WWE Champion AJ Styles continues to hype his next title defense against Samoa Joe at the upcoming WWE Hell In a Cell pay-per-view that takes place on Sunday, September 16, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center and will air on the WWE Network.
Styles is slated to address Joe on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live and prior to the show, the WWE Champion took to his official Twitter account to write the following about the feud and send a message. He wrote, “It’s not enough to attack from behind or to play games with a man’s family. A match at #HIAC isn’t about sneaking around or phone calls…it’s about proving over and again why I. Am. Phenomenal. #AndStill.”
It’s not enough to attack from behind or to play games with a man’s family. A match at #HIAC isn’t about sneaking around or phone calls…it’s about proving over and again why I. Am. Phenomenal. #AndStill
Several notable names are backstage at this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Toronto, Canada at the Scotiabank Arena that will air on the USA Network including former WWE Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella. PWinsider.com also notes that WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus, Maryse, and Brie Bella are among those backstage.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if Stratus will appear on the show to hype her match against former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss at the Evolution pay-per-view event on Sunday, October 28, 2018 in Long Island, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum but is most likely just visiting.
As we noted earlier on the site, Maryse is expected to be a regular character going forward to hype her mixed tag team match alongside The Miz against Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella WWE Hell In a Cell.
General Manager Paige has announced a number of interesting matches and segments for the special ‘SummerSlam follow up’ episode of SmackDown Live.
The first segment which has been announced for the show will see the WWE Champion AJ Styles apologizing for his actions during his SummerSlam match with Samoa Joe.
A #NoDQ championship rematch, a highly-anticipated battle, an exclusive interview, AND an explanation…
The second segment will see the Inaugural SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch explaining why she attacked Charlotte Flair after their triple threat match at the PPV.
When it comes to matches, Jeff Hardy has been announced to face the former World Champion Randy Orton in the opening bout of the night.
However, the most interesting announcement coming from the General Manager is the announcement of a SummerSlam rematch for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
The Championship match will see the New Day challenging the title holders Bludgeon Brothers and it’s going to be a No Disqualification bout.
What’s worth mentioning here is that Erick Rowan of the Bludgeon Brothers reportedly suffered an injury during his SummerSlam match and he didn’t appear on the SmackDown Live event the night after.
With the announced title bout, a lot of people are speculating that WWE could be planning a title change to give the former Wyatt Family member some time off.
Though whether these speculations turn out to be true will only be revealed this Tuesday night on SmackDown Live and we’ll have to tune in to the show to find out.
Samoa Joe defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles last night via disqualification.
Joe has been taunting Styles for abandoning his family in order to be WWE Champion. This reached a boiling point last night when Styles’ family were watching ringside. Joe grabbed the mic mid-match and proclaimed to Styles’ daughter that if “Daddy” wasn’t coming home that he would be her new daddy.
This set Styles into a rage and he would later be disqualified for using a steel chair on Joe. Styles then left the arena along with his wife and daughter.
WWE cameras caught up to Styles as he was leaving and captured his apology to his family on video.
AJ Styles’ WWE Championship Reign
Last week, AJ Styles made history when he became the longest-running champion in SmackDown history. Styles’ WWE Championship reign began on November 7th, 2017 when he defeated Jinder Mahal in Manchester, England. Since then, he has defended the title 9 times on WWE programming:
Styles defeated Jinder Mahal (Clash of Champions 2017)
AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn – 2-on-1 Handicap match (Royal Rumble 2018)
Styles defeated Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn – 6-Pack Challenge (Fastlane 2018)
AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (WrestleMania 34)
Double Count Out against Shinsuke Nakamura (Greatest Royal Rumble)
No Contest against Shinsuke Nakamura (Backlash 2018)
defeated Shinsuke Nakamura – Last Man Standing (Money in the Bank 2018)
Possible Release Date For AJ Styles’ WWE 365 Episode
The WWE Network will be airing a new episode of WWE 365 that will focus on WWE Champion AJ Styles, who is slated to defend his title against Samoa Joe at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place tonight (August 19, 2018) in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center.
