AJ Styles vs. Ricochet United States Championship Rematch Booked for SummerSlam

AJ Styles will defend his United States Championship against the man he beat for the title at SummerSlam on Aug. 11.

On Monday Night Raw this week a five-man gauntlet match took place to determine Styles’ challenger for the upcoming pay-per-view in Toronto. Rey Mysterio picked up some momentum early on by pinning Cesaro, then quickly rolling-up Sami Zayn for two fast eliminations. He was then pinned (and briefly unmasked) by Andrade, which led Ricochet to run down and attack as the fifth and final competitor.

Following a brief match, Ricochet managed to pin Andrade to pick up the win. He cut a promo in the ring afterwards, while Styles laughed while watching a monitor backstage.

Ricochet first won the US title from Samoa Joe at Stomping Grounds, marking his first reign with a title since joining the main roster. However after a successful defense against Styles in early July on Raw, the champ was jumped by a now-heel Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as the reformed Club (now going by The OC). Styles finally took the title from Ricochet at Extreme Rules (starting his third reign) thanks to interference from Gallows and Anderson.

Styles explained in a recent interview with Sporting News that he had been trying to get The Club back together for a while.

“I’ve been seeking that for a while now,” Styles said. “It’s just one of those things where I know how talented these guys are and the chemistry we have together. It’s unbelievable. That’s why we did so well in Japan because you have six guys – more than that, by the time I was out of there that enjoyed being together. We hung out. We’re actually friends and to this very day we hang out. We don’t have to ride with each other, but we do. We enjoy being together. You can’t teach chemistry and to have us together again, man, it’s awesome. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”