What if AJ Styles loses the WWE Championship before Survivor Series?

After Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman to be crowned the new Universal Champion, WWE announced another champion vs. champion match for Survivor Series, pitting Lesnar against WWE Champion, AJ Styles in a reprise of their strong match from Survivor Series 2017.

Based on the talents of the men involved and the precedent they set last November, this should be a perfectly good match. However, we have seen it before, and it’s difficult to imagine WWE putting Styles over Lesnar given the level of dominance the Beast Incarnate has been booked to have and given that Styles has started to feel stale as the champion of his brand.

But what if AJ Styles were to lose the WWE Championship before Survivor Series? If the build to Survivor Series 2017 taught us anything, it’s that the card for these champion vs. champion matches is very much subject to change. Last year, Styles won his title after Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal had been announced, besides the tag team and women’s title matches getting changed up. It’s certainly possible Styles could drop the title, and this article looks at five items that follow in that event.

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5. Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar

Fans finally might see the Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar dream match they wanted years ago

Daniel Bryan isn’t necessarily the most likely candidate to unseat AJ Styles at this point. He not only lost cleanly to Styles on SmackDown but also reportedly refused the trip to Saudia Arabia for Crown Jewel. While all indications are Bryan is well liked in the company and won’t suffer long-term consequences for the decision, it still feels like a stretch for him to win the WWE Championship in these next few weeks.

Nonetheless, if WWE does want to avoid repeating AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar, and does want to book a first-time dream match, there are few better options than Bryan vs. Lesnar. This is a dream match fans were hoping for at WrestleMania 31 and while it may have lost some of its sizzle in Lesnar getting staler and for concerns about Bryan’s health, it would still be an intriguing match to finally see happen.

4. Brock Lesnar vs. The Miz

The Miz vs. Brock Lesnar would be a new pairing

Rumor has it that The Miz is lined up to be AJ Styles’s next major challenger for the WWE Championship. He makes sense for that spot given how heavily featured he has been since returning to SmackDown, besides kayfabe accomplishments like beating Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam and reaching the finals of the World Cup tournament (and never getting defeated in those brackets).

The Miz facing Brock Lesnar doesn’t necessarily come across as the most savoury matchup on paper. WWE could use it as a moment of satisfaction for Miz haters, though, to see Lesnar taking him down a peg by squashing him. Alternatively, staying competitive with the Universal champ, without even winning, could offer The A-Lister a bit of a credibility boost. It’s a worthwhile consideration if Miz is going to carry the WWE Championship into WrestleMania.

3. A Survivor Series Triple Threat

A three-way contest could really change the match's dynamic

One way of avoiding both a repeat of Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles and an unappealing heel vs. heel encounter would be to instead book a Triple Threat.

There would be some inconsistency in keeping Styles in the World Champions’ inter branded match, given last year’s precedent of matchups changing when titles switched hands. WWE could reasonably enough contrive a reason to keep Styles in the mix, though, especially if he lost the title in controversial fashion or at the very last minute. Having Paige and Shane McMahon in place as face authority figures makes this scenario particularly possible.

Styles vs. Miz vs. Lesnar, or perhaps even better Styles vs. Bryan vs. Lesnar could feel fresh. Besides that, all parties involved have proven histories of thriving in three-way matches (see Lesnar vs. John Cena and Seth Rollins from Royal Rumble 2015 or Styles’s Triple Threats from Impact Wrestling with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels).

2. Styles transitions out of the title picture

Getting AJ Styles away from the WWE Championship for a bit could be best for him and the title

AJ Styles may be the single best in-ring performer WWE has under contract today. However, while his matches hold up, between sheer inertia and lukewarm storylines he has grown stale in the role of WWE Champion.

The writing is on the wall that WWE intends to have the title off Styles by WrestleMania season, likely as not for it to be absorbed into the Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz odyssey.

If WWE takes the title off Styles before Survivor Series, he may still get a rematch at TLC or on an episode of SmackDown. The odds are that will be the last he touches the title for a while, though, as WWE moves him into a separate WrestleMania program and likely as not gets him set up to migrate over to Raw post-‘Mania.

1. Styles plays the iron man at the Royal Rumble

AJ Styles could be rightly featured in the men's Royal Rumble match in 2019

AJ Styles had one of the biggest nights of his career at Royal Rumble 2016. He made his WWE debut as a surprise early entrant in the match. Between a polished performance that distinguished him from the middling field, and more importantly drawing a big reaction from the live audience, his WWE career got a big-time start, setting him up for a year that would include headliner feuds with Roman Reigns and John Cena and ultimately reigning as WWE Champion.

The following year, Styles would have a classic title match with Cena and the year after that he successfully defended the strap against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. If the Phenomenal One does step away from the title picture heading into 2019, it may mark his return to the Rumble match itself. Given his talent and conditioning he’d be a prime candidate to go the distance, probably not winning, but nonetheless lasting longer than any other Superstar in the Rumble field.