According to a report from WrestleINC, the WWE World Champion AJ Styles has been taken out from all forthcoming SmackDown live events. Styles will be out of house shows/live events until December the 26th, as on the 26th, Styles is scheduled to defend his WWE World Championship against Dean Ambrose and a returning John Cena in a Triple-Threat Match at Madison Square Garden.
The reason for Styles' removal from all SmackDown live events is because of his injured ankle. Styles injured his ankle at SmackDown's recent PPV TLC, in a TLC match against Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship. Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer informed that Styles' injury was not serious, and WWE was expecting him to recover quickly.
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But, that however, does not seem to be the case as Styles, who was supposed to defend his World Title at the SmackDown Live after TLC against James Ellsworth, came out wearing a leg brace. WWE expected him to be fit for in-ring action for yesterday's SmackDown LIVE against Ellsworth but, the plan got changed.
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On Talking Smack, Styles avoided questions on if he was cleared to compete by replying that he was ready to go.
"Health-wise I'm ready to rock, I was ready to go with Ellsworth tonight and then he got sick, I'm ready to go... listen, I can go.”
In last night's main event on SmackDown LIVE, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and Luke Harper battled each other in a Fatal-4-Way Elimination match for a shot at Styles' Championship at the December 27th edition of SmackDown LIVE. Dolph Ziggler won the opportunity by super kicking Ambrose and pinning him to pick up the win.
John Cena who's been absent from SmackDown LIVE since No Mercy, due to non-WWE shooting schedules will also be making his comeback on the December 27th show. It's still yet unclear what feud Cena will be a part of once he returns.
The video below shows Styles performing a 450 Splash on Dean Ambrose at TLC, which according to Meltzer is the move that got Styles injured:
The video below shows the Fatal-4-Way Elimination match for the No.1 Contender’s spot for Styles’ World Title:
