AJ Styles Sets up Final vs Seth Rollins at WWE Night of Champions
AJ Styles has won the SmackDown side of bracket for World Heavyweight Championship tournament to set up a clash against Seth Rollins at WWE Night of Champions 2023 event.
WWE is holding a tournament to crown the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion with the final set at Night of Champions. Seth Rollins qualified for the final from RAW earlier this week. He defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Damian Priest in the first-round match before beating Finn Balor in the semifinal match.
The second finalist was to be determined on SmackDown this week. AJ Styles first defeated Edge and Rey Mysterio in the first-round triple-threat match. Bobby Lashley was the last semifinalist as he pinned United States Champion Austin Theory in the second triple threat match, in a match which also involved Sheamus.
Styles and Lashley fought in the main event of SmackDown where AJ was able to sidestep a spear in the final minute of the match. He followed up with a knee strike on Lashley’s face against the ring post before finishing off with the Phenomenal Forearm to get the pinfall.
WWE introduced the new World title in World Heavyweight Championship, which became exclusive to the RAW brand during Draft 2023 after Universal Championship Roman Reigns was drafted to SmackDown.
WWE Night of Champions 2023 is set to take place on May 27, 2023, at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.