This past Sunday, WWE Battleground became known for many things, and none of them sit in its favor. Quite simply, the pay-per-view did not deliver as fans had hoped, and will go down as one of the most lackluster wrestling events of 2017.
The most puzzling and controversial moment of the night came during the finish of the A.J. Styles vs Kevin Owens United States Championship match, featuring an unnecessary referee spot and an awkward three-count during a undramatic submission reversal. The announcers were stunned and Styles remained in the ring without selling the loss.
Reports from the crowd say Styles stayed longer to argue with referee Brian Nguyen about what had gone down, leaving the wrestling community to ponder: Botch or scripted? You be the judge:
Still don’t know what to make of this one. Conflicting reports everywhere. Botch or scripted? What do you think? @FightBoothPW #SDLive pic.twitter.com/dnf5OuGejs
— Luis Vasquez (@LuisVasquez617) July 25, 2017
Conflicting reports suggest more referees were supposed to come down and reverse the decision, resulting in A.J. as the ultimate winner, or, that this finish was executed to perfection for the purpose of adding buzz to the ongoing feud.
But in reviewing the tape countless times, I couldn’t help to catch a glimpse of the words coming out of the referee’s mouth. See for yourself:
He looks to be saying something along the lines of “time.” Could the possible reason for an abrupt ending be because of time purposes? Did they lose track of time?
Everything is still speculation at this point, and what we do know is Styles is United States champion once again, in what seemed to look like a situation of “righting a wrong.”
image credit – WWE
