Is WWE Bungling AJ Styles as Bad as Kevin Owens?

Earlier, in the wake of Kevin Owens winning at Roadblock thanks to a Chris Jericho-related disqualification, we noted some issues with how Owens has been booked as the WWE Universal Champion. He’s basically been turned into a feckless underachiever who can only win through outside interference. It diminishes the champion of the RAW brand, which isn’t the greatest storytelling plan. However, over on Smackdown, they are handling things only slightly better.

AJ Styles is in a slightly different place than Owens, admittedly. That being said, the consistent presence of James Ellsworth in his storyline has turned Styles into a comedic figure as much as a formidable champion. Styles is one of the best wrestlers in the world, as his feud with John Cena showed. Then, he became champion, and he’s basically just been fooling around with Ellsworth, and Dean Ambrose ever since. Even Styles’ win over Ambrose at TLC involved interference from Ellsworth. Ambrose is arguably half the wrestler Styles is, yet Styles doesn’t get to go over clean on him. Ellsworth has been equally vital to the storytelling on Smackdown as one of the world’s most accomplished wrestlers, and that feels a little silly, and perhaps not worth the fitfully amusing storytelling beats.

httpss://youtube.com/watch?v=d2n4In_JiJY

Fortunately, Smackdown may be moving past all that. Styles is set to fight Dolph Ziggler for the title next, and they have the potential to put on a great match. If Styles can just wrestle Ziggler, without any external silliness, and win, then Smackdown will score another victory over RAW, at least in terms of program quality.

How do you feel about the way AJ Styles’ title reign has been handled? Let us know in the comments, and check out the Wrestling Rumors Facebook page.