Opinion
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: You Won’t Ever Be Happy, Will Ya?
On January 24, 2016, the unthinkable happened. Roman Reigns entered the Royal Rumble at number one, followed by Rusev at number two. Roman would dispatch of the Bulgarian Brute before his 90 seconds elapsed–and this was a Rusev who was about to get his only WrestleMania win. When the clock struck zero, many (including me) assumed another victim was headed to the ring. Instead it was AJ Styles.
At the time, the response was “yes, THAT AJ STYLES.” The cornerstone of TNA from the day they opened their doors, and the man who replaced Prince Devitt/Finn Balor as the leader of Bullet Club in New Japan and Ring of Honor. AJ debuted at number three in the 2016 WWE Royal Rumble, one of the most shocking moments in a year that included the return of Shane McMahon, the return of the brand split, Kevin Owens winning the Universal Championship, and the in-ring return of Goldberg.
AJ Styles would stay in that Royal Rumble for a hair under 29 minutes, would main event his second ever pay-per-view against Roman Reigns at Fastlane, and would make his WrestleMania debut against Chris Jericho in front of over 100,000 fans.
That’s AJ Styles’ only Royal Rumble to date, because he’s been WWE Champion for the other two. In fact, AJ Styles has been in WWE for 767 days as of March 1, 2018. He is a four-time champion (two WWE Championships and two United States Championships). As of this writing (March 1), he has held the WWE Championship for 253 of his 767 days in WWE.
That’s 33% of his time in WWE. For a third of AJ Styles’ time in WWE, he has been WWE Champion! He’s also spent 91 days as United States Champion, bringing his total time in WWE as a champion to 344 days. This represents 44.9% of this time in WWE.
AJ Styles is 40 days shy of spending half of his time in WWE so far as a champion. Yet people complain. I mean it sucks, right, because he’s “stuck” in a storyline with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. John Cena, one of the four biggest stars in company history, has wins over AJ Styles. So that has to be terrible, right?
Shinsuke Nakamura made his WWE debut in NXT on April 1, 2016, defeating Sami Zayn at Takeover: Dallas. He is a two time NXT Champion, won the 2018 Royal Rumble by eliminating John Cena and Roman Reigns, and has already challenged for the WWE Championship more than once, including at the second biggest show of the year in SummerSlam.
But that sucks, right, because it was against Jinder Mahal?

When AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura pushed a ladder aside at the 2017 Money In The Bank pay-per-view, the internet orgasm was impossible to contain. The immediate thought was a desire to see these two men square off at wrestling’s grandest stage: WrestleMania.
AJ Styles would go on to defeat Jinder Mahal to regain the WWE Championship (as I predicted), and Shinsuke Nakamura would win the Royal Rumble and the right to challenge Styles in front of over 70,000 people at the Superdome in New Orleans.
I mean, that’s like three WrestleKingdoms!
But it sucks, right? I mean it isn’t really a “feud,” it’s just a match. Now it has to be a feud, because we want more. And here’s what you’re going to say after the match takes place: “It was good, but it wasn’t as good as it was in the Tokyo Dome.” Oh, and it didn’t go on last, so it sucked.
And if you think the WrestleMania 34 match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura is going to disappoint, you’re right. Also, if you the WrestleMania 34 match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura is going to be amazing, you’re right.
You control your own fandom, and as with most things in life, you are as happy as you decide to be.
And if you don’t like that statement, you’ve done it to yourselves.
And now you’re mad at me. Your fault, too.
The fact is, Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles can never make everyone happy. The expectation level is too high. Shinsuke Nakamura came to WWE to take it easy. He’s making money by using four moves and putting hands over his crotch and yelling “C’MOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!” to his opponents. You blame WWE, because it can’t possibly be Shinsuke’s fault!
AJ Styles, on the other hand. Has worked his ass off for years, including his WWE run. He appears to be ageless, and has been a stable and consistent part of the roster since the day he showed up. Upon his debut, it already felt like he’d been thre for a while. 767 days in, it’s hard to imagine a WWE without AJ Styles.
Now I am hearing complaints that AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura should be the greatest feud of the year, but is being wasted. Mind you, we still have over five weeks until WrestleMania, and Fastlane is in 10 days. When that show is over, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura will still have four weeks to build their WrestleMania match.
The one in front of 70,000+ fans. In a giant stadium. With a giant stage. Under a billion lights. And Nakamura is probably going to win.
But that won’t matter, because you won’t like one spot, or one no-sell. It won’t be perfect because it can’t be perfect–you’ve already decided it wasn’t and we are still over 5 weeks away.
Whose fault is that? Not mine, and not WWE’s. It’s yours, because you are being given the match you want on the stage you want, and you’re not happy. Because you’ll never be happy, until you choose to be.
I realize that many of you reading this are excited about the match, and will enjoy it. You will be happy, because wrestling is your happy place. I salute you, friend, because despite being a card carrying member of the Internet Wrestling Community (I mean, you were reading The Chairshot before it got big!), you still enjoy wrestling.
Welcome, friend. Let’s enjoy wrestling…together.
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
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SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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