WWE United States Championship Match Set For Raw Next Week
AJ Styles earns title shot after beating Damian Priest clean in six minutes.
WWE's trope of "beat the champion to earn a title match" reared its ugly head Monday night, as AJ Styles defeated the rarely beaten Damian Priest to earn a United States Championship match on next week's episode of Raw.
Billed as a "championship contender's match," Styles toppled Priest in a six-minute, spirited match that saw both men trade strikes and counter some of their signature moves before AJ caught the charging champ with a Phenomenal Forearm to put him down. It was just Priest's second pinfall loss after more than a year on the main roster.
The quick announcement of a US title match - which also was billed as an opportunity for Styles to walk out of Elimination Chamber as a double champion - isn't entirely surprising. But it's worth noting that last month, Kevin Owens handed Priest his first pinfall loss in a championship contender's match, then won the subsequent United States Championship match by DQ two weeks ago, and that hasn't been followed up.
Priest versus Styles sounds like a good match on paper, and Monday's appetizer confirmed that belief. But the whole "beating the champ" deal smacks you in the face a bit, especially when it comes out of nowhere like this.