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AJ Styles returns to WWE, drafted to SmackDown

Posted: Apr 29th 2023 By: Ethan Renner

AJ Styles returned to WWE on Friday's SmackDown after missing four months with a broken ankle.

Styles returned to the show alongside Michin, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows of The OC, and the unit was drafted to the SmackDown brand on night one of the WWE Draft. Styles had been out of action after suffering a broken ankle at a WWE house show in Hershey, Pennsylvania on December 29, 2022.

The OC shot an angle with The Viking Raiders & Valhalla on SmackDown, setting up a tag team match with Anderson & Gallows vs. Erik & Ivar on next week's SmackDown.

Styles did get physical in the angle on his first night back, as he hit his springboard Phenomenal Forearm on Ivar.

Debuting with WWE at the Royal Rumble in January 2016, Styles has gone on to accomplish the WWE Grand Slam, holding four different titles in his time with the promotion. He is a two-time WWE Champion, three-time United States Champion, and has held the Intercontinental and Raw Tag Team Championships one time each.