5 reasons why AJ Styles retained the United States Championship against Cedric Alexander

#5 To keep The O.C. relevant

The O.C. needs something to stay relevant on the Red Brand

The O.C. was formed when AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson decided to rejoin forces and make yet another dominant stable.

The three were very successful right after teaming up, and AJ Styles won the United States Championship quickly while Gallows and Anderson won the RAW Tag Team Championships. While they held three of the top titles of the flagship brand, Styles continued to feud with Universal Champion Seth Rollins, constantly making fans wonder whether the trio will hold all four Championships of the Red Brand together.

However, Gallows and Anderson’s reign as the RAW Tag Team Championships did not last too long, and the duo lost their titles to the unlikely team of Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins.

Since losing the titles, the heel team has been on a losing spree and could not do much in the tag team gauntlet match, nor could they defeat The Viking Raiders last week and this week on RAW. Keeping their fortunes in mind, the heel trio must have at least one Champion among them so that they remain relevant and threatening.

Winning the US Championship and RAW Tag Team Championships immediately and getting in the Universal Championship picture, and then losing it all fairly quickly would have surely dented their overall impact and their image.