AJ Styles Retains WWE Title at SummerSlam 2018 After Wild DQ Loss to Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe beat AJ Styles at SummerSlam on Sunday night in Brooklyn, New York, but The Phenomenal One retained the WWE Championship because of the disqualification finish.

Prior to the match, Joe made comments toward Styles' wife, Wendy Jones, who was sitting ringside. He again mentioned Jones during the match, which set off the champion. Styles attacked Joe with a steel chair to draw the disqualification:

Normally, DQs can be an underwhelming result in title matches. Many fans, however, felt more than satisfied with how Styles vs. Joe ended:

Leading up to SummerSlam, Styles had been the unquestioned face of SmackDown Live for nearly 300 days since beating Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship in November.

He has taken to calling the blue brand the "House that AJ Styles Built," and it was difficult to argue that notion given his remarkable run of success.

After Styles defeated Rusev at Extreme Rules to retain the title, SmackDown Live general manager Paige was in search of a new challenger capable of truly pushing the titleholder.

She set up a contract signing, but it was interrupted by James Ellsworth, who insisted he was deserving of a shot at Styles.

While Paige was taking care of that situation, Joe jumped Styles from behind and choked him out. After doing so, The Samoan Submission Machine signed the contract, which signified he was the No. 1 contender.

Paige wasn't happy with the manner in which Joe went about announcing himself as Styles' challenger, but she acknowledged he was selected because of his unpredictability and willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Although Joe had been off television for a few weeks, he recently returned with a renewed sense of physicality, as he dominated the likes of Tye Dillinger and R-Truth en route to being named No. 1 contender.

The viciousness Joe displays in the ring carries over to his mic work too, as evidenced by the fact he got deeply personal with Styles a few weeks before SummerSlam.

Joe said that in order to become WWE champion, Styles sacrificed a lot in life, including being a good husband and father.

To punctuate the promo, Joe insisted he would beat Styles so badly at SummerSlam that The Phenomenal One would have no choice other than to go home and spend time with his family while on the mend from his injuries.

Styles fired back the following week, and it was clear there was no shortage of heat in the rivalry, which is something that had been missing in the WWE title scene since he dispatched Shinsuke Nakamura.

Sunday's bout was a huge opportunity for Joe, whose run on the WWE roster has been a roller-coaster ride thus far.

Although he has had some high points, such as facing Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, injuries and uneven booking have prevented him from reaching his full potential.

Despite falling short of capturing the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, Joe may finally be in a position for sustained success after pushing Styles to his limit.

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