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By virtue of defeating Karl Anderson on the latest episode of RAW, Humberto Carrillo has "earned" himself another shot at AJ Styles and the United States Championship. The Mexican star has already faced Styles twice, losing in his second match on RAW. He also fell to the 'Phenomenal One' at Crown Jewel after earning the right to challenge Styles by winning a 20-man Battle Royal.
It's perfectly fine for a newer and fresher Superstar to be challenging for a title. The only problem is that they've already run the match a few times and Carrillo only pinned Styles in a Six-man Match and when did pinning Karl Anderson net someone a shot at Styles?
Carrillo is a talented and exciting star with an extremely bright future. One main complaint with him repeatedly face Styles for the US Championship is that there has been little story or build behind any of it it. AJ Styles challenged Carrillo because he had a good match with Seth Rollins. That's basically it and since then, he's challenged for the United States Championship on three separate occasions. WWE did the same thing with Cedric Alexander, and it quickly stalled any momentum he had built up.
While the former member of 205 Live is a star of the future, there are others who have at least had some storytelling (Kevin Owens, Aleister Black) behind them that should be challenging Styles instead. Here are five reasons why someone other than Carrillo should be challenging AJ Styles for the United States Championship.
#5 They've already had the pairing a few times
As mentioned in the introduction, Styles and Carrillo have faced off twice before. In his second match as a member of RAW, the former 205-Liver faced the current United States Champion and lost. At Crown Jewel last month, Carrillo fell short in a bid to win the title once more.
The two were also on different sides of a Six-man Tag Team Match when Carillo teamed with The Street Profits against The OC. In that match, the RAW rookie picked up the win for his team after pinning the United States Champion. For that reason, and by virtue of pinning Karl Anderson on RAW, he has now received a third such match with Styles.
It's uncertain whether the end game includes Carrillo winning the title, but the same thing was done with Cedric Alexander after SummerSlam. He failed to the win the title and his momentum has stalled since the loss. The two men produce great matches whenever they square off, but doing the same match over and over can sometimes become uninteresting.
#4 He needs help carrying his side of the feud
When he was drafted to RAW, Carrillo was getting his first taste of one of the main-roster shows. He had appeared on NXT and 205 Live, but up until recently, RAW and SmackDown were the two flagship shows. The Yellow and Black brand has risen to challenge them year by year, but 205 Live is still watched much less than RAW or SmackDown.
Carrillo speaks English perfectly, but hasn't had many promos on the bigger shows, so his delivery is a little off. To rectify that issue, he was paired with The Street Profits during the earlier stages of his feud with Styles. The Profits are louder and better at delivering promos whether they are yelling or not. It's perfectly fine that Carrillo needs allies against a three-man squad, but being thrust into a title program so quickly provided the WWE Universe with a glimpse that Carrillo needs work on the speaking part of his game.
Part of the reason why Curtis Axel winning the title years ago worked was because he at least had the story of his father's legacy behind him. Fans remember 'Mr. Perfect' and how underrated he was as a talent in WWF. The fact that he was also trying to win the Intercontinental Championship as part of a tribute to his father gave fans a reason to root for Axel.
When it comes to Carrillo, he's proven to be amazing in the ring. The problem is, other than that, there hasn't been anything to connect him to the fans. He needed more backstory or at least a few vignettes explaining his background and why anyone should get behind him. They did a small amount of that with The OC, but it was received more as heat for The OC picking on the new guy rather than sympathy for the new face.
#3 Carrillo is extremely new to the main roster
In terms of main-roster tenure, Carrillo has the least amount of exposure on either Monday or Friday nights. That's perfectly fine, but stars so new to the roster usually have weeks of build-up matches or vignettes in order to introduce them to the WWE Universe. Aleister Black, despite wrestling on both shows for months, received this treatment following the Superstar Shakeup. He didn't have his first match as a member of the Blue brand until a few months later at Extreme Rules.
