It was surprising for some to see AJ Styles win the United States Championship from Kevin Owens on one of the past week’s live events. Styles defeated Owens for the belt at a Raw live event from Madison Square Garden on July 7th, and it would appear that their planned Battleground match has been cancelled. Fans have noticed that the match could have been removed from the show as it is no longer listed for the pay-per-view on the company’s website. It turns out that there are a few different reasons as to why Styles won the title the way that he did, and why the upcoming Battleground match has apparently been shelved.
Some fans have noticed that Kevin Owens’ profile picture on Twitter is just that of a black box. This has led some fans to believe that Owens is going to be taking a break from wrestling for a little while. Dave Meltzer back this up by commenting that Kevin has been working through a few different injuries, and that it may be time for him to take a short hiatus. Kevin Owens had been doing a gimmick where he claimed that he was “The Face of America,” and the choice to have him drop the title at a live event, rather than a pay-per-view, could indicate that he may be missing some action for a while. Owens’ hiatus has not been made official as of yet.
Another reason could be that WWE is currently working on an upcoming DVD for AJ Styles. It’s currently just 6 months away from being released. According to Sportskeeda, Styles winning the United States Championship was done as a way to wrap up filming of the DVD with a triumphant moment for the subject. Winning a championship at what is considered “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Madison Square Garden, is definitely a huge accomplishment for any pro wrestler. It does make sense for the company to feature that match. No word on what Styles will do at Battleground now, but he is indeed your new United States Champion.