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#2. The wrong guys were victorious in the end
WWE's plans of making Styles have a long run with the belt definitely resulted in the killing of momentum of a lot of guys. As is inevitable, WWE had to make sure that Styles came out as the victor even though losing the match could kill the momentum of his opponent.
The first example is Jinder Mahal. Although the Jinder experiment couldn't possibly have succeeded, but since losing his championship to AJ Styles, Mahal has been reduced to a jobber. Although he did win the US Championship at Wrestlemania, he immediately lost it the next week.
The second example is Shinsuke Nakamura. Many people had predicted that Nakamura will finally win the WWE Championship from Styles at Wrestlemania. But, he lost that match. After a couple of no-finishes, he concluded his rivalry with Styles by losing to him at MITB. Although one can argue that being the US Champion is not a bad end-result, but look at his treatment as the champ. He barely even appears on SDLive and rarely defends the belt on PPVs.
The third example is Rusev. Although WWE waited too long to capitalize on his momentum, a title win would have rejuvenated his career. Since his loss to Styles, he has not even come close to win the mid-card belts and is now effectively a jobber.
The fourth and final example is Samoa Joe. After being revealed as Styles' competitor for Summerslam, Joe has just went down a downward trajectory. He lost to Styles at Hell in a Cell, Super Showdown and Crown Jewel, ultimately killing off any momentum he had. WWE even buried him at Survivor Series by eliminating him from the match in just a few minutes. Had he won the championship at some point, his fate would definitely have been better.
