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What’s the story?
The 2017 SummerSlam poster doesn’t feature the United State Champion AJ Styles and fans have been asking what the champion thought of this.
However, Styles doesn’t seem too concerned with the lack of advertisement.
In case you didn’t know...
This issue with Styles not being in the front of promotional posters has only been a recent problem.
The issue seemingly began back at the 2017 Royal Rumble where AJ Styles, who was WWE Champion at the time, was placed in the back, next to Rumble entrants, while non-champions like John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and The Undertaker were at the forefront.
Styles was placed in the back of the WrestleMania 33 poster as well, while Goldberg, Lesnar, The Undertaker, Cena, and other WWE-made stars took centre stage.
The heart of the matter
Styles' response to the fans question sounded like something he had come to terms with in regards to how the company advertises.
Jinder Mahal, Lesnar, Naomi, and Alexa Bliss are all champions so it makes sense for them and their opponents to be on the poster. However, many fans would argue that the United States and Intercontinental Championships are the more important than the Women’s Championships.
On the other hand, some fans feel that the Women’s titles and the mid-card titles are relatively interchangeable and one being featured in place of another isn’t a big issue.
What’s next?
Tune in to SmackDown this week to see Styles fight Kevin Owens for the United States Championship.
The United States Championship picture has been the most unpredictable aspect of WWE programming, so there’s no telling who will emerge with the title.
Author’s take
Styles is one of the company’s biggest stars and his feud with Owens has captured the fans attention, but the fact remains that he is not the WWE Champion nor is he involved in a big match, so it’s not that big of a deal.
It may have been problematic for the Royal Rumble poster, but not so much with this one.
