Depending on where you are with the underdog journey of James Ellsworth, this could be good or bad news. It looks like SmackDown is moving away from the chinless wonder for again next week...
WWE World champion is fed up with being mocked by Dean Ambrose into losing to Ellsworth, so he went on Talking Smack tonight (Oct. 18) and demanded a one-on-one match with the Lunatic Fringe.
.@AJStylesOrg orders #SDLive GM @WWEDanielBryan to give him @TheDeanAmbrose NEXT WEEK. Bryan MAKES THE MATCH! #TalkingSmack pic.twitter.com/XxqjwHxH2b
— WWE (@WWE) October 19, 2016
As we’ve seen in the past, the General Manager usually has a trick or two up his sleeve when dealing with confrontational heel champions (just ask Miz), so while he agreed to book the bout the Phenomenal One’s “ordered” him to, he had a condition to attach...
BRYAN: If @AJStylesOrg loses to @TheDeanAmbrose next week on #SDLive, Ambrose becomes #1Contender! #TalkingSmack pic.twitter.com/bOh2y4WeaV
— WWE (@WWE) October 19, 2016
Ambrose is expected to remain a thorn in Styles side at least until John Cena returns, so this could be the way to get there. Having AJ lose three weeks in a row, regardless of the circumstances, isn’t ideal.
SmackDown doesn’t have another pay-per-view (PPV) until Survivor Series, and with a five man team needed to compete against Raw in that show’s traditional match type, the champ might not defend his title in Toronto unless he pulls double duty. It’s possible they’ll find another way to continue Style’s feud with Ambrose other than having Dean defeat him in the Oct. 25 main event.
We’ll find out next week.