AJ Styles Admits He Made Crucial Mistake During Kevin Owens Title Fight

AJ Styles might be a WWE Hall of Famer, but his time with the company wasn't flawless.

Some fans don't like being reminded of this, but professional wrestling is scripted. The competitors are well aware of who will win and who will lose before the bell rings. But that doesn't always go the way the performers expect.

Look no further than an incident in WWE NXT back in 2025 involving Blake Monroe and Thea Hail, when Hail defeated Monroe for the Women's North American Championship. That finish was botched because Monroe had the wind knocked out of her; she was supposed to kick out, but didn't. Surprisingly, AJ Styles can relate to this moment all too well.

AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground 2017

On the latest episode of the Phenomenally Retro podcast, WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles spoke about losing the United States Championship to Kevin Owens at Battleground 2017, only to win it back 48 hours later, revealing he was never supposed to drop the title in the first place and accidentally failed to get his shoulder up.

"I will say this, when me and Kevin Owens were wrestling for the United States Title, there was some flip-flopping. Here's something that people don't know: when I lost that one to him, I wasn't supposed to lose," AJ Styles revealed. "My shoulder was supposed to be up, and I thought it was, and I was pissed. I came back and said, what the freak is going on?

"And Vince was like, your shoulder wasn't up. I go, 1,000% it was up. It was up! And I'm mad, not because I lost, but because why the freak did he count something that wasn't a pin? And so he goes, take him to the freaking truck, and show him. I go back and watch it. Sure enough, my shoulder is down. So I go back to Vince, you're right. I was wrong. Sorry about that, you did the right thing."

AJ Styles' second United States Title reign lasted until Hell in a Cell

For those who don't recall, Styles won the title back in a triple threat match with Kevin Owen and Chris Jericho on an episode of SmackDown two days after the premium live event. Styles would pin Jericho, giving Owens a reason to continue to chase the title afterward.

While AJ Styles' first reign as United States Champion only lasted 16 days, his second reign went considerably longer. Styles would go on to have a 74-day reign as champion that ended at the Hell in a Cell premium live event later that year. Styles would drop the title the same way he won it, in a triple threat match where Baron Corbin pinned Tye Dillinger to capture the title for the first time.

It would take almost two years before Styles won the United States Championship again for a third and final time at Extreme Rules against Ricochet and would go on to have a 134-day reign with the title before dropping it to Rey Mysterio on an episode of Raw.

Trick Williams currently holds the United States Championship in 2026 and is quickly approaching 90 days with the title.

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