AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho: Winner and Reaction from WWE Fastlane 2016

After splitting their first two meetings, AJ Styles and Chris Jericho looked to settle the score Sunday night at WWE Fastlane, and it was The Phenomenal One who came out on top in an entertaining matchup.

It was a classic display of two high-flying athletes showing off their entire repertoire with great storytelling.

Jericho dictated the pace of the match for most of the evening. After applying the Walls of Jericho for nearly two minutes, Jericho seemed primed to win after hitting the Codebreaker, but Styles' arm was under the rope.

After finally mounting some offense, Styles hit the Styles Clash on Jericho, but he only got a two-count, which WrestlingInc.com thought was odd:

Styles applied the Calf Crusher for nearly two minutes before Jericho tapped out.

WWE captured this moment after Styles was named the victor:

It was a match that lived up to the billing. The Brock Lesnar Guy Twitter account shared thoughts on this rubber match:

The ending provided a unique situation, where Styles did not tap, while Jericho did. Regardless, Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer thought Jericho did a great job of making the submission look as painful as possible:

Styles made his long-awaited WWE debut as the third entrant in the Royal Rumble, and he had his first career WWE singles match against Y2J the next night on Raw. Styles was victorious, but that was only the beginning of their rivalry.

While Jericho acknowledged Styles' strong performance in their first-ever clash, he called for a rematch on SmackDown and questioned if the former TNA and New Japan IWGP world champion could repeat the feat, according to WWE Universe:

Styles accepted the challenge, but the Fozzy front man seemed to get in his head a bit prior to the rematch by hitting him with a Codebreaker following a match that saw them team together.

Their second encounter was arguably better than the first, but the result was different, as Jericho managed to pick up one of his biggest wins in recent memory.

Although Styles entered WWE with a great deal of hoopla and an extremely impressive resume to his credit, getting the job done for the leader in sports entertainment is an entirely different animal.

Jericho made sure to remind Styles and everyone else of that fact leading up to their rubber match at Fastlane:

Since Styles' WWE debut, the WWE Creative Team has seemingly handled him with care. His mic time has been limited while he grows accustomed to the company, but he has been given several opportunities to shine in the ring, and he has taken full advantage.

Jericho has long been one of WWE's best promo men; another great talker was thrown into the mix as well. The Miz involved himself in the Styles-and-Jericho angle, doing a masterful job of pushing the fans to support the newcomer.

Styles has been presented as a tenacious, pit bull-like competitor who can go with the best of them in the ring despite his diminutive size, and that was on full display once again at Fastlane.

Because of Styles' status as a new member of the roster and Jericho's penchant for putting others over at this juncture in his career, Sunday's match result came as little surprise.

That victory could set the stage for Styles to have a big WrestleMania match, although the exact manner in which he will be utilized is still unclear.

Jericho's potential WrestleMania role is shrouded in mystery as well, which is something that can be said for much of the card.

The rivalry between Jericho and Styles may very well be over now that there is a definitive winner in their series, but if there is still some life in their storyline, then a final battle at WrestleMania isn't out of the question.

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