approved. So having AJ in match with him means great deal and makes AJ great deal especially considering he gone over. Only thing I would maybe change is having AJ and Orton for title because it would be great match. But thinking that it would happen soon enough either way, so have no problem because booking got it like this.

 

[therockiswwf]

I guess it all comes down to Shane McMahon having to wrestle at Wrestlemania. If Styles hadn't fought him, then Bray would have or somebody else. They really wanted Shane to wrestle. So they decided to go with Styles vs Shane and Bray vs Orton, which was an already existing storyline.

They asked other people before they went with Shane vs AJ (HBK being one). HBK said WWE did not have an opponent for AJ and wondered if he was interested. So Shane was pretty much a well we have no one else so lets throw him in with AJ. It wasn't planned from the beginning. Similar to his role at WM 32 where they had no one else for Taker to face.

Storyline wise, only Bray vs Orton at Mania made sense. Orton vs anyone else and Bray vs anyone else would not have made sense.

 

[filthyanimalz]

AJ was never intended to be a long term champion, he was a mere business decision for WWE. They decided they needed to poach him from New Japan and give him a short term title reign in order to help with their expansion into the Japanese market. Very smart on behalf of WWE considering he was one of the most recognisable and over wrestlers in Japan at the time.

 

[thebarber]

AJ Styles will have this feud with Owens and will stay simmering before they pull the trigger on a main event title run later in the year, so come Royal Rumble, hes either winning it or in title contention. I cant see WWE not having him in a main event at next years Mania, they wont CM Punk him

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

AJ lost it to Cena so Cena could lose it to Bray. Cena was a transitional champion. Cena put over Bray twice. Bray defeating a 16 time world champion twice legitimizes him quickly.

No ... no it did not. No one was thinking that Bray was a strong Champion coming into WM33 especially since he won the title at an Elimination Chamber and only held the title for less than 2 months without chasing for the title prior.

As for AJ Style should still be Champion? Absolutely or at least have been the Champion coming into WM. AJ vs. Orton would have been a better Championship Match at WM instead of giving it on Free TV. Shane vs. AJ didn't need to happen at WM and if they even wanted to do that feud they could have done that after WM.

 

[ShinChan]

I agree with the notion that AJ Styles should've remained the champion until at least Wrestlemania 33.

I always wanted him against The Undertaker at Royal Rumble for the title where AJ Styles gets another big victory. Then we could've had Kurt Angle Vs. AJ Styles for the title at Wrestlemania. These two matches are enormous. Although the match with Shane McMahon turned out to be entertaining, yet it could've been a better one. Still, I hope that he regains the title back this year itself. Maybe Money In The Bank briefcase?

 

[therockiswwf]

No ... no it did not. No one was thinking that Bray was a strong Champion coming into WM33 especially since he won the title at an Elimination Chamber and only held the title for less than 2 months without chasing for the title prior.

As for AJ Style should still be Champion? Absolutely or at least have been the Champion coming into WM. AJ vs. Orton would have been a better Championship Match at WM instead of giving it on Free TV. Shane vs. AJ didn't need to happen at WM and if they even wanted to do that feud they could have done that after WM.

So throw away a months long feud of Orton vs Wyatt (which had a solid idea but WWE botched the execution of it) for AJ vs Orton because? The only story that made sense was Bray vs Randy. That's it. They had a long-term plan and stuck to it.

They didn't want to do AJ vs Shane. They had to because they had no one else for AJ to face.

Bray pinned Cena twice leading into WM. That is one of the biggest rubs you can get.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Cena beat Styles because he needed another title win to get closer to breaking the record. Also Wyatt got more out of beating Cena than Styles.

You can say Wyatt vs. Orton didn't deserve the title, but it absolutely did. It was one of the best feuds in WWE during the buildup. Almost everyone on the forums really liked it and (if I remember correctly) they voted it for "Feud of the Year" during the year-end awards.

Yes the match was bad. Probably the worst on the show, but I wouldn't blame Orton or Wyatt. Thee match needed a stipulation.

If you do Styles vs. Orton, then what was the point of the Wyatt and Orton feud? It needed a conclusive end. Who does Wyatt wrestle?

Also let's give Orton a chance. His title reign hasn't been great, but the Shakeup can be blamed for that. This Jinder feud could be really good.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

So throw away a months long feud of Orton vs Wyatt (which had a solid idea but WWE botched the execution of it) for AJ vs Orton because? The only story that made sense was Bray vs Randy. That's it. They had a long-term plan and stuck to it.