Carrillo literally joined RAW last month, yet will have already had a couple shots at a major title. He was drafted ahead of names like Buddy Murphy, Mustafa Ali, Erick Rowan, Samoa Joe, The Miz, King Corbin, Rey Mysterio, and Elias. Perhaps it was done as a shock pick, but all of the stars he was drafted before have had success or at least some crowd exposure in 2019.
Some of those stars are obviously on SmackDown, but the likes of Murphy, Mysterio, Rowan, and Joe are on RAW. Mysterio is busy with Brock Lesnar and Joe is injured. That's understandable, but Buddy Murphy was getting some great crowd reactions when he was involved with the Roman Reigns storyline in late spring and early summer. Rowan is a heel and is busy with his friend in the cage, so that's fine.
The point here is that there was little build or explanation for Carrillo receiving back-to-back-to-back shots at a mid-card title. Other stars who have built up at least a partial resume seem like they'd at least have more of a reason behind getting a shot at Styles.
#2 Other RAW stars like Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, and Rusev are more over than Carillo
I understand that most of the people I'm suggesting in place of Carrillo are busy with other feuds. That wasn't the case, however, immediately following the draft. Aleister Black has had months of sitting in a room looking for a fight. He had sporadic matches throughout the year, but went back to looking for a fight backstage rather than just laying waste to people in the ring. Buddy Murphy appears to be answering Black's challenges, and I'm all in for those two facing off. It's just that either of those two men who have backstories to build on would have been better choices as challengers for Styles.
Rusev is embroiled with a crazy love triangle with Lana and Lashley, which is why he isn't challenging for the title. Like Black and to a lesser degree Murphy, Rusev is still over with the crowd. The audience routinely chants "Rusev Day" any time he is in the ring and despite his cryptic words, Black also elicits a good reaction from the crowd.
Creating a new Rey Mysterio/Latino star is clearly on the agenda, as evidenced by Carrillo's draft status. Mysterio also wished him luck during RAW. One problem with little backstory for the former Cruiserweight, however, is that WWE Creative probably won't get the crowd reaction they want, if he dethrones Styles.
He needs a little more time and seasoning on the bigger shows, so that the audience can truly get behind him. I'm not saying he'll be met with silence if he wins, it's just if this is the first step forward of his star ascending, it might not be as successful as the company hopes.
#1 AJ Styles is still incredibly over with the crowd
Regardless of whether he's the gallant and popular challenger or the arrogant braggart champion, one fact remains about AJ Styles - he's always over with a large portion of the crowd. It's a part of the deal with fans today. They respect workers regardless of alignment and a good deal of fans still cheer the heel due to his or her fantastic in-ring or promo work.
While Styles might be playing the heel champion, it's hard to get the entire crowd to boo him. It's part of the reason why King Corbin is one of the few true heels left in wrestling. All he has to do is show up and a loud chorus of boos follows. No matter how WWE wants us to root for or against Styles, more people are likely to cheer for him due to his amazing ability.
Another overlooked fact is that Carrillo is a face and Styles is a heel, but just because they are on opposite sides, it doesn't necessarily mean that heels equal boos and faces equal cheers in 2019. Just go back to the main event of Hell in a Cell. The crowd's response cannot be controlled in most situations.
When Styles debuted at the 2016 Royal Rumble, it was one of the best moments of the last 20 years in WWE. Since he wasn't going to win, whoever eliminated him had to be carefully planned. Had Roman Reigns eliminated Styles, he would have been wildly booed, but since Owens was playing a dastardly heel at the time and has the respect of a good portion of the audience, his elimination of Styles was planned perfectly.
Just because one wrestler is a heel and the other is a face in the match, it does not necessarily mean that the face will be met with with overwhelming cheers every time they win. Some stars transcend the heel/face dynamic and Styles is one of them. The same goes for Owens. Putting that on Carrillo so soon into his main roster run could damage his long-term potential. If he was more over with the crowd, things might be different.
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