After weeks of heckling, Styles finally snapped on the United States champion following another loss to Ricochet, this time with the title on the line. In a moment in time that was reminiscent of Styles' brutal assault on John Cena in 2016, Styles made an example of his foe.With the two rivals on a collision course for next Sunday's WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, this bitter rivalry has plenty of gasoline to set the summer of 2019 on fire.
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| Credit: Online World of Wrestling |
In 2016, Styles made his shocking debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Astonishingly only a few short months later, he was challenging Roman Reigns back-to-back for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Although he was unsuccessful in his attempts at the gold, Styles quickly transitioned into a dream feud. On May 30, 2016 edition of Raw, John Cena made his long-awaited return from injury and proclaimed that the future of WWE "must damn sure go straight through him".
Styles appeared and the WWE Universe went nuts. Both superstars had competed inside the squared circle for over a decade, however, Styles took the diverse path to WWE, making his name for himself on the independent scene and spending two incredible years in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
As Style's Bullet Club buddies marched down to the ramp, it appeared we would witness Styles and Cena join forces to take on Gallows and Anderson. It was all an elaborate hoax and The Club decimated Mr. Hustle, Loyalty and Respect.
The summer of 2016 morphed into The Club vs. Cena with Styles besting him. From there, Styles was drafted to SmackDown Live and won the WWE Championship in his first pay-per-view on the blue brand.
On last week's Raw, during a backstage segment, Gallows and Anderson confronted the United States champion, Ricochet. Of course, Ricochet was expressing his respect for Styles, while confidently stating that he could beat him again. Styles' buddies then found their "club brother" and twisted the champ's words, which enraged Styles. He then confronted Ricochet and said, "I'm taking that from you tonight" and slapped him straight in the face!
Once the bout got underway, we witnessed a hungrier and more aggressive challenger. Styles appeared to have everything under control as he delivered the Phenomenal Forearm, but the clever Ricochet got his foot under the rope to break up the pinfall. Ricochet and Styles delivered a good back and forth contest, but The One and Only utilized a unique pinning sequence to best Styles and pick up the victory to retain his championship.
Gallows and Anderson climbed on the ring apron and talked to their buddy. We could not read make out everything Styles said, but he did utter "this is the AJ Styles you wanted? Well, you got him." Styles then turned around and cleaned the champs clock with a stiff right hand. All three members gave Ricochet a beatdown, followed by a Magic Killer and a thunderous Styles Clash from the top turnbuckle.
With Extreme Rules only days away, expect Styles and Ricochet to have a highly-intense championship bout at the pay-per-view.
Everyone's focus is firmly placed on the Universal and WWE Championship, but we now have a red hot midcard title feud that will outshine any other contest on any given night. The United States Championship has been positioned in the main event of Raw over the past few weeks, and based on the quality of the Styles/Cena matches and Styles/Ricochet from what we've seen so far, these two are the perfect opponents to bring prestige back to the United States Championship!
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