AJ Styles Cancels WWE Championship Match vs. James Ellsworth Due to Injury

AJ Styles canceled his match against James Ellsworth on Tuesday on SmackDown Live just two days after his victory over Dean Ambrose at Tables, Ladders & Chairs. 

Styles walked out in a boot over his left foot and broke the news, via WWE:

Ellsworth proceeded to mock Styles for his injury, as shared by WWE Universe: 

Ambrose emerged and put Ellsworth in his place, via WWE:

Ellsworth earned the title shot by beating The Phenomenal One in a ladder match on SmackDown that also resulted in the plucky underdog securing a full-time contract for the blue brand.

Ambrose aided Ellsworth in that match, just as he did on two previous occasions that also saw him defeat Styles.

An infuriated Styles seemingly put Ellsworth out of commission on the go-home episode of SmackDown prior to TLC, as he hit him with the Styles Clash off the steel steps, which resulted in Ellsworth being taken from the arena in an ambulance.

Despite that, Ellsworth appeared during the main event between Ambrose and Styles at TLC, and he was sporting a neck brace. It seemed as though Ellsworth would return the favor by helping The Lunatic Fringe, but that wasn't the case.

Instead, Ellsworth pushed Ambrose off the ladder and sent him crashing through tables, which allowed Styles to scale the ladder and grab the championship for the win.

After the shocking development, Ellsworth explained his actions on Talking Smack, as seen in this video courtesy of WWE's official Twitter account:

Ellsworth also took to Twitter to stress that the motivation behind his decision was giving himself the best chance to become WWE world champion:

Although Ellsworth did technically beat Styles on three occasions, all of those victories were courtesy of Ambrose.

Ellsworth was seemingly delusional about his chances, and he even poked and prodded Styles leading up to their match despite his obvious disadvantage in skill level:

While Ellsworth's catchphrase of any man with two hands having a fighting chance applied to his canceled championship match against Styles Tuesday, there was plenty working against him during the lead-up to the match.

Aside from the fact that Styles is one of the best all-around wrestlers in the world today, the possibility of an angry Ambrose lurking around the corner was ever-present.

Ambrose has done plenty of joking around in recent weeks and months, but he is more than capable of getting serious when need be, and he undoubtedly holds a grudge.

The unstable Superstar was at odds with Seth Rollins for years after the dissolution of The Shield, and he even turned his back on Team SmackDown at Survivor Series in favor of getting even with Styles.

Unless Ellsworth gets another shot, Styles is now set to enter the Royal Rumble and the start of WrestleMania season with the WWE World Championship in tow, while Ambrose figures to do everything possible to make Ellsworth's life a living hell after what happened at TLC.

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