Backstage News From WWE SmackDown On AJ Styles, Mystery Video
There are some interesting news items coming out of WWE SmackDown regarding the health of AJ Styles and who a mystery video was for.
In the opening video of WWE SmackDown, AJ Styles did an in-ring promo talking about how it was time to turn the page on some of the things he did earlier this year and go back to being the “Phenomenal” AJ Styles. In other words, Styles was back in babyface after spending all of 2024 as a heel and then going on a break for the last three months.
That promo from Styles was interrupted by rising WWE star Carmelo Hayes, who called Styles an “old-timer” as an insult since Styles is nearly 20 years older than Hayes. Their discussion led to a match.
During the Styles-Hayes match, they were on their way to something pretty good when Styles started selling a left ankle injury. After Styles hit a neckbreaker onto his knee, he collapsed to the mat and veteran referee Charles Robinson called for the bell, so Hayes won via referee stoppage due to Styles’ injury. Later in the show, Styles was getting his left ankle looked at by a doctor while Smackdown viewers were told Styles was headed to the hospital.
While many fans could probably tell it was a storyline injury for Styles, it wasn’t known for sure. In an update, Fightful Select has reported that AJ Styles’ ankle injury was planned and he is fine, so it was just a storyline or a work as they call it in wrestling.
In other news coming out of Smackdown, Fightful Select also reports that the mystery vignette featuring a car driving was for the Motor City Machine Guns tag team of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. They reported that somebody in WWE reached out to say they never heard about Shelley & Sabin going to NXT because they’ve been planned for Smackdown for quite some time.
The news of the Motor City Machine Guns signing with WWE was reported officially in September. Considering Shelley & Sabin each have over 20 years of experience in pro wrestling, it makes sense that WWE feels confident in starting them on the main roster rather than putting them on the NXT brand.
Chelsea Green was praised for her reaction to the Dumpster Match loss against Michin, according to Fightful. Green was full of garbage after the match and had funny facial expressions after the loss.
The main event of Smackdown was a triple threat Tag Team Title Ladder Match that saw The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa beat #DIY’s Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa and The Street Profits duo of Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins. Fightful reports that the six men who competed in the Tag Team Title Ladder Match were okay and the company was happy with the match.
TNA Wants AJ Styles For Their Hall Of Fame
It was also reported by Fightful Select that TNA Wrestling is interested in inducting AJ Styles into their Hall of Fame. While the former WWE, TNA & IWGP World Champion Styles is under WWE contract, there has been a working relationship between TNA and WWE over the last few months, so that could make it a possibility. However, nothing has been confirmed yet.