10 Last-Minute WWE Backlash 2016 Rumors You Need To Know

5. A.J. Styles Finally Becomes WWE World Champion

Dean Ambrose Aj Styles Bray Wyatt
WWE.com

It's kind of amazing that AJ Styles has been in WWE for less than eight months and his first reign as WWE World Champion already seems long overdue. Despite concerns that his character and style would be watered down in the world's largest wrestling promotion, he's continued to be the sport's MVP, just as he was last year.

Styles came up short in back-to-back title matches with Roman Reigns in the spring, but that feud was more of a placeholder to keep Reigns busy (and having good matches) until Seth Rollins came back. When Styles turned heel on John Cena, though, he really exploded, and at SummerSlam 2016, he pinned Cena cleanly in one of the greatest victories of his entire career.

Styles is red-hot, and WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose isn't. There's absolutely no reason why Ambrose should retain his title on Sunday. Nevertheless, fans who have followed WWE for a long time know how the company books. Usually, a brand-new feud like this one goes on for many months, and the title doesn't change hands in the first match.

AJ Styles will be WWE World Champion before the end of 2016, but unfortunately, it probably won't happen at Backlash.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013