What’s the story?
It isn’t often that we have to wait half a week to see footage of a WWE title changing hands. Then again, it’s not often that such a title change takes place at an untelevised house show. Still, that’s exactly what happened this past week, and WWE’s YouTube channel has finally released footage of the title change in question.
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In case you didn’t know…
Or rather, in case you’ve been living under a rock this past week, AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens to win the US Title at a Madison Square Garden house show this past Friday night. Not only that, but this was technically a Raw-branded house show, making the appearance of two SmackDown wrestlers—not to mention a major title change—all the more surprising.
Going in depth
Perhaps the biggest question to answer here is why exactly the company felt the need to spring this title change out of the blue, rather than saving it for a bigger stage. Many have wondered whether the sudden change was made off the back of an injury to Owens, as he was allegedly hurt at the previous weeks’ live events.
However, he went on to wrestle the following night, so it’s unlikely that’s the reason.
Ultimately, it looks like this could simply have been a case of the company trying to mix things up and prove that major storylines can play out any place and anytime – even at untelevised house shows.
What’s next?
WWE has already released a follow-up video, in which AJ Styles discusses a potential rematch for Owens down the line. Styles toys with the idea of Owens having to jump through hoops and win a Battle Royal, just like he himself had done.
Whichever way the match manifests itself, though, a rematch of some kind certainly seems all but guaranteed at this point. Really, it’s just a question of whether it’ll take place on SmackDown to pop a rating, or if they’ll wait until the next major pay-per-view – Battleground, on July 23.
Author’s take
It’s always good to see WWE looking to mix things up, even if it means – as was the case here – that we end up missing part of a match. Besides, we’ll presumably catch the rematch in its entirety.
That being said, there’s an underlying benefit in all of this in that it keeps things fresh, while it may even spark a live event attendance bump as it backs up the idea that ‘anything can happen’ at a WWE show. Although, it’s not like this was a low-profile live event – MSG shows are amongst the biggest non-PPV events of the year. Had this one taken place in a smaller market then it may have had more of an impact in terms of reminding fans to always expect the unexpected, even at a house show.
Either way, if it means we get more of Styles vs. Owens, then I guess there could be worse things to complain about.
