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[Report] WWE Had Major Plans For A.J. Styles On Raw Before Trade To SmackDown

Posted: May 27th 2020 By: Alex Hoegler - TheSportster.com

A.J. Styles was traded to SmackDown Live last week. Before that, WWE apparently had big plans for him on Monday Night Raw.

In a surprise and unexpected move, A.J. Styles was traded to the SmackDown Live brand last week for "future considerations."

Styles entered the tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, defeating Shinsuke Nakamura in the first round. Styles will face Elias in one semi-final matchup, with Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy squaring off in the other.

Before the trade to SmackDown, which many believe occurred because of the show's declining ratings, WWE reportedly had massive plans in place for The Phenomenal One.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co), the plan was for Styles "to make new babyfaces" on Raw. But as Meltzer noted, Styles didn't end up making any new ones prior to the trade.

Meltzer claimed the likes of Cedric Alexander, Humberto Carrillo and Ricochet were all "supposed to be in a big feud with Styles," which would see the superstars "get over" and eventually win a title.

Of course, WWE has had to make drastic changes to their creative plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With SmackDown ratings way down, Vince McMahon had to act quickly, so bringing Styles over made sense.

After losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36, Styles was kept off of television for a month before returning on the May 4 edition of Monday Night Raw, where he successfully qualified for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match.

WWE wasn't building towards any specific feuds with Styles following his return earlier in the month. However, The Phenomenal One teased a rematch with The Undertaker following his victory against Nakamura last week.

This Was The Right Call By WWE

At the end of the day, Raw has more than enough veteran superstars who can help get the likes of Ricochet, Alexander and Carrillo over. But SmackDown needed more star power immediately, and adding Styles should accomplish the goal of fixing ratings. And who knows? Maybe WWE will use Styles to help put over other talents (Elias, perhaps) on SmackDown here.