They didn't want to do AJ vs Shane. They had to because they had no one else for AJ to face.

Bray pinned Cena twice leading into WM. That is one of the biggest rubs you can get.

Except the feud between Orton and Wyatt had nothing to do with the title.

So you are seriously telling me that Bray Wyatt, winning a 6 man match, with reign lasting for 40+ days as his first title reign came off as a strong Champion heading to WM? Remember we are comparing superstars that went into WM with that belt in the past guys like Triple H, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Randy Savage etc.

At least if it was Orton vs. Styles the build up could have gone the traditional WM route. Orton wins the Rumble, Styles is Champion hence the match at WM33. Nothing overbooked, overly complex or fancy about the buildup. It's The Royal Rumble winner going up against the Champion whose held the title since Sept. It simply a tried and true tradition of Wrestlemania.

 

[therockiswwf]

Except the feud between Orton and Wyatt had nothing to do with the title.

Well except for the whole Royal Rumble winner gets a title shot at WrestleMania part. Also, my goodness feuds that have no personal components are boring. Me want title feuds suck. If I wanted to see a me want title feud, I'd watch UFC. I watch WWE because I want stories.

So you are seriously telling me that Bray Wyatt, winning a 6 man match, with reign lasting for 40+ days as his first title reign came off as a strong Champion heading to WM? Remember we are comparing superstars that went into WM with that belt in the past guys like Triple H, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Randy Savage etc.

They needed to legitimize Wyatt in a hurry. They did the best they could without ruining anyone else. Wyatt beat Cena twice. Remember, they had a month pretty much to legitimize Wyatt. I never said it worked.

But hey putting words into my mouth also works.

At least if it was Orton vs. Styles the build up could have gone the traditional WM route. Orton wins the Rumble, Styles is Champion hence the match at WM33. Nothing overbooked, overly complex or fancy about the buildup. It's The Royal Rumble winner going up against the Champion whose held the title since Sept. It simply a tried and true tradition of Wrestlemania.

And Wyatt was the WWE champion. They had a months long feud. They more than likely thought it was going to be hotter. They stuck to their plan. It did not work out. It happens.

This is the problem with long-term plans. They are guesswork. They got it wrong but the story dictated the title be on Wyatt. But no throw away months of work because (ahem, I KEEP ASKING THIS FOR A REASON)? That would have been stupider than the maggot projector.

It would have made no sense for Orton to go after the title while still in the Wyatts.

 

[rko57]

Well except for the whole Royal Rumble winner gets a title shot at WrestleMania part. Also, my goodness feuds that have no personal components are boring. Me want title feuds suck. If I wanted to see a me want title feud, I'd watch UFC. I watch WWE because I want stories.



They needed to legitimize Wyatt in a hurry. They did the best they could without ruining anyone else. Wyatt beat Cena twice. Remember, they had a month pretty much to legitimize Wyatt. I never said it worked.

But hey putting words into my mouth also works.



And Wyatt was the WWE champion. They had a months long feud. They more than likely thought it was going to be hotter. They stuck to their plan. It did not work out. It happens.

This is the problem with long-term plans. They are guesswork. They got it wrong but the story dictated the title be on Wyatt. But no throw away months of work because (ahem, I KEEP ASKING THIS FOR A REASON)? That would have been stupider than the maggot projector.

It would have made no sense for Orton to go after the title while still in the Wyatts.

I've been reading the replies just kind of waiting for a good time to respond. Bray Wyatt is not legitimate. His short reign did not make him more legit. Almost of all his matches in his big feuds have been forgettable: Kane, Cena, Jericho, Ambrose, and Reigns (except their last match). The only matches that stand out of his is his RR match with Daniel Bryan, his WM31 match against Undertaker, and the HIAC with Reigns. Other than that, his matches are very subpar.

Yes, Orton-Wyatt is a fine feud for WrestleMania. As you mentioned, they had a feud that went back months. But do you remember their No Mercy match? How come nobody talks about that when I've brought it up in a few different threads. Because it was THAT forgettable. But now you want to include the WWE Title in a feud where the matches these two had were lackluster.

It made no sense for this feud to include the WWE Title before the Royal Rumble, and it sure as hell didn't make sense at the end of it all. The whole story was about Orton breaking up the Wyatt Family from within. They could've gone all the way back to 2015 for this one when Orton was teaming with Reigns and Ambrose, and the Wyatt Family injured Orton and put him on the shelf for months, missing WM32, his first missed WM of his career. He wanted revenge for that. But then with the Wyatt's being too much to overcome, he had to break them up from within.

