DES MOINES, IOWA — It was only a matter of time until AJ Styles found himself in the mix for the Universal Title once he jumped ship to Raw, but the speed at which The Phenomenal One has maneuvered into contention for Team Red’s top title is impressive even by his standards: Thanks to a Triple Threat victory over Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio, Styles is now one win away from his very first Universal Championship opportunity at WWE Money in the Bank.
Despite the well-documented history between the three competitors — Joe is very adept at beating up Styles though not beating him, while Rey was trounced by the Samoan bully at WrestleMania — the match was a complete scramble from start to finish, with each Superstar fighting for whatever edge they could get. That made Styles’ victory all the more impressive; Mysterio had both him and Joe lined up for 619s but only connected with The Samoan Submission Machine before Styles snatched him out of midair. The Phenomenal One then used Mysterio as a human implement, powerbombing and Styles Clashing him on top of a defenseless Joe to tee the big man up for a pinfall. The three-count followed, and just like that, he's almost there.