John Cena and AJ Styles put on another incredible match at the Royal Rumble, with the added drama of Cena going for Ric Flair’s WWE title record. After a tightly contested battle, Cena eventually came out on top, winning the 16th world championship of his career and ending Styles’s reign.
There was only a short feeling-out process as Cena dropped Styles with a clothesline and started beating on him in the corner. Styles recovered and took over the next stretch of the match.
Cena came back and launched Styles through the air with a massive back body drop. Styles then hit a smooth hurricanrana, but Cena put him back on the mat. He teased the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Styles came back with a facebuster. Cena then turned Styles inside out with another stiff clothesline and hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle.
Styles got put on the top rope by Cena, who laid in some strikes and climbed to the top himself. Styles slipped out and got Cena on his shoulders for a spinning powerbomb.
Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena caught him and hit the Attitude Adjustment, which wasn’t enough to put Styles away. Yet another brutal clothesline got a two-count for Cena, who tried one more but got hit with a Pele kick. Styles then hit the Phenomenal Forearm, which Cena kicked out of.
After some more back-and-forth action, Cena lifted up Styles into an electric chair position, which he turned into a facebuster. The men continued to trade stiff strikes and Cena tried another AA, which Styles countered into the Calf Crusher. Cena powered out and locked in his STF hold. A long struggle followed, before Styles escaped and stole Cena’s move with an STF of his own.
Cena lifted him back up and tried the AA once again, which Styles escaped. Then Cena slapped on the Figure Four, a callback to Flair, the man whose title record he was trying to tie. Styles reversed it into an armbar, and Cena once again showed off his power, lifting up Styles and slamming him to the mat to break the hold.
Cena went up top and tried a leg drop, but Styles blocked it and hit the Styles Clash, which got a two-count. Styles went for a springboard 450, which Cena blocked with the knees. Then Cena hit a Code Red for two.
At this point, both men were throwing their best shots. Cena catapulted Styles into the corner and hit a cutter for two, and then hit his most devastating move: The AA off the top rope. Styles miraculously kicked out right before the referee counted three, bringing the crowd to a frenzy. AJ hit another Styles Clash, but was unable to make the pin attempt. He went for another Phenomenal Attempt, only for Cena to catch him and hit two AAs in a row. The third AA of the match was finally enough to put away Styles and make history for Cena.