3 Potential Reasons AJ Styles Won the WWE US Title at a Live Event

AJ Styles, WWE.com

In shocking fashion, AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens for the United States Championship at a WWE Live event at Madison Square Garden Friday night.

This was certainly something no one was expecting. Usually, major titles will be traded from Superstar to Superstar on a big PPV, and sometimes it will change hands on an episode of SmackDown or RAW for an additional surprise factor for the show.

However, WWE titles almost never change hands at a non-televised event. The last time a WWE title changed hands at a Live event was in 2016 when Samoa Joe and Shinsuke faced off in Japan. That was NXT, though.

The last notable main roster title change at a non-televised Live event was when Primo and Epico defeated Kingston and Bourne for the WWE Tag Team Championships back in 2012. That’s right, the last time something like this happened was FIVE years ago.

It was later revealed that Evan Bourne had failed the company’s Wellness Policy, and he was quickly suspended for 60 days. So, it makes sense why WWE had to strip him of his title.

So, after five years, what was WWE’s reason for stripping Kevin Owens of his title at a Live event? Surely, something must have happened for WWE to pull off this shocking move, but there may be more than meets the eye for this title change.

Let’s investigate three possible reasons why AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens for the United States Championship at a WWE Live event.