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WWE Battleground 2017 is almost upon us and it seems like the latest Smackdown Live pay-per-view has flown under the radar a little bit. None of the usual excitement that accompanies a pay per view has been present in the build up to final big WWE show before WWE Summerslam 2017.
While a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that the main event and WWE Championship picture has been lacklustre over the past few months with Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton doing their boring old thing week after week, there is one match which has been garnering a lot of buzz.
AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship. While the match was expected for a while with AJ winning the #1 Contender Battle Royal on an episode of Smackdown Live a few weeks back, things took an unexpected turn when The Phenomenal One beat The Prizefighter on a Madison Square Garden House Show for the belt.
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So, now we have a case of roles being reversed as Styles defends the US Title against KO and we're here to see how this match could end.
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So, without any further ado, here are 5 possible endings for the WWE United States Championship match between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground 2017:
#5 AJ Styles wins dirty
This would be an unexpected end to the match for sure. The thing about AJ Styles is that he is so damn good, there is no way he's going to be booed. Even his heel run through 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 saw him cheered at every arena that he performed at.
Hence it came as little surprise when he was turned face following WWE Wrestlemania 33. But, at the same time, AJ exists in this grey area where he doesn't really behave like a typical babyface. He's still arrogant and cocky and does things his own way.
While he has refrained from using overly dirty tactics to pick up victories, we could see him channel that inner villain in order to get one over on someone as devious as Kevin Owens.
#4 Kevin Owens wins clean
In the same vein as AJ Styles winning dirty, this one would be quite the shock. Kevin Owens winning the match clean. It just doesn't fit with his character or with the dynamic of his rivalry with Styles.
While KO was much like AJ in that he was constantly cheered, he has been able to go full heel mode since his betrayal of Chris Jericho and subsequent winning of the US Championship.
With Owens drawing the kind of heat he does on a weekly basis now, it might not make too much sense to give him a clean victory but it could also be a way to re-establish him as a real threat to the rest of the Smackdown Live roster.
Another reason they might not go down this road is that it stalls Styles' momentum too much to lose clean to Owens.
#3 AJ Styles turns the tables on Kevin Owens
If you cast your mind back to the previous pay per view singles match between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens, we saw KO pick up the victory in a strange manner. He got AJ's foot stuck on the announce table and left him outside to get counted out.
Something similar in this match makes a lot of sense - both to keep the feud running and allow The Phenomenal One to exact a degree of revenge for the humiliating method in which he lost the first encounter against The New Face of America.
Maybe not the exact same spot but something similar enough to feel like payback while still feeling fresh and new in terms of the rivalry. These two still have a few good matches left in them, and if the WWE wants to continue the rivalry, this is a good way to do so.
#2 Kevin Owens wins dirty
Now, we come to the most likely scenario for Kevin Owens walking away from WWE Battleground 2017 as the new WWE United States Champion - by cheating to gain a victory over AJ Styles.
Owens has already proven that he is willing to do whatever it takes in order to pick up the victory, and we might very well see him tap into his dark well of trickery and viciousness in order to regain the belt he lost at a live event.
It would do a lot to generate some nuclear heat on KO, but it has the drawback that the belt is being passed back and forth like it's in the middle of a game of Hot Potato. But, if The New Face of America is going to win, this should be how it goes.
#1 AJ Styles wins; Kevin Owens attacks him after the match
If the odds do prove to be right and AJ Styles wins the match clean, the WWE can protect Kevin Owens by having him take out The Phenomenal One after their match.
It guarantees heat on Owens, keeps the belt on AJ, and gives the WWE the option of continuing the feud if they so want to.
It's certainly plausible and we've seen KO wreck people with that Pop Up Powerbomb on the ring apron time and time again.
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