According to WWE Network News, the WWE Champion revealed that his documentary will premiere in November, which would mean that it would air following the Survivor Series event on November 18th, 2018. The debut episode of the series looked at a year in the career of Kevin Owens.
WWE Releases NXT UK Promo
The journey of bringing the WWE NXT UK brand to the WWE Network has begun as the company held TV tapings last month at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England. Over the weekend, the company released a promo for the series that will be airing sometime this year on WWE’s streaming service, which you can see here:
Our staff has released their predictions for the SummerSlam show, which you can read here.
What are your thoughts on this show that will focus on Styles? Do you plan on watching it? Sound off in the comment section.
AJ Styles has broken a record during his current reign as WWE Champion.
Back on a November episode of SmackDown Live, “The Phenomenal One” defeated Jinder Mahal to capture the title. He has reigned as “The Champ That Runs The Camp” on Tuesday nights ever since.
Styles has successfully defended his title in various matches against the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. He’s currently preparing for yet another title defense, this time against Samoa Joe at SummerSlam this weekend on pay-per-view (PPV).
It looks like he’ll head into “The Biggest Part Of The Summer” with a record under his belt. Styles has now reigned as WWE Champion for over 281 days. With that stat, he’s now the longest reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history.
He surpasses future WWE Hall Of Famer JBL in the record books. JBL took to Twitter to react to the news. He praised “The Phenomenal One” for breaking his record and called Styles a world class individual and athlete:
“My record has been broken and I Could not be more proud of ?@AJStylesOrg? -a world class individual and athlete, looking forward to watching this incredible performer Sunday at @WWE Summerslam.”
My record has been broken and I Could not be more proud of ?@AJStylesOrg? -a world class individual and athlete, looking forward to watching this incredible performer Sunday at @WWE Summerslam. pic.twitter.com/VjT33wKsVj
AJ Styles is now the longest reigning WWE Champion in Smackdown history. He passed JBL’s record recently to earn the honors. JBL himself commented on Styles’ achievement.
My record has been broken and I Could not be more proud of ?@AJStylesOrg? -a world class individual and athlete, looking forward to watching this incredible performer Sunday at @WWE Summerslam. pic.twitter.com/VjT33wKsVj
John Bradshaw Layfield won the WWE Championship on June 27th, 2004 from Eddie Guerrero. He would hold the title until WrestleMania 21 when he lost the title to John Cena. At that point, the title was drafted from Smackdown to Raw.
In 2016, the second brand extension era began and the WWE Championship once again became the property of Smackdown. AJ Styles won the title from Jinder Mahal on November 7th, 2017 in Manchester and has held for 281 straight days since.
AJ Styles WWE Champion – Longest Reigning WWE Champion in Smackdown History
Styles currently ranks #13 all-time in combined days spent with the WWE Championship. In a little over 40 days, Styles will pass CM Punk for the 12th spot on that list.
Combined Days Spent as WWE Champion:
Bruno Sammartino – 4,040 days
Hulk Hogan – 2,185 days
Bob Backlund – 2,138 days
John Cena – 1, 257 days
Pedro Morales – 1027 days
Randy Orton – 658 days
Bret Hart – 654 days
Triple H – 609 days
Brock Lesnar – 579 days
Stone Cold Steve Austin – 529
“Macho Man” Randy Savage – 520 days
CM Punk – 562
AJ Styles – 421
Styles will take on Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship Sunday at SummerSlam. Joe has yet to win a title belt on the main roster.
AJ Styles Tries To Attack Samoa Joe After SmackDown
The final segment of this week’s episode of SmackDown Live saw Samoa Joe and AJ Styles building the final hype for their upcoming Championship match at SummerSlam.
During the segment, Joe tried to bring Styles’ family into their feud again and the former TNA Star read a letter which was allegedly from the WWE Champion’s wife.
After the show, WWE posted the following backstage video where AJ tries to attack the Samoan Submission Machine and several SmackDown Stars try to stop him from doing so:
The Club Reunites After SmackDown
Following the mentioned backstage segment and the 205 Live episode, Styles came out again and reunited with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for a 6 man tag team dark match.