I have no problem with Orton being Champion honestly, but his feud with Wyatt should have never included the WWE Title. If they decided to go the Styles-Orton route, that easily would've been for the WWE Title. You could've wrapped up Orton/Wyatt at Royal Rumble/Elimination Chamber. That leads to a Wyatt feud with Luke Harper at WM with Harper being mad at Wyatt for throwing away his family for an outsider. That match wouldn't have been any worse than Orton/Wyatt was. If they stuck with Orton/Wyatt, that is fine too. Just don't make it for the WWE Title, and AJ Styles could go in to WM as Champion.

 

[therockiswwf]

I've been reading the replies just kind of waiting for a good time to respond. Bray Wyatt is not legitimate. His short reign did not make him more legit. Almost of all his matches in his big feuds have been forgettable: Kane, Cena, Jericho, Ambrose, and Reigns (except their last match). The only matches that stand out of his is his RR match with Daniel Bryan, his WM31 match against Undertaker, and the HIAC with Reigns. Other than that, his matches are very subpar.

Wyatt would have had more memorable feuds if he actually won one every once in a blue moon. Wyatt is good enough in the ring (character is more important anyways).

Again, I never said Wyatt became legitimate. I said they tried the best they could in that one month period to make him legitimate.

Yes, Orton-Wyatt is a fine feud for WrestleMania. As you mentioned, they had a feud that went back months. But do you remember their No Mercy match? How come nobody talks about that when I've brought it up in a few different threads. Because it was THAT forgettable. But now you want to include the WWE Title in a feud where the matches these two had were lackluster.

That match didn't have a great story. A great story can prop up a match.

Goldberg vs Brock from WM 20 was bad. Doesn't mean they are doomed for eternity to always have bad matches. Their WM 33 destruction was quite fun.

It made no sense for this feud to include the WWE Title before the Royal Rumble, and it sure as hell didn't make sense at the end of it all. The whole story was about Orton breaking up the Wyatt Family from within. They could've gone all the way back to 2015 for this one when Orton was teaming with Reigns and Ambrose, and the Wyatt Family injured Orton and put him on the shelf for months, missing WM32, his first missed WM of his career. He wanted revenge for that. But then with the Wyatt's being too much to overcome, he had to break them up from within.

Again, they probably thought the feud was going to be hotter. It was the main feud of SD. Makes sense for the main feud to have the title in it.

I have no problem with Orton being Champion honestly, but his feud with Wyatt should have never included the WWE Title. If they decided to go the Styles-Orton route, that easily would've been for the WWE Title. You could've wrapped up Orton/Wyatt at Royal Rumble/Elimination Chamber. That leads to a Wyatt feud with Luke Harper at WM with Harper being mad at Wyatt for throwing away his family for an outsider. That match wouldn't have been any worse than Orton/Wyatt was. If they stuck with Orton/Wyatt, that is fine too. Just don't make it for the WWE Title, and AJ Styles could go in to WM as Champion.

So rush the ending of a storyline, that they thought would be hot, that is supposed to last for a few more months because?

 

[rko57]

Wyatt would have had more memorable feuds if he actually won one every once in a blue moon. Wyatt is good enough in the ring (character is more important anyways).

Again, I never said Wyatt became legitimate. I said they tried the best they could in that one month period to make him legitimate.

You do realize that he won his feuds with Kane, Ambrose, Jericho, and Daniel Bryan, right? He even won the first encounter with Reigns and was successful in having the Wyatt Family win the 6 man tag against Reigns, Ambrose, and Jericho. The only real feuds he has lost is Cena, Undertaker, and Reigns in the very end after trading victories.

That match didn't have a great story. A great story can prop up a match.

Goldberg vs Brock from WM 20 was bad. Doesn't mean they are doomed for eternity to always have bad matches. Their WM 33 destruction was quite fun.

No, they aren't doomed for eternity to always have bad matches. But Orton/Wyatt don't have good chemistry in the ring as opponents. And most of Wyatt's matches are lackluster. Again, I name his feuds where he had big matches, and nobody EVER talks about those matches. How can somebody like Wyatt be good in the ring, but have so many matches that nobody talks about against big opponents?

Again, they probably thought the feud was going to be hotter. It was the main feud of SD. Makes sense for the main feud to have the title in it.

So rush the ending of a storyline, that they thought would be hot, that is supposed to last for a few more months because?

Letting the feud end in January/February wouldn't have been a rushed ending. Was Stone Cold's feud with HHH before WM17 a rushed ending because it ended right before Mania allowing both wrestlers to move on? What about Austin/Jericho the next year? If booked properly, it could've ended in time without feeling rushed and allowing both parties to transition to new feuds in time for WM33.

