WWE SmackDown Grades: Team Hell No Escapes The Uso Penitentiary

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2. AJ Styles vs. Aiden English

The WWE Championship will be at stake at Extreme Rules when an unlikely challenger will battle for AJ Styles’ title.  Rusev will get his first-ever WWE Championship opportunity after a long wait that saw him rise among the ranks in the WWE with his Rusev Day gimmick.

Another key contributor to the Rusev Day gimmick has been Aiden English, Rusev’s sidekick throughout the gimmick’s entire run.  English had the task of trying to soften up Styles last night in a match with Extreme Rules less than two weeks away.  The Phenomenal One cut a promo before the match that would be followed by a promo by Rusev.

English started the match by taking advantage of a brief distraction caused by Rusev and it was off and running.  However, the match didn’t go very long and really didn’t do much in the grand scheme of things.  The WWE didn’t put a whole lot of effort into it and Styles made English tap out to the calf-crusher.  However, the WWE Champion’s night wasn’t quite done yet.

The Bulgarian Brute attacked Styles after the match and laid him out, staking his claim that he will take the WWE Championship from him at Extreme Rules.  That match should be very interesting, to say the least, but in terms of just Styles vs. English last night, it was more of a so-so match that only had the purpose of further building the pending Styles vs. Rusev match.

Styles remained phenomenal last night, but Rusev had the last laugh thanks to the services of his ever-trusting sidekick.

Final Grade: B-