The trio formerly known as the Club, faced the team of Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, and United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, in a match that was reportedly shorter than the entrance of the involving superstars.
The match wrapped up in less than 4 minutes and the finish saw Shinsuke Nakamura hitting Gallows with a Kinshasa only to be hit with a Styles Clash. The WWE Champion then went on to pin the former NXT Star and won the match for his team.
AJ Styles has given some insight into his second reign as WWE Champion and his journey to being one of the top stars for the company.
The WWE Champion spoke with Joshua Caudill for Dirtforkto promote the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place this Sunday (August 19, 2018) in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center on the WWE Network where is set to defend the title against Samoa Joe.
Second WWE Title Reign
Styles was asked about his second title run and being the guy WWE depends on where he noted that the first title reign is always the most exciting but the second time around is the most rewarding as he won the title from Jinder Mahal in England, which he noted is something that WWE never had before so it was cool and the fact that he’s the longest reigning WWE SmackDown Champion in history is also very cool. “I enjoy being the guy that people depend on. That’s rewarding to me. To be able to hold on to the championship this long means I’m doing something right. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. My job is to make sure that people are entertained and at SummerSlam, it will be no different. I can promise you that.”
Turning Point
Styles also touched upon when he thought was the moment once WWE Chairman Vince McMahon saw something in him. The SmackDown star noted that he was looked at as a mid-card at best in the WWE and that the plan was to be okay with that because WWE is a great job. However, he didn’t think that’s where he was going to be but there was that time when he made his debut, McMahon thought the fan reactions at the Royal Rumble was a fluke as he didn’t think much of him. “I don’t even think I was supposed to be on Raw that next Monday. But the turning point where Vince really saw something in me was when I had a regular match, a babyface match, went out and did my thing. I came back to gorilla and Vince says, ‘Come here for a second. I’ve got other guys who can do exactly what you just did out there. You didn’t do anything special. I need a pit bull. I need a guy who just attacks. I need a guy who gets after it.’”
Styles continued to say that he told him that he knew a guy which was him and that he had the opportunity to be on Miz TV and handled it well where he thinks the way that turned out was the turning point for McMahon. He brought up how he would then beat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 32 and become the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship against Roman Reigns where they had some fantastic matches. “That was the turning point. That’s when things changed and that’s how I became the A.J. Styles that you know now.”
Check out the complete interview atDirtfork.com. Also, remember to join us here at SEScoops.com this Sunday evening for live results coverage of this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
What are your thoughts on Style’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Tonight’s episodes of Smackdown and 205 Live will emanate from Orlando, Fl. WWE’s second-home away from Connecticut is also where many Superstars choose to live. Tonight, recent NXT graduates will clash in their adopted second hometown.
2 matches are confirmed for Smackdown tonight and one more is scheduled for 205 Live.
Smackdown 8/7
AJ Styles Addresses Samoa Joe
Tonight, the WWE Champion will address his SummerSlam challenger. Two weeks ago, Joe attacked Styles from behind before signing the SummerSlam contract. Last week, Joe accused Styles of neglecting his family in order to obtain success in WWE.
Styles will address Joe’s comments tonight.
Smackdown Tag-Team Tournament Finals
The New Day vs. the Bar
Smackdown General Manager Paige created a 4-team tournament to determine who challenges the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam. After defeating the Usos last week, the Bar will take on New Day tonight. New Day defeated Sanity two weeks ago to make it to the finals of the #1 contender’s tournament.
The Bludgeon Brothers will likely be watching this match closely.
Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs The Iiconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce)
Are we getting women’s tag-team championships? There sure is a lot of pairing up going on in the women’s divisions for that not to be the case. Granted, the same thing happened on 205 Live and then sort of fizzled out.
Lynch and Flair will be on the same side tonight but will be 2/3 of a triple threat match at SummerSlam. it will be interesting to see how well they work together in this match tonight.
4 NXT graduates return to Orlando for this tag match tonight.
The Miz’s SummerSlam Announcement
Daniel Bryan challenged the Miz to a match at SummerSlam. Miz declined the challenge, however. He said he is simply too much of a star to wrestle Daniel Bryan at the biggest event of the summer.
