After going to battle with AJ Styles at Night of Champions, Seth Rollins celebrated his World Heavyweight Championship win on WWE Raw.
When Triple H first announced the creation of the new title, he made it clear that the belt would be exclusive to whatever brand Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was not a part of. Because Reigns was once again drafted to SmackDown, it was determined that the World Heavyweight Championship would be exclusive to Raw.
Therefore, many fans criticized the decision to have SmackDown stars as part of the tournament to crown a new champion, a decision that was reportedly made to help boost SmackDown ratings against competition from the NBA playoffs.
It came as even more of a surprise, then, that AJ Styles, who was drafted to SmackDown, made an appearance on the red brand to congratulate Rollins on his win the previous Saturday. Styles himself even called out the fact that he was a SmackDown star, but said he couldn’t resist coming to Raw to show respect to Rollins after giving him all he had at Night of Champions. Rollins responded by shaking Styles’ hand.
AJ Styles Was A Last Second Addition To WWE Raw
According to a new report from PWInsider, Styles’ appearance on the May 29th episode of Raw was a “last second creative decision.” The report notes that Styles was not originally planned for the show and even flew home after arriving in the United States from Saudi Arabia on Sunday instead of going straight to Albany.
The report also notes that Seth Rollins is scheduled to appear on all episodes of Raw going forward, so his appearance in the upcoming Captain America: New World Order does not appear to be conflicting with his commitments to the red brand.
In addition, the report states that Trish Stratus is set to appear on as many episodes of Monday Night Raw as possible, meaning her alliance with Zoey Stark was not a means of having someone compete in Trish’s place during any absence as many speculated.