What if AJ Styles turns heel on Raw?
The Superstar Shake-up saw some major moves for the WWE main roster, not least of which included AJ Styles making his move to Monday Night Raw. Styles has in many ways been the definitive anchor of SmackDown since the onset of the current brand split, and thus it is a big deal for him to face a new slate of opponents and a change of creative scenery.
It’s also worth mentioning that, along with the Phenomenal One’s move, Roman Reigns departed Raw for the blue brand. While it’s not an exact one-for-one trade, pundits are, reasonably enough, seeing these two trading places the core swap of this year’s reorganization.
What will the change of scenery mean for Styles? And perhaps most importantly, might it mean a heel turn? This article looks at five possibilities that WWE fans may be able to look forward to, largely for better, though in some cases arguably for worse.
#5 AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins
While AJ Styles has quite arguably been the most stable top tier star representing SmackDown Live during the current brand split era, Seth Rollins is on the very short list of top stars holding it down for Raw in the same time frame. Only Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns—who is now off for SmackDown—can claim a comparable record of longevity, big pushes, and main event on Raw status to The Beast Slayer over the last three years.
AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins is, therefore, a dream match waiting to happen between two exceptionally talented in-ring performers, each of whom WWE has pushed at high levels. WWE teased a program by having the two share ring space upon Styles' debut, teaming up with Rollins and Reigns in the main event of last Monday’s Raw. It feels like only a matter of time before Styles is knocking on the Universal Champion’s door.
Rollins still feels a bit played out as a heel, besides which he has a lot of fan support after beating Lesnar. Styles, however, has been working as a face for the past two years and could use a change in persona. That’s not to mention that his first heel run in WWE from 2016 into 2017 proved him to be quite good in that capacity.