Miz has said he’ll have a better announcement regarding his involvement at SummerSlam tonight.
205 Live 8/7 Preview
Mustafa Ali vs Hideo Itami
The heart of 205 Live, Mustafa Ali, returns tonight to take on Hideo Itami. Two perennial contenders for the title meet one-on-one tonight. The winner likely finds themselves in the mix of things for the first Cruiserweight title shot following SummerSlam.
Cedric Alexander Reacts To Drew Gulak’s Attack
Cedric Alexander knows he’s in for a challenge at SummerSlam when he defends against Drew Gulak. The man who has been campaigning for a better 205 Live attacked him last week ahead of their SummerSlam tilt.
WWE has released the full match between John Cena and AJ Styles from SummerSlam 2016 on their YouTube account and the bout can be seen in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPOtDStsLUU
This was the second match of their rivalry and the first big match for Styles after splitting up with the Club and being drafted to SmackDown Live during the 2016 drafts.
Styles scored a clean victory over the Leader of Cenation. This win eventually earned him a WWE Championship match against Dean Ambrose and is believed to be the start of AJ’s run as the face of SmackDown Live.
Raw Stars Work SmackDown Dark Match
We noted before how the dark match after SmackDown Live this week saw WWE Champion AJ Styles battling The United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a Champion vs. Champion match.
However, this wasn’t the only dark match of the night and for the surprise of fans, two Raw Stars Titus O’Neil and Mike Kanellis worked a bout before the show.
The match saw O’Neil defeating Kanellis who has been off TV for a while. No word yet on why the company used these Raw stars on SmackDown Live but a speculation is that they used hometown star Titus to boost ticket sales for the show.
WWE Champion AJ Styles has given his take on WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.
‘The face that runs the place’ on SmackDown Live recently spoke to Noelle Foley at San Diego Comic Con. Styles addressed Brock Lesnar’s WWE schedule, which allows him to make millions of dollars without having to be on the road full time.
“Well, you know what? I don’t care what anybody says,” Styles said. “Brock Lesnar is what we call ‘a draw.’ People come see Brock Lesnar and the fact he’s not wrestled that’s on WWE. That’s on Kurt Angle and anybody else that has anything to do with it.”
Styles noted that he does what he does and that he is a fighting champion because he is going to defend his title, give it the respect that it deserves and can’t say much about Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar returns to WWE television this coming Monday when Raw returns to Miami, FL. The Universal Champion will then face Roman Reigns at SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar is rumored to be leaving WWE after SummerSlam.
What are your thoughts on Styles comments? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE is scheduled to release a DVD on the career of WWE Champion AJ Styles on November 6th to fans in the United States.
The three-disc DVD that is titled, “AJ Styles – Most Phenomenal Matches,” features 20 full-length matches spanning his entire career with the WWE from January of 2016 – July of 2018 that includes matches with Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns as well as all of his WrestleMania matches including against Shane McMahon and Shinsuke Nakamura and more.
DISC ONE This Is Phenomenal Traveling the World AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho – RAW • January 25, 2016 WWE Tag Team Championship Match: AJ Styles & Chris Jericho vs. New Day – RAW • March 7, 2016 First WrestleMania AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho – WrestleMania 32 • April 3, 2016 Fatal 4-Way Match to Determine the #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Cesaro – RAW • April 4, 2016 The Booing Stopped WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles – Payback • May 1, 2016 Extreme Rules Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles – Extreme Rules • May 22, 2016 The Face That Runs The Place AJ Styles vs. John Cena – SummerSlam • August 21, 2016
DISC TWO
WWE Champion WWE World Championship Match: Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles – Backlash • September 11, 2016 TLC Match for the WWE Championship: AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose – TLC • December 4, 2016 The Elephant in the Room WWE Championship Match: AJ Styles vs. John Cena – Royal Rumble • January 29, 2017 Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Bray Wyatt – SmackDown Live • February 14, 2017 AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon – WrestleMania 33 • April 2, 2017 Earning Respect Triple Threat Match to Determine the #1 Contender for the United States Championship: AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin – SmackDown Live • April 11, 2017
DISC THREE
A Special Moment AJ Styles vs. Chad Gable – SmackDown Live • July 4, 2017 Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship: AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho – SmackDown Live • July 25, 2017 WWE Championship Match: Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles – SmackDown Live • November 7, 2017 Going Beast Hunting Champion vs. Champion Match: AJ Styles (WWE Champion) vs. Brock Lesnar (Universal Champion) – Survivor Series • November 19, 2017 WWE Championship Match: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura- WrestleMania 34 • April 8, 2018 Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Money in the Bank • June 17, 2018 The Story Continues AJ Styles vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas – SmackDown Live • July 17, 2018
Do you plan to buy this DVD? Sound off in the comment section.
