John Cena vs. AJ Styles: WWE Money in the Bank 2016 Preview and Pick

WWE Money in the Bank 2016 this Sunday offers fans the opportunity to witness many things they've never seen before.

Some of the most dynamic stars on the roster will step into the chaos of the show's marquee ladder match for the first time. The Club will take on the best of the rest in WWE's tag division as it looks to take the tag titles away from The New Day.

But most intriguing of all, a dream match that many thought they would never see transpire will take place when AJ Styles locks horns with John Cena.

This match came about thanks to a clever piece of booking from WWE Creative. The angle that saw Styles turn heel and align himself with The Club again came earlier than many people expected, but it has led us to this point and this exciting match.

Money in the Bank has traditionally been a show that has shown us Cena's best hand. He defeated Kevin Owens last year, and he bested seven other men in the MITB ladder match to claim the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2014, but it is the 2011 show with which we can draw the most parallels for this year's event.

That night, Cena squared off against a fan favorite who was working as a heel—CM Punk. The two produced one of the best matches of their era that night, with Punk taking home the WWE Championship.

There is no title on the line this time, but can Styles' high tempo inside the ring once again bring the best out of Cena? Cena's wrestling ability is often much-maligned, but when it comes to fighting guys with strong ability, he often rises to the occasion.

The go-home edition of Raw featured the traditional contract signing—but with a neat twist. Cena gave his foe the option of signing two contracts. One ensured The Club would be banned from ringside, with the other allowing Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to accompany Styles to the ring.

With the angle for this feud working around Cena's insistence Styles can't beat him fairly, it's no surprise Styles opted to ban The Club from getting involved in the match. However, that doesn't necessarily mean WWE and both men will stick to the script.

Although WWE is billing it as a WrestleMania-worthy match, it's hard to see why. Sure, both men have star power on their sides, but WrestleMania feuds always end in one place: WrestleMania itself.

With a brand split on the horizon and the prospect of SummerSlam a couple of months away, it seems almost impossible that WWE will end this rivalry after just one match. It would give it more appeal if that was the case—as it may be the only time these two greats of the business face off—but the temptation to go around again will be too much for WWE to resist.

That leads us into the prediction. If this rivalry rolls all the way to SummerSlam, both men will score one win each—here and at Battleground—before setting up the rubber match in August.

But who is best equipped to win here—for both the good of each man and the storyline itself? The smart option here is Styles. WWE has played heavily on the fact that Styles can't beat Cena without the aid of The Club, so what makes sense here is both men fighting until The Club threatens to get involved.

Cena can be distracted by that, and at the close of an epic battle, Styles can put him away and insist he got the job done fairly.

Cena, on the other hand, will claim The Club shouldn't have even showed up at any point, setting up the second match at Battleground. He will win that, and we'll go to a decider at SummerSlam.

Credit must be paid to both men, as they've made a compelling first segment into a fascinating rivalry, all with little in-ring action. Both Cena and Styles have delivered thus far—here's hoping the match itself does the same.