SmackDown Live In-Ring Promo – Randy Orton Disses Indies, AJ Styles Defends Them

During a segment last night on SmackDown Live, Randy Orton wonders how this could be The House that AJ Styles Built. Orton says in 2002, he was making his WWE debut while AJ was wrestling for $10 per night in a local gym with 12 people in the crowd. In 2004, AJ was working bingo halls while Orton was becoming the youngest WWE Champion. In 2005, AJ was in Florida getting a tan with Dixie Carter while Orton was going up against The Undertaker. He did not name TNA or Impact Wrestling, just the Dixie name-drop. And every year after that, Orton was here in WWE at the top, winning titles. Orton says this is not the house that AJ built, it was built long before AJ stepped foot in it. Orton goes on until the music interrupts and out comes AJ to a pop.

AJ says for someone who looks down on the indies, Orton sure did follow his career closely. AJ says he’s proud he came from the indies. AJ says he’s heard guys like Orton look down on AJ’s world but that’s fine because Orton would not have made it in his world. AJ points to Orton’s signature pose and says he has a knock-off Diamond Cutter. Orton points to how AJ and The Bullet Club, his pals, ripped off the “Too Sweet” gesture. AJ goes on about how Orton had help his whole career, especially on as Triple H, Batista and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair made sure he wouldn’t fail. Orton defends his accomplishments and goes over some highlights from his career. Orton says no one has ever had to help him get… AJ interrupts and reminds Orton of Evolution, Legacy, Rated RKO, The Wyatt Family. AJ says it sounds like Orton had a lot of babysitters over the years.

AJ says don’t get him wrong, Orton is who he says he is – he’s a viper who uses everyone around him and then tosses them to the curb when he’s done. AJ says that’s why he got the jump on Orton with the attack at Fastlane, because he won’t be Orton’s next victim. Orton says AJ has no choice as long as he wants to rent a room where Orton is the landlord. Orton says rent is due, b—h, and AJ can make the check out to three letters… RKO. Orton drops the mic and goes to leave but AJ says if Orton wants his rent, he can come and take it. AJ points up at the WrestleMania 35 sign as he says this. They stare each other down and Orton looks up at the WrestleMania sign. Graves wonders if Orton will accept the challenge. Orton exits the ring and stares AJ down as AJ’s music hits.

Transcript from Wrestling Inc.

AJ Styles Shoots Down Report Of Hernia

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As previously noted, AJ Styles missed WWE live events this past weekend and has been out of action since facing Daniel Bryan at The Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

It was reported that Styles is suffering from a hernia, however Styles shot down those reports on Twitter. In response to a user asking, “WHAT ARE U DOING WRESTLING WITH A HERNIA!!?????” Styles replied, “Yeah, about that. I don’t have a hernia.”

https://twitter.com/AJStylesOrg/status/1093270762142789642

Styles also recently shut down reports that he had signed a new contract with WWE.

Styles is scheduled to compete at WWE Elimination Chamber in a six-man Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. Elimination Chamber takes place on February 17, 2019 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Source: WrestlingINC

Seth Rollins And AJ Styles Injury Updates

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Seth Rollins and AJ Styles have been out of action since The Royal Rumble.

AJ Styles has a hernia, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Styles is advertised for tonight’s SmackDown Live, as well as this weekend’s SmackDown live events.

Seth Rollins has been dealing with a bad back. WWE is reportedly just resting Rollins up, and the injury is said to not be serious enough to threaten his scheduled match against WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35.

Rollins was scheduled to be at last night’s RAW, but never appeared on television. Post Wrestling reported over the weekend that he will not be working live events for the foreseeable future, and will not be getting physical on WWE television over the next month. Despite this, WWE has him advertised for this weekend’s RAW live events.

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage News On AJ Styles’ WWE Contract Expiring Soon

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From people very close to the situation, the strong expectation is that AJ Styles is staying with WWE when his contract expires this April, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer mentioned how it is an incredibly opportunistic time for Styles to have his contract ending because he is good friends with people like All Elite Wrestling Executive Vice Presidents, The Young Bucks. Despite that, the situation is that Styles is reportedly staying with WWE.

AJ Styles takes on Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WWE Royal Rumble, taking place tonight at Chase Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.

Source: WrestlingINC

AJ Styles Impersonates “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

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The dark main event after last night’s WWE 205 Live tapings at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama saw WWE Champion Daniel Bryan retain over AJ Styles by disqualification. Bryan reportedly cut a strong heel promo, which poked fun at Alabama for losing to Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship earlier this month. AJ came back and laid Bryan out, also stopping to celebrate with a young fan in the crowd. AJ then impersonated WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin, switching out the beer cans for water bottles, after hitting a Phenomenal Forearm on Bryan. You can see video from the segment below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsr0BdOlxD6/

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage News On Chris Jericho’s AEW Contract, AJ Styles Speculation

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Chris Jericho’s new contract with All Elite Wrestling is reportedly for 3 years, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer said Jericho revealed that this is the best contract of his career.

As noted before, Jericho talked with WWE and AEW up until the last minute, signing his AEW contract just recently. It came down to AEW offering Jericho a better deal. Jericho will be allowed to work New Japan Pro Wrestling and his cruise, which are stipulated in the contract.

It’s no secret that AEW and WWE are getting aggressive when it comes to signing top talents to contracts. AEW is expected to pursue WWE talents when their contracts expire. Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks have friendly relationships with many of the WWE talents, which will help with potential negotiations. One top WWE Superstar who has a contract coming up that they are familiar with is AJ Styles. Meltzer speculated on WOR that Styles has a lot of leverage right now because he’s a top WWE talent and AEW would offer him a significant deal with an easier schedule. Styles is making a lot of money with WWE right now but AEW potentially could beat that. AJ turns 42 this year and if he really wants an easier schedule with good money, he could get that from AEW.