Last night’s (Tues. July 24, 2018) episode of SmackDown Live featured some great moments. Andrade “Cien” Almas was in action against Rusev, The New Day collided with Sanity once again and Samoa Joe emerged as the next opponent for AJ Styles’ WWE Title.
After SmackDown Live went off-air WWE held its tapings of 205 Live as well. When the Cruiserweights wrapped up their show, WWE put on a big Six-Man Tag Team dark match featuring some of SmackDown Live’s biggest stars.
WWE Champion AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy took on the team of United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro). “The Phenomenal One,” Bryan and Hardy picked up the victory and sent the crowd come happy:
We now know who AJ Styles will be facing at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Evansville, IN at the Ford Center on the USA Network, SmackDown General Manager Paige revealed the challenger for the WWE Champion at this event, which was Samoa Joe.
As early as last week, there was a lot of speculation online that Joe would be in fact the opponent for Styles at this show due to a few reasons including a cryptic message on his official Twitter account that had fans talking about this potential match and Joe vs. Styles is being advertised for upcoming live events including the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event that is slated to take place on Sunday, September 16, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center.
The SummerSlam pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured.
Updated SummerSlam Card
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins
Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman – if Owens wins then he gets the MITB contract
What are your thoughts on WWE announcing this match for this upcoming pay-per-view event? Is this the match you wanted to see? Sound off in the comment section.
Smackdown and 205 Live this week will emanate from Evansville, IN.
3 matches have been confirmed for tonight’s shows thus far.
On 205 Live, a fatal 4-way match will take place to determine a new #1 contender to Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight Championship. Meanwhile, on Smackdown, Paige will announce who AJ Styles will defend his WWE Championship against at SummerSlam.
Smackdown 7/24
Paige Reveals AJ Styles’ SummerSlam Opponent
Smackdown General Manager, Paige, has announced she will reveal who Styles’ new challenger is tonight. Whether she announces a match to determine AJ’s next challenger or just announces a name outright isn’t yet known, however.
Styles’ last title defense came against Rusev at Extreme Rules. Rusev had won a gauntlet match on Smackdown to earn the title shot.
Non-Title Match
Becky Lynch vs Carmella
SummerSlam title match implications will be on the line tonight in a match between Becky Lynch and Carmella. This match was made last week with the stipulation that if Lynch is victorious she will earn a title match against Carmella at SummerSlam.
Lynch has gone 4-0 since Money in the Bank on Smackdown. She’s won single’s matches on 4 of the last 5 episodes of Smackdown. In that time she has defeated Billie Kay, Sonya Deville, Peyton Royce, and Mandy Rose.
Smackdown Tag-Team Tournament
The New Day vs Sanity
In a rematch from Extreme Rules, New Day take on Sanity tonight. The winner moves on to the finals of the 4-team tournament and will meet the winner of the Bar vs the Usos.
Sanity defeated New Day on the Extreme Rules Kickoff show but tonight is the match which has title implications on the line.
Why Did Randy Orton Almost Rip Jeff Hardy’s Ear Off?
Twice now we have seen Randy Orton target Jeff Hardy during a match against Shinsuke Nakamura. Why is Orton targetting Jeff Hardy? What is the status of Jeff Hardy’s earlobe following last Tuesday’s encounter with the Viper?
We will hopefully have answers to these questions after tonight.
