John Cena beats AJ Styles in an all-time classic at the Royal Rumble

By Nick Schwartz
Published

AJ Styles and John Cena delivered the best WWE match of 2016 at SummerSlam, and at the Royal Rumble Saturday, the pair didn't just raise the bar - they put on one of the best matches in WWE history.

In a show-stealing epic, John Cena became a 16-time World Champion to match Ric Flair's record. Cena - often criticized, especially by Styles, for being a subpar wrestler - matched Styles submission for submission, move for move, finisher for finisher for more than 20 minutes.

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There were too many close kickouts to list, and half a dozen moments where it seemed like the match had been won. Cena hit a Super-Attitude Adjustment off the turnbuckle that Styles somehow kicked out of, and Cena survived multiple Styles Clashes.

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Styles tried to put away Cena with a Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena rushed to the rope and caught Styles in an Attitude Adjustment. Cena then flipped over Styles and quickly lifted him into another Attitude Adjustment before pinning him to become the new WWE World Champion.

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In a move that illustrates what type of person Cena is, he immediately left the ring and jumped into the crowd to celebrate the moment with a Make-A-Wish child.
















 

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