James Ellsworth Actually Beat AJ Styles on WWE SmackDown (Video)

Despite plenty of assistance, James Ellsworth actually defeated AJ Styles on SmackDown. Seriously, he won.

James Ellsworth had been planned as just a jobber for squash matches. He lost to Braun Strowman, but gained popularity for his pre-match interview. So, WWE decided to bring him back multiple times, with the latest one being on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown.

Around the 9:00 PM ET, AJ Styles came out for a celebration promo after retaining the WWE World Championship at No Mercy. He looked for an opponent to face to keep his momentum going, but got welcomed with Dean Ambrose. Styles declined the chance to face him, and brought out Ellsworth instead. SmackDown General Manager, Daniel Bryan would make Styles vs. Ellsworth, but with Ambrose as the referee.

The match’s result would see Ambrose, who attacked Styles multiple times in the match, place Ellsworth on The Phenomenal One for the victory. This came with a quick count too.

A jobber just defeated the WWE World Champion.

Taking a segment like this seriously is easy. It’s Styles taking a loss to someone who’s supposed to be getting beaten down at every opportunity. That’s even with the antics from Ambrose. It sounds similar to Seth Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2015. Remember when Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury defeated him?

However, it’s not like Ellsworth is going to get a legitimate world title opportunity. This shouldn’t affect the ongoing feud between Styles and Ambrose either. If anything, it may mean we’re guaranteed to get a longer reign out of the former.

We’re bound for a Styles vs. Ambrose rematch soon. With Survivor Series quickly taking shape, this could happen on an upcoming episode of SmackDown. James Ellsworth won’t be there, but he’ll be back… eventually.

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