Is WWE Building Towards The Miz vs Daniel Bryan At SummerSlam?
All signs point to the long-awaited Miz vs Daniel Bryan one-on-one match to take place at SummerSlam. Last week, Bryan crashed a mock-funeral Miz held for Team Hell No. This week should only further the tension between the two vastly different Superstars.
205 Live 7/24 Preview
#1 Contenders Match
Mustafa Ali vs Hideo Itami vs TJP vs Drew Gulak
Just one match has been announced for 205 Live tonight. Mustafa Ali, Hideo Itami, TJP, and Drew Gulak will battle for the right to face Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship.
TJP is the only former Champion in the match. Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali for the vacant title on the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff show. He also defeated Hideo Itami on the July 10th episode of 205 Live. He’s faced Drew Gulak 5x in the history of 205 Live. Alexander has won 3 of those matches to Gulak and lost the other two. Gulak’s only victories over Alexander were both in early 2017.
WWE Champion, AJ Styles, was asked recently which side of the Bullet Club civil war angle he sides with. While it may have been easier for Styles to give a vague answer of “Those guys are all my friends,” or something similar, Styles did not hesitate to pick a side.
When asked if he was with Team Kenny or the Firing Squad, Styles was adamant. “I don’t know if you watched my last match that I had over in Japan with New Japan,” Styles said in reference to the night Omega kicked him out of Bullet Club. “I kind of got the crap kicked out of me by those guys. So, I’m a Firing Squad kind of guy.”
Bullet Club, January 5th, 2016
Following his match the night after the Tokyo Dome show in 2016, Omega turned on Styles. He gave him a 1-Winged Angel and then continued to deliver the boots to him.
The Young Bucks separated Omega from Styles while Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows tended to Styles. As Anderson and Gallows were holding Styles, however, the Bucks gave him a double super-kick. Anderson and Gallows then later joined in the beating of the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Omega would announce he was moving up to heavyweight afterward and Styles would be in WWE’s Royal Rumble later that month.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows would join Styles in WWE just months later, however. They would form “the Club” with Styles and it appeared as though Styles and the tag-team managed to work things out between them off-camera.
AJ Styles’ opponent for SummerSlam is expected to be announced on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live by General Manager Paige.
“The Phenomenal One” comes off a longtime feud with former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura, which stretched back all the way to WrestleMania 34. He also defended his WWE Title against Rusev at Extreme Rules.
Cageside Seats is confirming recent speculation that former NXT Champion Samoa Joe is next in line to feud with the ex-TNA poster child. They report that Styles is currently scheduled to go one-on-one with “The Destroyer” at SummerSlam. Joe squashed Tye Dillinger on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
Styles put on a great match with recent NXT call-up Andrade “Cien” Almas, in a bout that the WWE Universe likely wouldn’t be opposed to seeing again at some point down the road on a much grander stage. Styles vs. Joe will certainly be an enjoyable experience for SmackDown Live viewers as we approach “The Biggest Party Of The Summer.”
WWE has officially announced a match and segment for next week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
The segment will see SmackDown General Manager Paige reveal who AJ Styles will defend the WWE Title against at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that is slated to go down on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live from Wilkes Barre, PA, Styles defeated Andrade Almas in a non-title match. Also on this show, Samoa Joe beat Tye Dillinger in a singles match and after the match, Joe posted a cryptic message on his official Twitter account that has fans talking about this tweet potentially leading to Joe challenging Styles for the WWE Title at SummerSlam.
How many more must pay before you give me what I want? You keep denying, I keep collecting.
As of this writing, that match has yet to be confirmed but Joe vs. Styles is being advertised for upcoming live events.
The match that has been announced for this show is WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella vs. Becky Lynch in a non-title match with the stipulation that if Lynch wins then she gets a title shot at SummerSlam.
Who do you think Styles will defend the WWE Title against at SummerSlam?
A big match has a been announced for next week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network that will see Candice LeRae, Kairi Sane, Nikki Cross and Bianca Belair collide in a Fatal 4-Way Match with a future opportunity to challenge Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Title.
