WWE fans were over the moon to see the return of AJ Styles on the October 4 "WWE SmackDown," but his return didn't go according to plan. During his match with Carmelo Hayes, Styles looked to have sustained an injury and hasn't been seen since, with conflicting reports on whether the injury is legitimate circulating around social media. One fan on X tagged Styles in a post where he basically said that the whole injury was a work, but Styles responded to the fan by explaining how bad it actually was.
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"It's called a Lisfranc injury. Look it up, it sucks! I thought when I took off my boot. I would have a bone sticking out of my foot," Styles said. The fan who called him out then apologized to the former WWE Champion and wished him a speedy recovery, to which Styles responded by accepting his apology and saying "No worries, just thought I'd give an update."
Before Styles returned to WWE TV, he was last seen challenging Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Clash at the Castle in June. Styles would make his Pro Wrestling NOAH debut in July, where he faced off with company legend Naomichi Marufuji, before staying in Japan to join WWE on their first Japanese tour in six years, and has since been a fixture of WWE live shows throughout the fall. Many wondered whether or not Styles was hurt since he wasn't being used on TV, but it was later clarified that he was healthy and simply waiting for creative to have something for him. Styles' contract with WWE is set to expire within the next year, with this run on "SmackDown" acting as a stopgap until he figures out what he wants to do next.
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