5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (Oct 25)

1. Winner: AJ Styles

AJ Styles deserves the title of SmackDown’s biggest winner if only for saying that James Ellsworth looks like “an action figure that someone melted in the microwave,” but last night was very profitable for the WWE Champion.

His early evening promo on Ellsworth and Ambrose played perfectly to his smug heel character, and he and Ambrose wrestled a strong main event. Styles has made a seamless transition from NJPW to WWE, and he’s now pulling-off excellent matches at the drop of a hat. He’s getting on in years, but WWE are lucky to have him, and it’s hard to imagine SD’s main event scene being anything less than thrilling for as long as Styles is around.

The match’s outcome plays into his hands perfectly, too. AJ wasn’t trying to provoke Ellsworth into superkicking him when he attacked earlier: he did it for the sake of being a jackass, because that’s Styles in a nutshell. Still, Ellsworth’s mistake handed Styles the win without having to expend any additional energy, and will likely drive a huge wedge between the rookie and his apparent ally, Ambrose.

It serves as vindication for the past few weeks. Taking two consecutive losses to Ellsworth had left Styles’ momentum in the gutter, but look who’s laughing now? The WWE Champion has neutered his biggest challenger without even trying, and with John Cena still on the sidelines, his position has never looked so secure.