AJ Styles Retains Against Rusev at Extreme Rules

AJ Styles continued his impressive WWE Championship run at Extreme Rules with a clean win over challenger Rusev.

Styles took the advantage earlier by attacking Rusev‘s massive legs, then began to build momentum when he hit a Phenomenal Forearm to his opponent on the floor outside.

Rusev’s power finally began to show through after that, first by countering his ushigoroshi signature move and then stopping Styles from rolling him through for the Calf Crusher submission. He then set up for a suicide dive to the outside, but Styles cut him off with a forearm.

Styles then failed at an attempted 450 Splash, then nearly found himself locked in the Accolade when Rusev countered the Calf Crusher again. He finally locked in the submission on the third attempt, but “The Bulgarian Brute” made his way to the ropes thanks to an assist from Aiden English.

Styles noticed this and chased English, walking right into a belly-to-belly suplex from the big man outside the ring.

Rusev connected with a Machka Kick, but Styles kicked out just in time. He tried another kick, but Styles countered with a Pele Kick. The challenger took Styles down with another kick, but couldn’t fully lock in the Accolade due to a damage left leg.

While this was happening, English jumped on the apron and ripped off one of the top turnbuckles. Rusec tried to fire himself up, but Styles made his way to his feet. He charged ahead, but Styles dodged it and caused Rusev to hit the exposed turnbuckle straight on. Styles connected with a springboard 450 for a two count.

The champ finally dispatched of English with a dropkick, then nailed a Phenomenal Forearm to seal the deal.

The victory continues Styles’ reign as WWE Champ, which surpassed 250 days over the weekend. He now has the longest reign in the last five years with the company’s top title, matched only by CM Punk’s 434-day reign from 2011-2013.

Styles was just one of a number of champions to successfully retain inside Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers held on to their titles against a reunited Team Hell No (thanks in part to a backstage attack before the match) and Carmella kept her SmackDown Women’s Championship in a match with Carmella that had James Ellsworth suspended above the ring in a shark cage.

The only title to change hands on the SmackDown Live side was the United States Championship, which Shinsuke Nakamura won in just six seconds in a match against Jeff Hardy.