James Ellsworth vs. AJ Styles
You can criticize it all you want, but it got a reaction. It got interest and it was very well booked. James Ellsworth should have been a one week wonder, but he was able to carry momentum into Smackdown Live with Dean Ambrose to get a shot at the WWE World Championship. The match was comical, with Ambrose helping him out the entire way. Ellsworth connected with a huge superkick and then got a near fall.
We knew what was going to happen, but it does not devalue how entertaining this opportunity was for James Ellsworth. The Ellsworth chants were great and the crowd was invested. This was DIFFERENT than a tag team main event. It was DIFFERENT than a non-title match between Styles and Ambrose. Do we need to see this again? No, but when Smackdown Live is trying to keep Ambrose vs. Styles fresh, they went completely out of the box and gave the fans something entertaining.
I wanted to hate this idea, I really did. I can’t say anything too negative about it. Smackdown Live continues to try new things and I am sure Vince was probably medicated up during this time of television booking.