Also read: 5 greatest United States Champions of all time
#5 Bringing back the US Open Challenge
When John Cena was United States Champion, he made the title synonymous with the US Open Challenge, in which he summoned a wrestler from backstage for a title opportunity, every single week. While AJ Styles may not be the superstar that Cena is, he certainly is a far better wrestler than John Cena. Imagine the kind of matches that we can see on a weekly basis if AJ Styles puts his title on the line consistently.
There is a wealth of talent backstage that doesn’t get television time on SmackDown Live. This includes Tye Dillinger, Jason Jordan, and Luke Harper to name just a few, from the incredibly talented roster. This will give each of them a chance to shine and make the belt far more prestigious than it has been.
This is not to undermine the wrestling talent of Kevin Owens, but his character is that of a coward who shirks away from a fight, every time. AJ Styles can make the US Championship the ‘worker’s title’ and give the audience a chance to see the underdogs in the backstage area, in action, consistently.
#4 Taking attention away from US Champion Kenny Omega
Last weekend, NJPW arrived on American shores and put on a show to remember. Canada’s own Kenny Omega, probably the best wrestler in the world not named AJ Styles, became the first ever United States Champion of the company at this massive event, defeating Tomohiro Ishii in the finals of a tournament to make professional wrestling history.
Since then, he has been the talk of the WWE Universe and the whole professional wrestling fraternity, with Stone Cold Steve Austin even naming him as the guy who can be WWE’s next breakout star.
WWE needed a move to counter the buzz that has been created by NJPW and putting the belt on AJ Styles certainly is a way to achieve the very same. AJ is loved by the same group of die-hard fans that are ‘marks’ for Kenny Omega, and this move should distract them, for the time being.
#3 Keeping him out of the WWE Title mix
We recently reported rumours suggesting that John Cena would be defeating Rusev in the Flag Match at Battleground, and would be moving on to another opponent thereafter. This opponent could very well be Jinder Mahal, a man that Super Cena has never faced for the title, before this.
WWE would obviously want Styles in an important spot, heading into Summerslam this year, but they may want him kept away from the WWE Championship picture, at least at this point. The big story would be Cena chasing his 17th championship and vanquishing the wicked foreign heel. AJ Styles is definitely due for another title run, but not anytime right now.
#2 Giving the fans someone to root for
Let’s count the champions on the roster. Jinder Mahal is a heel, The Miz is a heel, The Usos, The Authors of Pain and Sheasaro are heels, Alexa Bliss is a heel, Neville is a heel, Pete Dunne is a heel, and so is Bobby Roode. With the exception of Brock Lesnar, Naomi, and Asuka, every champion is a heel.
This is why fans have nobody to root for, no strong babyface champions. Having AJ Styles as a US Champion allows the company to have a popular babyface champion be cheered, considering their only other over babyface, is the General Manager of SmackDown.
Compare this to the most memorable eras of WWE, when popular babyfaces such as Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock held the top prize.
#1 May even help increase live show attendance
Not counting the time when Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor to become NXT Champion, it’s been years since a title changed hands at a WWE Live Event. One goes into a Live Event with the preconceived notion that they know what’s going to transpire at the said show, and this has resulted in severely declining house show attendance in the past few years.
With this shocking title change, there is, quite suddenly, an air of unpredictability at WWE Live Events and a feeling of ‘anything can happen’. This bodes well for the live event numbers in the long run for WWE.
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