2-time WWE Champion feared he would miss WrestleMania because of injury
AJ Styles will face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36 in a Boneyard match. Being chosen to face The Undertaker is always special and especially so when it's at WrestleMania. This has to be one of the biggest matches of AJ Styles' career but according to Styles there was a fear that he wouldn't be fit for WrestleMania.
AJ Styles picked up a nasty shoulder injury at the Royal Rumble. The injury happened soon after Edge's return in the men's Royal Rumble match. Styles landed on his shoulder after taking a Spear from Edge and had to call an audible, getting Edge to eliminate him from the match early so that he could get medical attention.
Styles didn't have too much of an impact on the Royal Rumble match because of the untimely injury. He ended the match without a single elimination to his name because of his early elimination.
You can check out the moment the injury occurred below:
Styles recent spoke to Newsweek ahead of his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36. During the interview, Styles addressed his injury and revealed that at one point he thought his separated shoulder could force him to miss WrestleMania. Styles went on to say that he didn't want Vince McMahon to look for another opponent for The Undertaker. Here's what he had to say:
Oh yeah. Shortly after finding out that I separated my shoulder, it was a little before Vince left the Royal Rumble, I told him I'd be fine and I would just take a couple of weeks and I'll be ready to rock. They told me that I'd be ready in four to six weeks, so keep in mind I didn't want [Vince] to think: "Well, I got to find someone else for The Undertaker." I didn't want anything like that to happen.
Styles also added that he was scared that his injury was worse than it turned out to be. He ended up not needing surgery and was back in time for a nice build to WrestleMania:
So it scared me for a minute especially in the ring because I thought I dislocated my shoulder. Not saying that a separated shoulder is a good thing. It sucks too, but it's something I can recover from and not need surgery or anything like that.
The Undertaker and AJ Styles' Boneyard match is one of the most anticipated matches at WrestleMania 36. We don't yet have too many details about the match and will have to wait till the show to find out more.