The WWE shocked the world when they had Kevin Owens lose his United States Championship to AJ Styles at a non-televised House Show at Madison Square Garden. This came just over three weeks before the two were scheduled to fight at Battleground for the title. There were some WWE rumors that indicated the title switch was because Kevin was injured but those rumors were false.
The reason why AJ Styles won the U.S. title at the Madison Square Garden house show was actually two-fold,
The AJ Styles DVD
Kevin Owens just had a WWE DVD released this past week and showcased his wrestling career to this point, including winning the NXT title, WWE Universal title, and more recently the U.S.
title. Sportskeeda reported that AJ Styles has a DVD coming out in about six months and the WWE wanted something more recent for that release.
While AJ Styles won the WWE world title in his first year with the company, it has been nine months since he lost it. The WWE wanted something more significant to add to the DVD and winning a major title at a house show was something that most fans would not see and could be a huge special feature for the AJ Styles DVD.
Styles was only the second person to win the United States Championship at Madison Square Garden. The win came on a house show that was not televised so the only way to see it could be to buy the AJ Styles DVD. This was considered a big moment for the WWE to put on the DVD and was the major reason to pull off the surprise title change.
WWE surprises fans
This isn't the first time in recent memory that the WWE pulled a major title change at a house show. In NXT, Finn Balor was the longest reigning champion in the brand's history at the time and he lost his title to Samoa Joe at a house show in Massachusetts. No one expected it and it caused the fans to break out in huge cheers despite the villain winning the title.
This is something that WWE believes can make house shows even more exciting. When someone like Samoa Joe wins the NXT title or AJ Styles wins the United States title at a house show with no warning, it tells fans that anything can happen at any time and the WWE knows this can make house shows seem more exciting for fans to pay money to attend.
According to Sportskeeda, the WWE knows that these moments cause a lot of buzz - especially in the era of social media. With that said, the WWE will have a title change hands unannounced on a house show every two or three years to help keep those shows in demand.
