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What’s the story?
With the rivalry between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens having reached its conclusion on this week’s episode of Smackdown Live, fans have been wondering which superstar would be next in line to work with AJ Styles over the United States Championship.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that Baron Corbin is scheduled to be the next opponent for the Phenomenal One and this would be the title program heading into the fall.
In case you didn’t know…
Baron Corbin won the Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in June and looked set to become the WWE Champion if and when he decided to cash-in.
However, due to the reported backstage heat, Baron Corbin became the third ever MITB winner who failed to successfully win the championship following a cash-in after he lost his WWE title match against Jinder Mahal on the go-home show for SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, he battled John Cena in a losing effort in an underwhelming bout.
AJ Styles, meanwhile, won the United States Championship for the second time on the July 25th episode of Smackdown Live in a triple threat match involving Owens and Chris Jericho.
Styles faced the former Universal Champion at SummerSlam for the title with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee but was able to retain. Two days later, Owens chose Corbin as the special guest referee for his US title rematch but lost one again when Shane McMahon counted in the pinfall after Corbin left the match.
The heart of the matter
Despite the backstage heat The Lone Wolf has carried over the past few weeks, including altercations with John Cena, there is still hope for him to revive his career. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE has plans to put Corbin in the title program with Styles and hence the reason why Corbin was inserted as the special guest referee on Smackdown Live.
The report also stated that while Corbin and Styles would feud for the rest of 2017, Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens are set to collide, leading to a Team Shane vs Team KO 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view in November.
However, as per our reports, Kevin Owens is set to face off against Shane McMahon at Hell In A Cell in one of the marquee matches.
What’s next?
While the seeds for the feud definitely planted on Smackdown Live this past week, beginning next week we would probably see the official build for Styles-Corbin, which would likely be taking place at the next Smackdown Live exclusive pay-per-view Hell in a Cell in October.
Author’s Take
After the unceremonious burial suffered by Baron Corbin at the hands of the WWE and John Cena over the past few days, a feud with AJ Styles might be exactly what he needs right now to get himself back on track.
As seen in the past, Corbin and Styles do work very well together in the ring and this feud could certainly benefit both Styles and Corbin and keep them engaged for the remainder of the year.
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