WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
In one of two world title WrestleMania rematches, the WWE Championship is on the line as AJ Styles once again battles Shinsuke Nakamura. But this isn’t a babyface vs. babyface matchup this time around. After taking the loss in a fantastic match in New Orleans a few weeks ago, Nakamura went full heel and took out Styles with a low blow following the match and then literally continued to kick the champ while he was down. Ever since the betrayal, Nakamura has been giving AJ low blows like they’re going out of … wait for it … style(s). Wordplay is fun, isn’t it? Too much? Okay, moving on.
Seeing as how Shinsuke wasn’t the WWE Champion and lost, there’s really no reason for him to be getting a rematch here, but when has that ever stopped creative before? With this being a major event, I like the call here. The rivalry has turned from respectful to fierce, and I suppose they could just say that Styles wanted to get his hands on Nakamura again, especially after he interrupted a match between Styles and Daniel Bryan (the real battle between those two is coming down the line and it’s going to be amazing). There, we’ll go with that. You’re never going to hear me complain about watching AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in the ring together.
Prediction: This is a tough call to make, but I actually have to go with Shinsuke Nakamura with the dirty win here. They’ve been playing this new side of him up so much in the last few weeks, and with Backlash right around the corner, I think this is the way to go. Let them go 20 minutes in yet another epic encounter and then do the ref bump or ref being turned, and have Shinsuke hit yet another low blow followed by the Kinshasa for the victory. That sets up the rubber match in the main event next Sunday.