(Video) Referee forced to stop SmackDown match abruptly as former WWE Champion collapses after horrific injury 

Former WWE Champion gets injured during his match on SmackDown, leading to his opponent becoming the #1 contender for the US Championship.

(Video) Referee forced to stop SmackDown match abruptly as former WWE Champion collapses after horrific injury 

Referee calls off match on SmackDown after AJ Styles gets injured (via WWE and @wrestletalk_tv/X)

The latest episode of SmackDown featured AJ Styles making his much-anticipated return to WWE programming. However, it did not take long before he came at odds with someone. The 47-year-old had a heated confrontation with Carmelo Hayes. Eventually, the two superstars would also go on to have a singles match during the show.

During their match, AJ Styles seemingly hurt his knee after a botched landing following a springboard attack. The former WWE Champion eventually started clutching his knee, and match official Charles Robinson went up to check on him. The referee eventually stopped the match, claiming that the Phenomenal One was unable to compete. Thus, Hayes was declared a winner as a result of a referee stoppage.

YouTube video

Earlier during the night, LA Knight had promised Carmelo Hayes that if he could beat Styles, he would give him an opportunity at the United States Championship. With the former NXT Champion coming out on top, he will likely get a title shot in the upcoming weeks on SmackDown. However, The Megastar made sure to send him a message as he came out after his match and hit him with a BFT.

FS Video

There is still a lot of debate about whether this spot was a work or not. Hayes’ over-the-top expressions and Styles banging his arm against the ring have made people think that this was a planned spot. If not, fans hoped that the 47-year-old would soon recover from his injury.

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Unfortunately, he had to go through this on the same night as his return if the injury was legitimate. However, it is worth noting that the referee did not throw up the X sign, as usually done after a serious injury has occurred.

AJ Styles seemingly turns babyface on the latest episode of SmackDown

AJ Styles turned heel in WWE after a long time in December 2023 on an episode of SmackDown. He did some great work against LA Knight at WrestleMania. Furthermore, he put on a flawless feud against Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship, which included an incredible fake retirement segment.

AJ Styles
AJ Styles (via WWE)

However, when Styles came out to address the crowd on the latest episode of SmackDown, he seemed to have lost his hellish tendencies. He said that he had done things over the past couple of months that he deeply regretted. Furthermore, he claimed that it was time for him to focus on his legacy. 

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Despite his absence from WWE TV, Styles has still been wrestling a lot over the past few months. He wrestled a match against Naomichi Marufuji for Pro Wrestling NOAH in July. Since then, he has been active on the house show circuit, often wrestling Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship.