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WWE Superstar AJ Styles officially returned to television on the latest episode of SmackDown. Unfortunately, his comeback match against Carmelo Hayes ended in a loss due to an injury.
The Phenomenal One suffered a massive loss at the hands of Cody Rhodes at Clash at the Castle 2024. The American Nightmare retained his Undisputed WWE Championship against Styles in a grueling "I Quit" match.
The former leader of Bullet Club returned to Friday Night SmackDown on October 4, 2024, despite having competed in non-televised matches on live events. On his first night back Styles competed in a one-on-one against Carmelo Hayes.
However, during the match, the veteran was forced to forfeit due to a severe ankle injury. As a result, the referee awarded the victory to the former WWE NXT Champion. On X (FKA Twitter), Carmelo Hayes added insult to AJ Styles' injury by stating the following:
"Grand Opening. Grand Closing."
Check out Melo's tweet below:
Shawn Michaels says AJ Styles and top WWE star are the best in the business
The legendary Shawn Michaels recently shared his thoughts on The Phenomenal One and Seth Rollins' in-ring career. During an appearance on Good Karma Wrestling, The Heartbreak Kid praised AJ Styles and The Visionary for their exceptional talent and performance in the ring.
Shawn Michaels acknowledged that while there were other great performers, these two stood out for their ability to captivate him with their unique styles and exciting matches.
"I think Seth is a fantastic performer. That’s me, off the top of my head, picking one. He’s a guy that has unbelievable talent. AJ Styles is still a guy that I think is fantastic as well. The more I sit here and think about it, there are probably other guys that would come up, but I will say right now, for me, for my kind of style and what I enjoy out of matches, AJ and Seth are rocking pretty good," he said.
Watch the video below:
AJ Styles had to leave SmackDown on crutches before he was rushed to the hospital. It remains to be seen if the former WWE Champion will be on the sidelines due to the injury.
