AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose: Winner and Reaction from WWE SmackDown

WWE World champion AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose Tuesday on SmackDown Live via disqualification and denied the Lunatic Fringe an opportunity to vie for his title in the process.

WWE provided the reactions of Ambrose and James Ellsworth to the result:

Ellsworth had hit Styles with a superkick, causing the DQ and The Lunatic Fringe's championship opportunity vanished, via WWE:

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge praised WWE for the booking in this match:

During the two weeks leading up to Tuesday's match, Ambrose did everything possible to get under the Phenomenal One's skin.

Styles jokingly gave James Ellsworth a match two weeks ago, but the plan backfired when Ambrose was named the special guest referee for the bout.

Not surprisingly, the unstable Superstar abused his power, and after hitting Styles with Dirty Deeds on two occasions, Ellsworth scored the upset victory.

That set the stage for a rematch between Styles and Ellsworth last week, but the WWE World Championship was on the line.

Ambrose didn't officiate the match, but he did serve as the special guest ring announcer and distracted Styles on numerous occasions.

Ambrose's antics led to Styles getting disqualified for being overaggressive, and while the "Face That Runs the Place" retained his title, it marked his second loss to Ellsworth in as many weeks.

According to WWE's official Twitter account, that prompted Styles to storm onto the Talking Smack set and demand that SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan put him in a match against Ambrose:

Bryan obliged, but with the caveat that a win by Ambrose would make him the No. 1 contender for Styles' title once again:

Styles beat Ambrose for the strap at Backlash due in large part to a low blow when the referee was incapacitated.

Although Ambrose got a singles rematch, involvement from John Cena cost him a chance to become a two-time WWE World champion.

Ambrose, Styles and Cena then did battle in a Triple Threat match at No Mercy, and although Ambrose didn't take the pin, Styles retained after hitting the leader of the Cenation with a steel chair.

It can be argued that Ambrose was wronged by both Styles and Cena on multiple occasions, so there is little doubt that he at least deserved a chance to have another title shot.

Ambrose was denied that opportunity Tuesday by a victorious Styles, though, which calls into question what is next for the WWE World Championship scene.

There may not be a title match at Survivor Series since three traditional elimination matches are scheduled, and that means the SmackDown creative team has some time before deciding what it wants to do for December's blue-branded TLC event.

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