News of AJ Style battling an undisclosed injury has WWE fans holding their breath. Well, we can all take a collective sigh of relief.
After missing a weekend’s worth of WWE Live events and being inactive for this week’s SmackDown, PWInsider reports that Styles will return to action at weekend shows in Trenton, NJ, Fairfax, VA, and Indiana, PA.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Before we shoot off celebratory rockets, it’s worth noting that Styles is competing in 8-man tag matches—a spot that inherently limits his participation. But look at this as a cautionary measure more than a red flag. With Styles’ injury spooking the wrestling world, WWE is smart to make sure the WWE Champion is of optimal health once WrestleMania 34 rolls around on April 8th. With that in mind, don’t expect Styles to wrestle on the final episodes od SmackDown preceding the New Orleans mega show.
When news broke, it seemed that Styles injury was negligible, but a few ambitious reports feed fear that he may actually be dealing with something serious.
Then Triple H turned our caginess into legitimate concern in an interview with a French publication Catch Newz.
“AJ is working diligently on rehabbing his injuries and getting himself in tip-top shape for WrestleMania,” Triple H said. “We are trying to help him with that process of getting the best care and the best rehab and everything else possible. And, you know, we’re hoping for the best. Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and that we’ll be ready to go, and obviously we’ll get his doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get him medical clearance if that’s possible. But he’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
Triple H’s quote lends itself to anxiety, but Styles returning to action this weekend should extinguish any lingering worries. Now, fans can focus on cultivating their excitement for his title defense adjacent Shinsuke Nakamura.
Nakamura and Styles have only wrestled each other once in their careers — a 2016 match at Wrestle Kingdom 10 where Nakamura retained his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against then-Bullet Club leader Styles. It was regarded as one of the finer matches of both of their careers and currently serves as the perfect looking glass into what may be an all-time good match at WrestleMania 34.
