10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (July 14)
Is this the real reason why AJ Styles won the US title?
It was a nice surprise for loyal New Yorkers to see AJ Styles win the WWE United States Title from Kevin Owens at MSG on July 7. House show title changes don't happen too often, and it makes sense that WWE would want to shake things up every now and then, but there was a hidden reason for this one.
Find out why the decision was made to hand Styles the US Title earlier than the expected change at Battleground in this week's article, one bringing together a whole host of wrestling facts and stories we didn't know last week.
There's no doubt AJ is one of WWE's best in-ring performers right now, so he deserves to have a belt around his waist. Nobody saw that live event switch coming though, making it all the sweeter. Expect some documentary-style insight into that title change very soon. Wink wink, nudge nudge...
10. Austin Aries Asked To Work Outside WWE's Cruiserweight Division
It turns out Austin Aries wasn't too happy about his first ever WrestleMania match being left off the DVD release of WWE's biggest show this year. Imagine that. Did WWE actually think a guy who has worked his entire life to get to 'Mania was going to be pleased with such a decision?
The Wrestling Observer reported this week that Aries actually approached higher-ups to ask if he could move on from the Cruiserweight division and do some work elsewhere on the card. That probably wasn't met positively by management though, especially given Austin's smaller size and advancing age.
Aries believed he should get a shot though and was frustrated at repeatedly losing to Neville over and over again. Feeling there was no future for him as a Cruiser, he wanted to do something different. It seems WWE disagreed and came to terms with Aries on a premature release from his contract.
At least he asked.