On the surface, common sense prevailed at Money in the Bank when AJ Styles defeated John Cena. Problem was, WWE booked it so that Styles, a former IWGP & NWA champion, was made to look weak at the worst possible time, needing help from his Club-mates, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, after an unnecessary ref bump, to get the best of Cena.
That is NOT how it should've gone down. Did the right guy win? Yes, but let's remember that last year at Elimination Chamber, Kevin Owens defeated Cena, clean as a whistle. Unfortunately for Owens, Cena eventually won the rematch. Owens has done just fine, thanks, since then, and maybe, just maybe, Styles will come out of this with some shine, too, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it.
See, Styles' resume not only has New Japan Pro Wrestling and TNA, but also Ring of Honor and, ahem, WCW.
Get the picture now, kids? Styles was with WCW at the end of its run in 2000-1, but didn't jump to WWE right away after the McMahons bought out WCW in March 2001. Since he has those three little letters on his resume, is it any wonder that Vince made him look like a cheap thug? Even though Styles' time with WCW has been downplayed, or ignored, there is still that stigma that has McMahon convinced that Styles is not in Cena's class. Thus, the Club, to McMahon, is meant to be just another faction of guys to be fed to Cena in the end, just like the Wyatt Family.
Styles might want to talk to fellow WCW alumni like referee Charles Robinson, Ric Flair, Booker T, or even agent-producers Arn Anderson & Dean Malenko, and ask them why McMahon has such a vindictive, unrelenting hatred for WCW, even though he won the Monday Night Wars. Shoot, I'd throw Teddy Long, Paul Ellering (now in NXT), and John Laurinaitis into the discussion. Styles might not have referenced WCW in his interview with Steve Austin on Monday, but you have to believe Vince saw that on his resume, and, well, you know how that's going to play out.
That is, unless someone steps in to stop it.
Someone should tell Vince that it's time to let go of the past. Someone should've told him that a lot sooner, but it's hard to reason with a madman, as I've stated here repeatedly. A match of the year candidate was ruined by unnecessary overbooking, and the only way to fix it is to take McMahon out of the picture. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen just yet. McMahon will stick with his tried, tired, but true formula with Cena, and it will hurt both Cena and The Club in the long term.
Everyone knows when you ride a horse too long, it gets worn out and has to be put down. In this case, the horse (Cena) isn't the problem. It's the owner. The next time AJ Styles stops in at the office, he should look for something that isn't in Vince's office that the insane chairman should use. And before that happens, he should consult people like Sting and Shawn Michaels about it.
Yeah, you know what I mean. Vince could use a Biblical intervention. Like, yesterday.