 

[therockiswwf]

You do realize that he won his feuds with Kane, Ambrose, Jericho, and Daniel Bryan, right? He even won the first encounter with Reigns and was successful in having the Wyatt Family win the 6 man tag against Reigns, Ambrose, and Jericho. The only real feuds he has lost is Cena, Undertaker, and Reigns in the very end after trading victories.

Kane was his first feud so of course he won that. He actually traded wins with Jericho (that feud had some weird booking). He beat Jericho in that 6 man tag.

He lost to Undertaker each time. Lost to Cena at Mania. He also lost both feuds overall. Now he didn't really need to win these matches (thought he should have beat Taker) but he keeps losing. Keeps coming up short in his big matches. Reminds me of someone. Ryback got white hot once. Then he kept losing in big matches. Eventually people stopped caring because he just kept losing. Same thing here. Ryback did not lose every match but he lost a majority of his big matches. You can't keep doing that. The fact that Wyatt is still over is a testament to how good his character is.

No, they aren't doomed for eternity to always have bad matches. But Orton/Wyatt don't have good chemistry in the ring as opponents. And most of Wyatt's matches are lackluster. Again, I name his feuds where he had big matches, and nobody EVER talks about those matches. How can somebody like Wyatt be good in the ring, but have so many matches that nobody talks about against big opponents?

I thought the Cena matches were pretty good. Reigns matches as well. Taker vs Wyatt was hurt by Wyatt's ankle. I don't remember any matches of Wyatt being straight up bad solely due to his ring work. Lackluster, sure. However, in-ring work is secondary to character.

A hot story can prop up a lackluster match. They probably thought that was going to be the case.

Letting the feud end in January/February wouldn't have been a rushed ending. Was Stone Cold's feud with HHH before WM17 a rushed ending because it ended right before Mania allowing both wrestlers to move on? What about Austin/Jericho the next year? If booked properly, it could've ended in time without feeling rushed and allowing both parties to transition to new feuds in time for WM33.

Austin vs HHH was actually rushed a bit. They needed a way to get the title off Rock. They needed a big match for Mania. Austin vs Rock is a big match. HHH was originally also going to be in that match. However, HHH refused saying that the Mania title match should be one on one. This is why Austin and HHH entered into different feuds for Mania. Austin just all of a sudden did not care about getting revenge on a person who tried to murder him just so he could get a shiny belt. HHH was supposed to feud with Austin after Mania (which is why HHH won the way he did at NWO). So they were pretty much forced to rush it and then drop it because attempted vehicular murder (by both sides) is something people just get over. That feud got really screwed up.

They could have ended it at No Way Out and have been fine. They had been feuding for a while by that point and it would have made sense if Austin had won. Orton and Wyatt didn't start feuding again until after EC. Also that would have made Wyatt look really bad if he lost to Orton at EC. His family is broken up, he gets beat, no title reign. Why would I care about whatever Wyatt would do after that? That would also leave Luke Harper hanging as he couldn't fight Orton then for taking his spot.

Jericho beat Rock and Austin in the same night at Vengeance. Next month, he beat Rock at the Rumble. The month after that, he beat Austin at No Way Out. That wasn't supposed to be a long-term story. They did exactly what they planned to do. So that was a bad example.

I think you're missing the point anyways. You're think well the match sucked. It did. The story going into forced it to be Orton vs Wyatt. Long-term booking. They didn't have hindsight, they only had their plan. Which they screwed up but that is always the risk they have to take when doing a long-term storyline.

 

[Messiah]

Completely disagree, mainly because i view the titles as nothing important. They're just props to help build storylines or get certain guys over.. AJ doesn't ever need a title. He's the most over guy in WWE.. I hope Jinder Mahal gets the title because he can use it. The WWE Title would be wasted with Styles because he doesn't need it.

 

[rko57]

I think you're missing the point anyways. You're think well the match sucked. It did. The story going into forced it to be Orton vs Wyatt. Long-term booking. They didn't have hindsight, they only had their plan. Which they screwed up but that is always the risk they have to take when doing a long-term storyline.

I think you're actually missing the point. My point from the beginning when I started this thread was that AJ Styles should still be WWE Champion (or at least walked into WM as Champion) because the Orton/Wyatt feud didn't NEED the WWE Title. It didn't start with the WWE Title, and it sure as hell didn't finish about the WWE Title.

