Eyes On WWE: 5 Great AJ Styles Matches In 2017

By @TrueGodImmortal

Simply put, I think AJ Styles is the best wrestler in the game today. I could put Okada, Omega, and some other names at the top of the list, but if I had to make one choice, it would be AJ. So far this year, he's definitely been the best wrestler in the WWE and today we wanted to take a look at 5 of his best matches this year. Let's get into it.

*John Cena vs AJ Styles
Royal Rumble 2017

-When we look back at the shows this year, one show that is still confusing to me is the Royal Rumble. I would say this match is a true match of the year candidate, as it was just as good as the Summerslam 2016 classic between these two, but honestly, my only knock against this match is the fact that we see far too many finishers here, but honestly, outside of that, it's a great match. I've said time and time again that the best wrestlers bring out the best in John Cena and this was no different. I hated seeing Cena win unnecessarily just to get his 16th title run, but all in all, this match was great to watch and a great culmination to what I feel is one of the best rivalries of the last year or so in AJ vs Cena.

*AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon
Wrestlemania 33

-I was pleasantly surprised by this match, I'll be honest. I didn't expect this match to end up being as good as it turned out and I'm glad that it exceeded my expectations. The action in this one is truly amazing, as AJ literally carried Shane to what might be his best overall match in his career from a wrestling standpoint. AJ ends up winning as he should, but Shane actually  was up to the challenge and gave AJ all he could handle. AJ and Shame went about 20 minutes and stole the show and had what I consider to be the best match at Wrestlemania 33.

*AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho
Smackdown 

-This match was the best match of the feud between Owens and AJ, and funny enough, it featured a third element in Jericho. Jericho showed up as a surprise, and was instantly placed into the match. This was to make it so Owens didn't take the pin in the match so the feud can continue and also add a much needed extra element for a match. Jericho was an excellent addition, as these three men let their chemistry shine, and AJ walks away with the big victory and retains his US Title.

*Finn Balor vs AJ Styles
TLC 2017

-When we look back at this match, I think we'll remember that the WWE had an opportunity to make this even more special and give it at least 22 minutes, but they only gave them 17-18 minutes and AJ and Balor delivered a near classic match. This dream match finally came to life randomly and due to a big health issue to Bray Wyatt, we got a match that will be discussed in many WWE match of the year conversations I'm sure. Balor and AJ took each other to the limit and with little prep time for the match and not much of a build to it, they stole the show and had match of the night with relative ease. Balor won the match, but AJ put on an amazing performance as well, making this a win for the fans more than anyone else.

*Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles
Survivor Series 2017

-His most recent big time match and yet another dream match for many. Let's think about it. Brock hasn't faced many people we wanted to see him face over his 5 years back in the WWE, as only CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and now AJ Styles stick out as names that really intrigued us for matches at times. AJ vs Brock could have went one of two ways, and I'm glad it went the way I wanted it to. I personally would have preferred to see AJ win this match, but of course, WWE wasn't going to let that happen. Still, what we get is something special, as we see Brock taken to the limit by AJ in a very competitive match that exceeds the usual time limit for a Brock match (a one on one match at least).  There was a lot of offense by AJ throughout and Brock barely won this match which made it even better. Brock and AJ didn't have a classic, but they did have Brock's best one on one match since Summerslam 2013 against Punk, which says a lot about the level of work that AJ put in.

-True