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Backstage News on the Awkward Finish to AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground
As previously noted, WWE changed the plans for the outcome of AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens at the Battleground event. Styles was originally planned to retain the title prior to the show, however they made a last minute change to the match and Owens ended up capturing the title.
Dave Meltzer provided an update on the awkward finish to the match and confirmed that the change was actually made late into the match right before the referee bumped. The people that needed to know the finish were told that AJ Styles was winning and there was some commotion backstage when the finish went down.
Who’s Idea Was For AJ Styles to Win the US Title at Madison Square Garden?
While appearing on Edge & Christian’s podcast, AJ Styles revealed that it was actually Vince McMahon’s idea for Kevin Owens to drop the United States Championship title to him at the Madison Square Garden event a few weeks back.
“To me, it’s smart. It’s something that hasn’t been done in a long time and to do it at Madison Square Garden and everybody with WWE knows that’s a big deal. I think it was awesome. I think it was very clever and I loved it.”
Styles recalled, “there was a pop, ‘he won! Yes!’ but, ‘well, who’s going to walk out there?’ and then, there was another pop because nobody walked out there. It was really cool, but it was smart to not do that every year, but every couple of years to do something like that. I think it just came down to doing something different and it was Vince’s call and no one else’s. And yeah, it was great.”
Styles went on to explain how he wouldn’t be surprised to see the WWE Championship change hands at a SmackDown Live live event.
“You never know. And who knows? When the guys wrestling, whoever it may be wrestling Jinder Mahal, they may switch it. If you’ve got John Cena working Jinder Mahal on the main event or whatever, it could possibly happen. That’s a good idea. That’s a business move to some extent.”
AJ Styles Reacts to Taking Back the WWE United States Title
As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, AJ Styles participated and won a Fatal 3-Way match for the United States Championship against Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. WWE posted a Fallout video where Styles talks to Renee Young about his win.
In the video, Styles says he just proved that Owens isn’t the man to carry the US Title, which he’s been telling people. AJ would go on to mention that the title represents the workhorse of WWE and that is AJ Styles.
Styles also posted the following on Twitter regarding the victory:
Title Match Set for Next Week’s SmackDown Live
As seen on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live, AJ Styles pinned Chris Jericho in a Fatal 3-Way for US Championship to capture the title. Kevin Owens announced after the match that he wants his rematch for the Title on next week’s show.
Also confirmed for next week’s show is John Cena facing Nakamura for a shot at the WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam.
The Ross Report Recap w/ Bruce Mitchell – Battleground Analysis, Fatal 4-Way Sure to Deliver, Are There Too Many PPVs? More!
Ross says that while this past Sunday’s Battleground PPV has been widely criticized by fans and critics alike, he doesn’t believe any of that should be placed at the feet of the talent who he thought worked very hard on Sunday night. He believes we’re living in a society where the glass is always half empty, when in reality it could be half full as well.
He says that sometimes WWE has the tendency to book themselves into a corner, and that might have been the case this past Sunday. With a Flag Match and a Punjabi Prison match, WWE removed the drama of false finishes and this might have been a negative to the show’s overall presentation.
He thought Kevin Owens and A.J. Styles had a very good match, but there was an intangible missing and that prevented it from being great. He says that if he was booking a territory today two of the first individuals he’d want to sign are Owens and Styles. Ross also thought Cena & Rusev worked hard in their match despite the live crowd being somewhat uninterested.
Ross thought all the women worked hard in their match as well and while Natalya winning was a surprise, Ross thinks this was a great booking decision by WWE. Charlotte is obviously the alpha female in WWE right now but she needs opponents, so Ross thinks it’s only a matter of time before this Natalya win results in a positive situation for Charlotte.
Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Battleground Analysis, Corbin’s Sloppiness, WWE Dropping the Ball with Rusev, More!
Russo is joined on today’s show by Skull Von Crush (Big Vito), his old co-host from Vicious Vincent’s World of Wrestling in the early 90’s. They will discuss Sunday’s Battleground PPV.
Russo says that without entertaining characters and in depth storylines, these shows are just full ok fake fights. That’s not what made him a fan of wrestling many years ago, and he believes that’s a big reason why so many mainstream fans have left the product over the last several years.
He thought the opening match of the show between The Usos and The New Day was a very exciting match and all the guys worked hard, but they started the show at such a high octane pace, that it almost made it impossible to follow. He also says the one superkick that was delivered to Xavier Woods from across the ring looked incredible and it looked like it should have legitimately killed him. Having him kick out of a spot like that doesn’t do anything good for the business.
Vito says that he agrees entirely and he felt that this match negatively affected the matches that followed. He thought the match between A.J. Styles and Kevin Owens was the worst match he’s ever seen Styles work, and that should never be the case because Owens is a good worker as well. The finish of this match was so anti-climatic after all the false finishes we saw in the opening match of the show.