Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
And the blue brand took full advantage of it.
Styles defeated Mahal to recapture the WWE Championship on this week's episode of SmackDown, ending what was a boring title reign for Mahal that critics say have placed him among "WWE's worst world champs ever." Now, WWE is moving forward with Styles vs. Brock Lesnar as the main event of Survivor Series, a dream match that, if Twitter polls are any indication, the vast majority of fans would much prefer over the once planned Mahal/Lesnar main event.
Styles was a long shot to dethrone Mahal because reports indicated that Mahal was, like it or not, going to hold that WWE Championship all the way to WrestleMania 34 next April. But the decision to transition the belt from Mahal to Styles was undoubtedly a smart one, and that's not necessarily a knock on "The Modern Day Maharaja." Although he may be an average performer both in the ring and on the microphone, the November 7th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Mahal's title reign, despite all the criticism it had received, didn't have either a negative or positive effect on WWE's business.
Rather, this is about WWE not wanting to miss the golden opportunity of putting the WWE Championship on SmackDown's biggest star and setting up a legitimate dream match in the process. Mahal just happened to be in the way.
With many of WWE's top stars, such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Braun Strowman, on Raw, Styles is clearly "the man" on the blue brand, and after losing the WWE title nearly a year ago at The Royal Rumble, the time was right to put it back on him. After all, there are plenty of reasons to believe that Styles should be the focus of SmackDown and that Styles vs. Lesnar is a much bigger match than Styles vs. Mahal could ever be.
After his popularity spiked last year, Styles has become the biggest star on the blue brand. "The Phenomenal One" held the WWE Championship for the final four months of 2016, and by the end of the year, he was probably the No. 3 merchandise seller in the company, based on Google Shopping search data (h/t Fightful). Indications that Styles is and was an elite merchandise mover seem to be supported by reports of his merchandise quickly selling out multiple times and the fact that he is a "Featured Superstar" on WWEShop.com, which is believed to be code word for "best sellers."
Along the way, Styles appeared to develop into a strong ratings draw as well. By the end of Q4 2016, when Styles had held the WWE title for four months, SmackDown's TV ratings had increased by 17% over the course of the year, and there's little doubt that Styles' well booked WWE title reign played a big role in that jump. Fast forward to 2017, and YouTube viewership data hints that Styles is probably one of WWE's biggest draws, perhaps only behind Randy Orton as far as SmackDown's stars are concerned.
">WWE SmackDown had the perfect opportunity to move its most prestigious title from Jinder Mahal to AJ Styles.
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
And the blue brand took full advantage of it.
Styles defeated Mahal to recapture the WWE Championship on this week's episode of SmackDown, ending what was a boring title reign for Mahal that critics say have placed him among "WWE's worst world champs ever." Now, WWE is moving forward with Styles vs. Brock Lesnar as the main event of Survivor Series, a dream match that, if Twitter polls are any indication, the vast majority of fans would much prefer over the once planned Mahal/Lesnar main event.
Styles was a long shot to dethrone Mahal because reports indicated that Mahal was, like it or not, going to hold that WWE Championship all the way to WrestleMania 34 next April. But the decision to transition the belt from Mahal to Styles was undoubtedly a smart one, and that's not necessarily a knock on "The Modern Day Maharaja." Although he may be an average performer both in the ring and on the microphone, the November 7th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that Mahal's title reign, despite all the criticism it had received, didn't have either a negative or positive effect on WWE's business.
Rather, this is about WWE not wanting to miss the golden opportunity of putting the WWE Championship on SmackDown's biggest star and setting up a legitimate dream match in the process. Mahal just happened to be in the way.
With many of WWE's top stars, such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Braun Strowman, on Raw, Styles is clearly "the man" on the blue brand, and after losing the WWE title nearly a year ago at The Royal Rumble, the time was right to put it back on him. After all, there are plenty of reasons to believe that Styles should be the focus of SmackDown and that Styles vs. Lesnar is a much bigger match than Styles vs. Mahal could ever be.
After his popularity spiked last year, Styles has become the biggest star on the blue brand. "The Phenomenal One" held the WWE Championship for the final four months of 2016, and by the end of the year, he was probably the No. 3 merchandise seller in the company, based on Google Shopping search data (h/t Fightful). Indications that Styles is and was an elite merchandise mover seem to be supported by reports of his merchandise quickly selling out multiple times and the fact that he is a "Featured Superstar" on WWEShop.com, which is believed to be code word for "best sellers."
Along the way, Styles appeared to develop into a strong ratings draw as well. By the end of Q4 2016, when Styles had held the WWE title for four months, SmackDown's TV ratings had increased by 17% over the course of the year, and there's little doubt that Styles' well booked WWE title reign played a big role in that jump. Fast forward to 2017, and YouTube viewership data hints that Styles is probably one of WWE's biggest draws, perhaps only behind Randy Orton as far as SmackDown's stars are concerned.
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