AJ Styles Pulls A Mark Henry On SMACKDOWN With Fake Retirement And Brutal Attack On Cody Rhodes

AJ Styles Pulls A Mark Henry On SMACKDOWN With Fake Retirement And Brutal Attack On Cody Rhodes

Mark Henry's infamous 2013 "retirement" saw him swerve fans by brutally attacking John Cena and history repeated itself on SmackDown last night when AJ Styles pulled a similar move on Cody Rhodes...

By JoshWilding - Jun 01, 2024 05:06 AM EST
Filed Under: WWE

With WWE's next international PLE, Clash at the Castle, fast approaching, we've been wondering who Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will face at the show. 

Well, last night's SmackDown seemingly gave us our answer: AJ Styles.

The American Nightmare battled The Phenomenal One in a match-of-the-year candidate at Backlash and it seems their rivalry is far from over.

Throughout SmackDown, Styles teased making a retirement announcement and eventually made his way out to the ring in a powder blue suit alongside his old friends, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. He proceeded to thank them and made it clear now is the time for him to be a phenomenal father instead of a phenomenal wrestler.

He asked Rhodes to join him in the ring and said it was time to pass on the keys to the "house that AJ Styles built." Both men appeared emotional, only for us to learn the whole thing was a Mark Henry-style swerve.

Styles attacked the champion and delivered a Styles Clash at ringside off the steel steps to the floor. Interestingly, Gallows and Anderson stopped security from getting involved, suggesting The O.C. may have finally reformed. 

We're expecting a title match to be made official for Clash at the Castle imminently. Elsewhere in the show, we learned that Scotland's own Piper Niven will get the chance to challenge Bayley for the Women's Championship at the event in Glasgow.

You can watch some highlights from SmackDown in the X posts below.

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