WWE Six-Pack: The Miz Steals the Show

Match of the Week: A.J. Styles vs. Dean Ambrose, Smackdown

Even the most novice wrestling fan could’ve predicted a screwy finish heading into Smackdown’s main event this week. There was no way A.J. Styles would drop the title so soon back to Dean Ambrose, and there was no way the title would switch hands so close to No Mercy, which would threaten the overall momentum of that PPV’s main event.

If that wasn’t enough, having John Cena ringside for commentary screamed of some kind of extracurricular activity affecting the match’s outcome. Of course, it did.

That shouldn’t take away from the overarching quality of the match, though, particularly from Ambrose’s side. In a PPV-level match that spanned two commercial breaks, Ambrose unveiled some desperately needed innovation to his repertoire against the technically masterful Styles.

He broke out a Texas Cloverleaf that caused John Cena to throw a compliment. We hadn’t seen anybody escape Styles’ calf crusher with repeated head slams like that before. Ambrose even broke out a sit-out, front-facing slam of Styles that the commentary team had a hard time naming.

Add some PPV-level high spots to all that – like Ambrose’s top-rope standing elbow to the outside, his clothesline to Styles while he sat prone on the top rope, Styles’ beautiful missed springboard 450, and Cena’s involvement – and you had a match worthy of a Sunday night coming to our screens on a Tuesday.