Meltzer noted that no one is in a better position between WWE and AEW right now other than Styles, except for maybe Kenny Omega. Omega’s future has not been confirmed but it’s still believed that he will end up with AEW after his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract expires on January 31.

It was also noted that AEW is offering good money to wrestlers right now. During the recent Double Or Nothing rally, Cody talked about how AEW wanted to change the wrestling economy and how they wanted to pay wrestlers good money because happy, paid wrestlers translates to happy fans. Some of the AEW contracts are totally exclusive but others are being allowed to work elsewhere. AEW officials are wanting to make everything beneficial for all talents. There’s no word yet on what talents like “Hangman” Adam Page are earning from AEW but WWE made a strong offer to Page and he turned them down.

Source: WrestlingINC

AJ Styles Drops Vince McMahon On WWE SmackDown To Begin Interesting New Storyline, WWE Edits Segment

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Last night’s Christmas edition of WWE SmackDown closed with a very interesting exchange between Vince McMahon and AJ Styles. You can see video of the segment above.

There’s no word yet on where they’re going with this segment but speculation is that we’ll see a darker side to Styles. The segment ended with The Phenomenal One dropping the WWE Chairman, but only after McMahon slapped Styles in the face.

The backstage segment started with McMahon greeting Styles backstage, which was AJ’s only appearance on this week’s show. This was Vince’s second straight appearance for the blue brand following the “fresh start” that was announced by the McMahon family last week.

WWE made a few edits to the video they released on YouTube, which was missing a few lines from the taped segment that aired on TV tonight. Based on the YouTube video that was released, the exchange went like this:

Vince: I want to know, what’s your name?

AJ: My name?

Vince: I want to know, who are you?

AJ: AJ Styles, The Phenomenal One. Two-time WWE Champ. SmackDown Live… the house that AJ Style built.

Vince: I was thinking about that. If this is the house that AJ Styles built, why aren’t you competing in your house tonight? Why is Daniel Bryan competing in your house tonight? Why is he raising holy hell and you’re back here walking up and down the hallway. I don’t quite get that. See, he’s the new Daniel Bryan. I want to know who the real AJ Styles is. Because, like it or not, we’re a lot alike. You got a black hole in your heart and I know it. But there’s an animal in there, an animal is begging to get out. That animal is eating you alive. You want it to come out, I want to see it. I want to see that animal. Oh yea, I want to see it, AJ. I want to see it, and I’m going to see it.

That is when Vince slapped AJ in the face and the two stared each other down. AJ then fired back and dropped Vince with a right hand. Styles stood over Vince, growling, as officials rushed into the room and Vince barked at them to get AJ out. The video does not show this but a referee asked Vince if he was alright and Vince said he thinks he’s good. SmackDown went off the air with Vince laying on his back, smiling, while looking up at the ceiling.

There were a few more edits made to the video released on YouTube, including Vince commenting on how he has seen WWE Superstars come & go, win their titles and earn their money, only to become complacent and then go home. Vince said he knows that’s not AJ, and that’s when he mentioned that they are alike. Vince also said AJ has a tormented soul, and AJ is afraid to lose control because of what would happen. Vince also said if AJ is harnessing all of this darkness, he will brutalize and terrorize the locker room.

Source: WrestlingINC

Daniel Bryan Turns Heel, Wins WWE Championship

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In a surprise end to SmackDown Live this week, Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles for the WWE Championship and will go on to face Brock Lesnar on Sunday at Survivor Series.

SmackDown kicked off with Styles cutting a promo about Lesnar. He was then interrupted by Paul Heyman and later Daniel Bryan. The two wrestlers ended the segment brawling and shortly after a main event title match was confirmed on commentary.

The match took place later in the night and ended after Daniel seemingly turned heel by hitting Styles with a low blow while the ref was knocked out to help him get the win.

After the match was over, he continued his attack on Styles.

Because Daniel is champion, he’s now been confirmed for the champion vs. champion match against Brock Lesnar on Sunday at Survivor Series — similar to last year when Styles defeated Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship.

WWE And JBL Congratulate AJ Styles On Record For Longest Reigning WWE Champion In SmackDown History.

WWE and JBL took to Twitter this week to congratulate WWE Champion AJ Styles on breaking the record of the longest reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history. Styles is currently #13 on the all-time list and is set to pass CM Punk for the 12th spot in just under 40 days.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1030257936994582529

https://twitter.com/JCLayfield/status/1029843189790912512

Source: WrestlingINC

Several Top WWE Superstar Contracts Coming Up Soon

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WWE Champion AJ Styles, U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are all set to have their contracts expire in early 2019, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that they all had signed three-year deals with WWE in 2016, and Styles and Nakamura’s deals expire in January.

Meltzer noted that New Japan Pro Wrestling has “absolute interest” in bringing Nakamura back to the company. With NJPW’s expansion, Nakamura’s name value has increased dramatically since his WWE debut.

The Orlando crowd erupted into cheers at the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event when Styles made his WWE debut. Styles held the WWE Championship for 140 days before the year was over, giving him a great start to his WWE career. He is still WWE Champion in his second run with the title, and addressed the idea of re-signing with WWE during a March 2018 interview with Raute Musik.

“I don’t see why not if I can do what I do,” Styles said. “Like, if I can still be AJ Styles, then I would like to keep working in the WWE in a talent form. So as long as I can keep going, then I would like to keep working there.”

Daniel Bryan’s WWE contract expires on September 1st.

Source: WrestlingINC