AJ Styles wins battle royal, gets US title shot at WWE Battleground

AJ Styles will again be challenging for Kevin Owens’ United States Championship at Battleground.

Styles won a battle royal on SmackDown tonight by last eliminating Sami Zayn to earn the title shot. Owens tried to lay Styles out after the match, but Styles fought him off and posed with the US title to close the show.

Owens previously defended his championship against Styles at Backlash in May, with him retaining after trapping Styles’ leg in the announce table and getting him counted out. They were both then involved in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match at the next month’s pay-per-view.

Though Styles was announced as the first entrant in the battle royal last week, there was a storyline where he had to earn his way into it tonight due to both him and Chad Gable having gotten title shots against Owens before. He defeated Gable to keep his spot in the match.

Battleground will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 23rd. The updated lineup for the show is:

• WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defending against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match
• John Cena vs. Rusev in a flag match
• United States Champion Kevin Owens defending against AJ Styles
• SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against The New Day