11 months ago at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, AJ Styles made his first appearance at the Showcase of the Immortals and lost to Chris Jericho early on the card. One year later at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, he'll be wrestling in the main event with the WWE World Championship on the line - in what might be a triple threat match.
Styles, who was unquestionably the MVP of SmackDown in 2016 and likely had the best rookie year in WWE history, earned his title shot against Bray Wyatt by defeating former Wyatt family member Luke Harper.
Harper and Styles fought to a controversial draw last week in a Battle Royale which was intended to determine Wyatt's opponent, resulting in a one-on-one match Tuesday.
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Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm on Harper, and the referee counted to three and called for the bell despite the fact that Harper put his foot on the rope in time for a rope break. SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon quickly ordered the match to be restarted, and was inadvertently hit by a Harper superkick that was meant for Styles.
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Styles capitalized on the miscue, shoving Harper into the ring post and hitting a springboard 450 splash off to book his spot at WrestleMania.
Although we expected Harper to win (and set up a triple threat with Orton), there is no man more deserving of a main event spot at WrestleMania than Styles.
In a surprising twist at the end of the show, however, Randy Orton turned on Bray Wyatt and announced that he's coming for Wyatt's title at WrestleMania - which could turn the bout into a triple threat match.
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/836773307626053632
