“I Took Full Responsibility” – AJ Styles Addresses Botch That Crowned Unplanned WWE Champion

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AJ defeated Kevin Owens to win the United States Championship and was set to defend it in a rematch at Battleground 2017. During the match, Owens tried to pin AJ and he was supposed to kickout. However, AJ forgot to break the pin which led to Owens becoming the new Champion in an unplanned spot. On the latest episode of his Phenomenally Retro podcast, AJ Styles addressed the botch and took full responsibility for it.

“This had nothing to do with winning or losing, it had everything to do with someone screwing up, turns out it was me. And I took full responsibility for it. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to being in that ring and when something doesn’t go as planned, I get a lot of shame. So that’s the reason I was pissed, not because I lost the match and it turned out to be awesome anyway because I got to win it back in Madison Square Garden,” he said.

It is great to see AJ take responsibility for the botched spot instead of making any excuses.

AJ Styles retired at the 2026 Royal Rumble event

AJ Styles was offended by the disrespect Gunther showed towards John Cena after retiring him at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Styles challenged the Ring General to a match on RAW and was very close to winning it before Gunther turned the tides with deceit. Styles lost the bout but challenged the former Intercontinental Champion for a rematch.

Gunther said that he’ll only face AJ Styles if he puts his career on the line which happened to be the case at the Royal Rumble PLE in Saudi Arabia. The Phenomenal One passed out to Gunther’s Sleeper Hold marking the end of his in-ring career.

AJ Styles is now a Hall of Famer in WWE.

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