Next week, the WWE will hold a very special Fourth of July episode of SmackDown Live and AJ Styles might be in for a big night. Fans will get to see the return of John Cena , who has been out of action since WrestleMania 33 . Another big event that will take place on the show is a battle royal between the top SmackDown Live competitors to determine the new No. 1 contender to Kevin Owens’ United States Championship.
Who is Favored to Win WWE SmackDown Live Battle Royal?
PWInsider reports that not only is AJ Styles the only person named to compete in the battle royal so far but he is also the person that will end up winning the match. According to the wrestling insider’s website, AJ Styles is scheduled to wrestle Kevin Owens at Battleground , which is where the winner of the battle royal will get his title shot.
Kevin Owens and AJ Styles had a great match at Backlash two months ago, and both men also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match last month at the SmackDown Live exclusive pay-per-view event.
This Battleground United States Championship match would be a rematch from Backlash , where Kevin Owens won by count out when AJ Styles got his feet tangled in wires after crashing through the announcer’s table at ringside.
There have been a lot of WWE rumors concerning who will face off with Kevin Owens next for the United States Championship and the biggest names on SmackDown Live have been mentioned as Randy Orton continues to feud with Jinder Mahal for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Possible WWE Contenders For Kevin Owens
At recent house show events, Shinsuke Nakamura, Mojo Rawley, Sami Zayn, and Rusev have all been involved in different three-way matches against Kevin Owens for the United States Championship. If the WWE decided to move on from AJ Styles when it comes to the United States title, Shinsuke Nakamura seemed the obvious next big challenger to the title.
However, if AJ Styles wins the title from Kevin Owens, the WWE will likely have the rubber match at SummerSlam in August. If Owens wins, that would be two straight victories over AJ Styles, so unless it is another cheap win, the two might move on to other feuds.
The WWE Future Of AJ Styles
One thought is that AJ Styles will eventually move back into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title picture on SmackDown Live . He was the champion for a long time last year but has been out of the picture since losing the belt to John Cena at the Royal Rumble .
The biggest WWE rumors for SmackDown Live sees the company pushing towards an AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match for WrestleMania 34 , so the WWE might want to find a way to get Nakamura involved in a title feud sometime this year.
[Featured Image by WWE]
