‘Smackdown’ Recap: AJ Styles Beats Andrade “Cien” Almas, Stops Samoa Joe

After the controversial outcome of the WWE Championship match at Hell in a Cell, the WWE Universe feared that AJ Styles may have lost his edge. Thankfully, he proved that wasn’t the case this week.

While he technically won the match against Samoa Joe on Sunday by pinfall, it was later revealed that the referee actually didn’t see Styles tapping out to the Coquina Clutch. Joe, as one could imagine, was infuriated, but the referee’s decision stayed.

On Smackdown, the main event of the night had Styles defending his belt against former NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas. This was Styles’s opportunity to prove he wasn’t going to let the events of Sunday get to him.

The two athletically gifted superstars put on a match to remember, pushing themselves to their absolute limits. While they traded blows, it appeared Almas had the advantage when he managed to stomp on Styles’s chest while he was stuck on the ropes.

However, Styles was able to get himself together, and eventually landed a vicious Styles Clash on Almas. Styles got the pin, and the match was over.

Immediately after, Samoa Joe ran into the ring right as Styles was celebrating. While Styles has fallen for Joe’s ambushes before, he managed to counter this time by throwing him into the steel stairs.