WWE WrestleMania 33: Shane McMahon gives AJ Styles his match (Video)

Despite being fired earlier in the night, AJ Styles will get his WWE WrestleMania 33 match as Shane McMahon seeks retribution after being attacked

WWE SmackDown opened on March 14 with AJ Styles coming to the ring, fuming at his situation. After thinking he’d earned the right to face Bray Wyatt for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 33, he had it taken away from him. At the start of the show, he was left without a match on the card in Orlando for the biggest annual event in wrestling. Everything would change throughout, however.

The first wheel to be set in motion on Tuesday night came by way of Styles. While SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon was walking backstage, The Phenomenal One jumped him. The ensuing beating was absolutely brutal. Shane was sent flying into walls, coolers and everything between. However, he was left a bloodied mess when Styles sent his head through a car window. As a result of his actions, general manager Daniel Bryan fired him.

That still wasn’t the end, though. McMahon refused to go to a local medical facility for his injuries. Instead, he made his way out to the entrance ramp at the very end of the show. His message was succinct and clear. AJ Styles wanted a match at WrestleMania 33, and he got one:

This match has been rumored for some time now, but the question was how WWE would manage to build a feud before WrestleMania 33. After Tuesday night (with seeds being planted one week earlier, admittedly), it’s now abundantly clear how so.

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Now the real question becomes what’s going to happen in Orlando with AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon on the card. On one hand, Styles is among the best wrestlers in the world right now. Then you have Shane, a guy with one match under his belt in several years. What they’re going to do working together and how good it’ll be can’t be deemed anything more than to be determined at this point.