AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe Became A Feud For The Ages At SummerSlam

In the build-up to WWE SummerSlam 2018, Samoa Joe relentlessly insulted AJ Styles’s family and The Phenomenal One’s own honor as a father. At the Pay Per View, Styles snapped after finally hearing enough low-brow insults from the normally eloquent Joe.

AJ Styles and Samoa Joe have as much history between them as any two wrestlers on the WWE roster today. These two fought in wars in TNA, so it’s no surprise that their WWE Championship match at SummerSlam was an absolute FIGHT. Joe and Styles are at their best when they leave it all in the ring, and they very clearly did exactly that at the Biggest Party of the Summer.

Most fans like to see clean finishes in big title matches, but that’s not what took place here. Instead, Joe stood up on an announce table after making Styles bleed with a shot to the steel steps. Joe spoke, and the words flowed from his mouth the same way they would flow from an authoritarian, military general.

Joe’s words mean war, and he started to insult Styles’s family, who were at ringside, again. He said that Styles wouldn’t come home to his wife, but that he would replace him as their “Daddy”.

Styles, who had kept his composure almost too well during this feud, finally snapped. After starting the match with restholds and non-brawling moves despite the heat in this feud, Styles turned into a completely different person. No longer concerned with the warnings of being too emotional (Shinsuke Nakamura feud callback), Styles charged at Joe, sending him flying through the barricade as the crowd looked on in shock.

But Styles’s rage wasn’t just focused on Joe. He started tossing out ringside crew without caution, and he brought out a steel chair in an attempt to silence Joe once and for all. Staff had to enter the ringside area to prevent Styles from doing even more damage to Joe, whose talk allowed him to pick up a DQ victory, but at what cost?

This type of finish made sense here, because we didn’t need a clean victory. If Joe wins clean, Styles loses the title. If Styles wins clean, where does the feud go from here? But if Styles snaps at Joe’s personal insults, this feud becomes one of WWE’s most heated rivalries of 2018, especially given the caliber of wrestlers involved in it.

Joe and Styles can create magic, and they should have a chance to put together a Match of the Year candidate at Hell in a Cell. Before the disqualification, Styles vs. Joe was amazing, as it featured some slow-building action, hard-hitting moves, and spots that made you cringe. Because it was a fight between two elite athletes who just can’t stand each other, despite having a mutual respect for their abilities.

Now, there’s no respect after what Joe and Styles did to each other both verbally and physically tonight. All-out warfare is coming, and there’s no better place for it at Hell in a Cell. During a time in which most WWE fans complain about there not being personal stories that feel important and elevate the prestige of a title, Joe vs. Styles for the WWE Championship is poised to be a story for the ages.