Think about it, the culmination to their story was a NON-TITLE match. If they had a match to end their feud a month after their WM match, shouldn't that have been for the WWE Title since Orton is still WWE Champion? Don't say it's because of the upcoming Jinder Mahal match because they could have made him #1 Contender 2 days after Payback.

KO/Y2J didn't end their feud in a non-title match. Hell, 99% of feuds do not end in non-title matches if one of the parties involved is a champion. Even if there is personal rivalry going on, if somebody is champion, you bet your ass the championship is on the line. Especially to end the feud. It's not about hindsight here. Their feud didn't need the belt from the beginning.

You keep making it seem like I'm saying to throw away their feud. No, what I have been saying is that it should have never been for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33. WWE stuck with their longterm plans of having these two square off at WM, cool. I'm okay with that. But take the WWE Championship out of the equation since they didn't even end their feud with it and leave the belt on AJ Styles going into WM33.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Completely disagree, mainly because i view the titles as nothing important. They're just props to help build storylines or get certain guys over.. AJ doesn't ever need a title. He's the most over guy in WWE.. I hope Jinder Mahal gets the title because he can use it. The WWE Title would be wasted with Styles because he doesn't need it.

Then what are people fighting for then? Title are supposed to mean something saying that invalidates Austin's crowning moment, Foley's first title win on RAW, and Benoit and Guerrero embracing in tears. Saying titles aren't important is kind of a slap in the face to these people and many others.

 

[Spencesc11]

Couldn't agree more. Could've been a slow build to Styles vs. Nakamura at next year's Mania. Styles has a Punk type extended reign and then drops the Title to Nakamura next year at the big event.

Cena 2 week Title reign = dumb
Wyatt short title reign then brand swithc = dumb
Orton title reign with defense vs. Mahal = dumb

 

[sMark]

Cena should be 17*times world champ and the bad guy...listen me out:
on RAW they have 2 guys who can make new main event players to look very strong: Brock Lesnar and Undertaker whoever beats them, becomes one of the "untouchable" and a legit main event guy, and whoever wins a feud with this "untouchable one" looks like a main eventer himself.
Example: Reigns defeated Taker at Mania, and, despite all the hate, quickly became The Guy of RAW, then Braun appears and destroys Roman couple of times. suddenly fans creates the hype about him and now expect him or Reigns to defeat Lesnar for the title - now RAW have Lesnar, Reigns, Braun and Taker all on the same level, where 90% of others can't even touch them.

Now, who exactly do Smackdown have on the level of Reigns, Braun, Taker & Lesnar?
Styles? Not really. Orton? Nope. Corbin? Nowhere near. Owens After his loss to Goldberg? No.
You see, both Brock & Taker have this unbeatable aura around them, they are 3 heads above the rest of the roster.

Cena winning the title for the 17*th time will create the same "super"aura around him, because everybody knows what Flair's record is.
Now, after winning it, most fans will hate him even more, and this is known fact, if you want a new strong babyface, you need a strong heel first, who can ever be a stronger heel than 17*time champion John Cena, with HHH's 2000 like attitude and Vince behind him on TV? Nobody. This will play perfectly in his current "New stars are nothing, before they go through me", all the rumors and will reach a new level of hate very quickly...and whoever manage to beat THIS John Cena clean will reach Lesnar's level.

In Ric Flair's words: "to be The Guy, you need to beat The Guy", but you need This Guy first, THEN someone can beat him and become The Guy himself.

Oh, and let it be Styles who lose the title to Cena again...after a low blow into AA.

 

[rko57]

I said in a previous thread that I had started that AJ Styles should still be WWE Champion considering the Orton/Wyatt match being for the WWE Championship at WM33 didn't make any sense at all to have the title involved. I kept getting told that the WWE had a long term plan for that feud, and they stuck with it. Anyways, you can go view my previous thread to look at all of that and my responses to everything.
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=331037

Well, Jinder Mahal just won the WWE Championship, and I believe this now more than ever. The WWE Championship has floundered since AJ Styles lost the title at the Royal Rumble. I have no problem with Jinder Mahal getting a push. But to go from a jobber to WWE Champion in a months time is insane. AJ Styles is the most over guy on Smackdown, possibly in the company overall. But he is in a mid-card feud for the US Title with Kevin Owens instead.

Even if he isn't WWE champion, you have guys like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler who deserve to be WWE Champion more than Jinder Mahal. And even Randy Orton being Champion is fine with me. His feud with Wyatt just should've never became about the WWE Title for Mania, but not even end about the WWE Title. But man, this is just crazy about Mahal...

For those of y'all who weren't with me before, are you with me now?