A.J. Styles Boneyard Match Against The Undertaker A WWE Success

SI's Justin Barrasso reviews the most recent WWE Boneyard match

SI's Justin Barrasso reviews WWE's Boneyard match that pitted A.J. Styles against The Undertaker, where A.J. Styles did a stellar job of highlighting The Undertaker.

Video Transcript: 

Madelyn Burke: Recently, A.J. Styles wrestled The Undertaker in a Boneyard match that resembled a fight scene out of a movie and included all the familiar antics of this rivalry. Joining me now is SI's Justin Barrasso and Justin. What was A.J. Styles biggest takeaway from the Boneyard match?

Justin Barrasso: You know, he had a hard time calling it a match because it was more like a moment. But at the same point, too, what else do you call it? It's like even when there's shows on the WWE Network, you still call him pay-per-views because it's just such a habit at this point. I think his biggest takeaway, though, was the way it protected the legacy of The Undertaker. You know, Styles takes so much pride in his in-ring work. And wrestling is so much about the person you work with, right? They've got to make you look like a star. And that would've certainly happened in the match together. But a Boneyard match is so unique. And I think that Styles obviously has a tremendous amount of respect for The Undertaker. He wanted to make sure that that the match meant that those areas exceeded those expectations, that The Undertaker looked like The Undertaker of old and into their credit, they succeeded.

Madelyn Burke: Now, and as good as that moment was, Styles has said he wants there to be a more traditional match and a ring in front of a crowd as a send off can Undertaker a really end in his career on a match like the Boneyard match that we saw.

Justin Barrasso: Good question. It's tough, right? I mean, we've seen him have some some less than stellar moments in the ring recently. But if he puts all his effort into getting ready for next Wrestlemania, there's no guarantee that at 54 he stays healthy - that his body doesn't break down in the training and the preparation for the match. But if he's going to have that match with anybody, A.J. Styles is the right guy. Styles knows out how to work at such a high level and how to make his opponents shine. So if they did a match maybe between five and eight minutes, you wouldn't think it could go ten. Maybe they could surprise us. But even Wrestlemania with John Cena, and that was Wrestlemania 34 there were no positive reviews from that match. It didn't even go three minutes. So I think that if they did something, they'd probably want to go in that six to eight or ten minute mark and really try to go out in style, maybe even try to go above ten, which would be tough. But again, if The Undertaker is going to do with anybody. A.J. Styles is the guy.