WWE Extreme Rules 2012: Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, and the AJ Effect

Sunday night, in what is sure to be a rabid fan base in suburban Chicago, Illinois, Daniel Bryan will challenge Sheamus for a World Heavyweight Championship he lost at Wrestlemania XXVIII in just eighteen seconds. This time, the match will not end quite as quickly, thanks in large part to the "Best Two-of-Three Falls" stipulation that has been added.

Throughout the course of the last month, Daniel Bryan has been among the most over Superstars on the roster, thanks largely in part to a vocal Wrestlemania weekend audience and the catchy "YES!" chants that have taken over arenas across the country.

Sheamus' title reign, on the other hand, has been a disappointment. The booking at Wrestlemania did nothing to help him in the fans' eyes and the booking since has failed to really put him over as someone special.

The match at Extreme Rules is not as much about individual performers as it is the culmination of a months-long story between the challenger and his on-screen girlfriend, AJ. Since January, Bryan has been the dominant and domineering boyfriend to AJ, often mistreating her in front of the world but facing no repercussions for doing so. AJ has been talked down to repeatedly and warned by many of her friends about Bryan's treatment of her but she continued to stand by him without hesitation.

After the Wrestlemania debacle, Bryan blamed AJ and a seconds-long kiss for his loss and verbally berated her. He broke up with his girlfriend and continued to blast her on WWE TV for the next three weeks.

If the story had ended there, it would have provided entertaining television that tried to make Bryan as hated as he could possibly be. The story would have referred back to the Attitude Era, when there actually were interesting stories for fans to invest themselves in.

But the story did not end there. Instead, it added an interesting wrinkle, a wrinkle that will likely pay a major role in the finish of the World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules.

Spurned by her lover and mentally fragile, AJ cracked and attacked Natalya on the April 20 edition of Smackdown, even bloodying the third-generation Diva. Then, on the April 27, AJ was approached by long-time friend Kaitlyn. Still an emotional wreck, she slapped her NXT co-star but said nothing.

As Sunday's pay-per-view approaches, the biggest mystery surrounding the showdown between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan is not who will win but, rather, what role AJ will have in the finish. Most expect Sheamus to retain his title. Could that mean that, after months of being treated despicably by Bryan, AJ gets her revenge by costing him the title? It would be a fitting pay-off to the angle but how would it really play in front of what is expected to be a pro-Bryan crowd in Chicago?

The more interesting finish would see AJ help Daniel Bryan regain the title. Here is a young woman so distraught over losing her boyfriend that she would do whatever it took to win him back, no matter how much he demeans her. After everything the two of them have been through, AJ securing the title for Bryan would only add to his villainy.

Unfortunately, the latter scenario is unlikely to play out. Smackdown has a heel roster that includes the freshly-returned Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry, and the surging Cody Rhodes, all ready to challenge a baby-faced champion. For that reason alone, as well as a lack of top-level baby-faced contenders, Sheamus will likely retain the World Championship Sunday night.

Regardless of the outcome, the real intrigue still revolves around AJ and how she will involve herself in the title bout. In a day and time where fans openly criticize the WWE creative team for not giving them stories they can sink their proverbial teeth into, that same creative team deserves credit for crafting a story with the legs and interest that the one between Daniel Bryan and AJ has had from the get-go.

Whether that story concludes or continues post-Extreme Rules, we will all have to tune in Sunday night to see the next chapter unfold.