Analyzing Early Booking of AJ Styles' WWE World Championship Reign

Early on, AJ Styles' run as WWE world champion has showcased him as a sleazeball, a man both cowardly and cocky. 

WWE has taken an unconventional path with the current king of SmackDown, forcing him to stumble against the unlikeliest of foes, but fans need not worry yet. Styles may look weak on the surface of late, but his failures have been a key part of the evolution of his character.

Strong storytelling has set the stage for Styles to grow into a compelling villain.  

The most recent images fans have of Styles, though, will draw comparisons to Seth Rollins' time as world champ in 2015. Rollins became far too familiar with defeat during his reign, even dropping a bout to his lowly stooges, J&J Security.

Styles, meanwhile, has now lost two matches in a row to James Ellsworth.

Ellsworth first appeared on WWE TV as one of Braun Strowman's off-the-street foes. The thin, mostly chinless, pale competitor looks more like a guy you would expect to be working the cameras, not stepping into the ring.

This ultimate underdog defeated Styles on Tuesday night via disqualification when the champion grew so furious that he ignored the referee's orders.

Again, Ellsworth's hand was raised. And again, Styles added a loss to his record.

According to CageMatch.net, Styles has gone 2-3 since winning the WWE World Championship, and two of those defeats came courtesy of the lower-rung Ellsworth.

It's not yet time to panic over WWE's booking of The Phenomenal One. The Ellsworth fiasco has been a fun detour on a ride marked by instances of Styles' ego both tripping him up and fueling him.

After toppling Dean Ambrose at Backlash on Sept. 11, Styles' ego immediately ballooned. 

He glossed over the fact that he had knocked off Ambrose by way of a low blow and focused on the result. In his eyes, victory was victory by any means.

Styles soon had to fend off John Cena, as well as The Lunatic Fringe.

Cena talked of looking to reclaim the title he has worn so often. He now chased history. He was one win away from tying Ric Flair's record for 16 world championship wins.

It felt as if Cena's victory was inevitable. The audience has seen that outcome again and again.

That angered Styles. When he appeared on Talking Smack ahead of the looming Triple Threat match against Cena and Ambrose at No Mercy, the champ erupted.

"I will take on anyone and everyone you put me up against and Shane [McMahon] puts me up against. And I will knock them down," he told SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan.

This fiery version of Styles enthralled. 

He was the monarch seeing invaders storm his kingdom. He was desperate to cling to his title. And we saw that in action at No Mercy.

To ensure that he was the last man standing that night, Styles resorted to clocking Cena with a steel chair.

Credit: WWE.com

In that moment, WWE wisely reminded us of Styles' unscrupulous nature. His popularity makes it easy to forget that he's the bad guy in this world. Taking the cheap way out made perfect sense.

After all, this was the same guy who won the championship by kicking Ambrose in the groin.

He emerged from that battle with a grin. He gloated about the victory regardless of how it unfolded, a typical heel move.

Styles then tried to take on a far easier challenge. He welcomed Ellsworth to tangle with him on Oct. 11. 

Bryan chose Ambrose to be the referee for that contest. The Lunatic Fringe's bias aided Ellsworth in scoring the upset of the year.

The villain tasted comeuppance here. He was embarrassed by his enemy and left flustered and vengeful. As LaToya Ferguson of the A.V. Club wrote, "His bravado keeps getting him into problems he should be able to avoid."

The plot twist worked. 

Ambrose was able to look like a fun-loving trickster. Ellsworth got to be a part of a Cinderella story. And Styles had more reason to want to flatten Ambrose.

This led to a title match the following week, one where Styles methodically punished Ellsworth. His hunger for vengeance got the best of him, and he lost when he wouldn't stop clobbering the poor sap in the corner.

The story has largely been about Ellsworth's unlikely rise for the time being, but this will provide more fuel for the Ambrose-Styles feud. It was a temporary tributary that the narrative followed before it backtracked and returned to the river.  

El Ligero tweeted about what the Ellsworth element has added to the main feud:

We have already seen Styles rejoicing and enraged, focused on proving his doubters wrong and veering off track due to vanity. As a result, the champ's character has deepened.

As strange a strategy as it was to include an enhancement talent in the mix, it has made for a more intriguing story than the one Raw is telling with universal champ Kevin Owens.

But WWE can't continue to let Styles flounder. Balance will be key moving forward. It's time now for him to smash someone into the canvas.

More losses will hurt his credibility as champion. A brief trip into silliness is fine, but the next step should be for The Phenomenal One to be a merciless tyrant.

After letting us see him fall, WWE needs to let Styles show us his fangs.