SmackDown Live: Who Walked Out World Heavyweight Champion?

SmackDown featured a PPV-worthy main event–in fact, it was a rematch of Backlash’s headlining contest, pitting Dean Ambrose against AJ Styles with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line. This time, Styles was champion, and with his victories over both John Cena at SummerSlam and Ambrose to capture the title, the Phenomenal One seemed unstoppable.

It was a terrific contest, one that rivaled their fantastic match at Backlash, but Styles held on to the title.

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John Cena joined the commentary team to offer strong praise of both competitors before the three meet in a triple threat at the upcoming No Mercy pay-per-view. Styles couldn’t resist the chance to take a cheap shot at Cena, and when Cena leaped to up to ringside, he prevented the referee from counting a roll-up pinfall victory for Ambrose.

Ambrose went to do battle with Cena, and Styles took advantage of the distraction for a quick pinfall victory over the Lunatic Fringe. In the ensuing chaos, Cena took down both champion and challenger with a pair of AAs.

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The stakes are big for John Cena at No Mercy, as a new World Heavyweight Championship run would have him tie Ric Flair’s record 16 world title reigns.

Don’t miss our full report on SmackDown’s results!