5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (23 Aug)

1. Winner: AJ Styles

Everybody had AJ Styles and John Cena’s SummerSlam match pegged as a potential Match of the Year, and they delivered. Styles vs. Cena was the undisputed match of the night: a thrilling contest showcasing two of the world’s best “big match” performers are the height of their respective powers, and a clash that probably should’ve served as the night’s main event.

SmackDown Live saw Styles swagger into the building and slide Cena’s abandoned “Never Give Up” armband over his head, before berating Dolph Ziggler, then engaging The Show-Off in a fantastic main event. Styles walked-out the winner, and as suspected, he’ll progress to face Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Championship at Backlash.

Styles has had title shots before, but this feels like the biggest of them all. He’s fresh-off an unprecedented feud-ending victory over Cena, who never takes a clean loss without reciprocating tenfold, and his momentum is through the roof. Eyebrows were raised when he turned heel, but AJ has thrived as SmackDown’s resident cocksure bad guy, and his character work has progressed immensely over recent years. He can’t match his exquisite in-ring skills in this department quite yet, but aside from being one of the world’s best wrestlers, AJ is a complete WWE main eventer, and one of their most well-rounded superstars.

The feud’s quality hinges on whether or not Ambrose veers back into comedy territory, but it’s a mouth-watering prospect at the moment. SmackDown’s biggest babyface is about to go toe-to-toe with its biggest heel, and you can’t argue with that.