WWE SummerSlam 2018: Who Should Challenge AJ Styles?

Paige is supposed to announce AJ Styles’ challenger for WWE SummerSlam 2018, and it should be none other than The Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe.

On Tuesday, it was announced that SmackDown Live General Manager has handpicked AJ Styles’ next challenger for the WWE Championship at WWE SummerSlam 2018. She is supposed to announce who will be facing off against The Phenomenal One on the next edition of SmackDown.

AJ Styles has held the WWE Championship for over 250 days and has defeated a lengthy list of challengers in the process, so who is left to face Styles? Well, he defeated Rusev at Extreme Rules so it is unlikely that he will get a rematch.

Shinsuke, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton are all wrapped up in a feud over the United States Championship. The Miz and Daniel Bryan look like they have their sights set on each other heading into SummerSlam, and all three members of The New Day still look to be occupied by SAnitY at the moment.

So, who will step up to challenge AJ Styles? Almas already attempted to step up to the plate but ended up tapping out to AJ’s calf crusher, so he can be ruled out for SummerSlam when it comes to the WWE Championship.

With everyone else out of the equation, that really only leaves Samoa Joe left as the only credible challenger for the WWE Championship. There is no reason why he shouldn’t contend for the belt either because he has been on an absolute tear on the mic and in the ring with the limited time he has gotten on screen.

He basically got the chance to squash Tye Dillinger on SmackDown Live last week in order to showcase how dangerous and dominant he is. I would have to think this was done in order to build him up as the #1 contender for AJ’s WWE Championship.

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Outside of the unlikely chance that someone like The Undertaker or John Cena is announced as Styles’ opponent, there is no bigger name than Samoa Joe to create a blockbuster main event for SmackDown at SummerSlam.

Joe is a bonafide main eventer who has gone toe to toe with the likes of Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and even Brock Lesnar. When Joe first came to SmackDown Live, he vowed to destroy the beloved AJ Styles, and at SummerSlam, he should get a chance to do so.

Samoa Joe and AJ Styles had the opportunity to go toe to toe back in TNA where they burned it down, and now that they have both grown as performers and are on the top of their game, I can only imagine how great their match at WWE SummerSlam 2018 is going to be.

Every time Joe has gotten some momentum to move up into the main event scene, he has been halted by injuries. Hopefully, this will be his opportunity to solidify his spot as a top guy and even become the new WWE Champion.

Next: SummerSlam Match Card Predictions

AJ Styles put on some great matches with Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev, Brock Lesnar, and even Jinder Mahal, but a WWE Championship feud with Samoa Joe will surely surpass them all.