Although this has yet to be announced by the company, it’s likely that the winner of this match will face Baszler for the strap at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 event that takes place on Saturday, August 18, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on WWE’s streaming service.
AJ Styles Hypes
WWE Champion AJ Styles is slated to make his next title defense against Rusev at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view event on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena that will air on the WWE Network. Styles went out the following to hype the title match:
“Don’t waste your money on streamers and noise makers. #RusevDay is just another day for me…another day to defend the #WWEChampionship and proclaim #IAmPhenomenal. #ExtremeRules #AndStill @WWENetwork.”
– WWE has launched a new line of T-shirts that are specifically designed to enhance a women’s figure.
Calling it the “Curvy Collection,” WWE’s new Curvy Fit Women’s T-shirts are “softly shaped to complement a plus-sized woman’s curves – making it perfect for lounging around the house or wearing out on the town.”
The line features Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, AJ Styles, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Alexa Bliss and Randy Orton.
Jax reacted to the news with the following:
I’m beyond happy that this is now a thing!! I’m glad we are including all shapes and sizes ??? https://t.co/GpdHyAlji4
— Savelina-Fanene.Com | Fansite (@SavelinaFCom) July 12, 2018
– Former WWE star Chris Nowinski was backstage at Raw on Monday at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. In this Instagram post, he mentions catching up with Natalya.
https://instagram.com/p/BlDZ6njAX8F/
– Tucker Knight is now on Instagram @tuckerknightwwe. The official Instagram account of WWE NXT is following Knight, thus confirming its legitimacy.
On Sunday Night, Rusev will receive his first WWE World Championship opportunity. The 32-year-old has held the United States on 2 occasions but has never challenged for either WWE-recognized World Championship.
Rusev sat down with ESPN recently and spoke about what the match means to him.
“Becoming heavyweight champion and holding the top title is on my bucket list,” Rusev said. “That spot is always getting tighter and tighter, but why not? A man can always dream.”
Few are picking Rusev to defeat Styles on Sunday but that does not mean a future World Title run for him is out of the question.
“I’ve been focused and I’m in the zone,” Rusev continued. “I’ve been training harder than any other day.”
After being signed to the company in 2010, Rusev would debut on the main roster in 2014.
“It’s great,” Rusev said. “Finally being able to climb up all the way to the top. I’ve worked hard enough and done everything I’ve needed to do. It just feels good that I have this opportunity, and I’m not going to waste it.”
Rusev earned his title match against AJ Styles by winning a Gauntlet match on the June 19th edition of Smackdown. After his victory, Rusev spoke to WWE.com correspondents.
“I’ve never had an opportunity before for a World Heavyweight Championship,” Rusev explained. “I couldn’t miss the chance. Aiden was there the whole way and Lana, of course, helping me morally in everything.”
After his victory, Aiden English taunted Styles and got punched for his efforts. Rusev also spoke to WWE.com regarding what he and English feel was a cheap-shot on the champion’s behalf.
“We’re trying to have this feel-good moment, all fun and games, and all of a sudden (Styles) just punches him,” Rusev said. “I thought it was the wrong move.”
5 matches have been confirmed for WWE’s Smackdown and 205 Live shows tonight. Both shows will emanate from the SNHU Arena in Manchester, NH.
Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles will go one-on-one for the 7th time in their rivalry tonight, not including house shows. It will be just the second time they have faced each other without a single’s title on the line.
Additionally, the main event of 205 Live will feature a Cruiserweight Championship match. Cedric Alexander will defend the title against top contender, Hideo Itami.
Smackdown Live 7/10/18 Preview
Team Hell No Kick-Off Smackdown
MizTV will kick off Smackdown tonight. The Miz’s guests will be Daniel Bryan and Kane.
While not invited on the show, one might suspect Team Hell No’s opponents at Extreme Rules, the Bludgeon Brothers, might make an appearance.
Even though Bryan and the Miz aren’t currently in a program with one another, the two long-time rivals always have an interesting back and forth whenever they are in the same segment.
AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura
At Extreme Rules, both AJ and Nakamura will have championship matches. Styles will defend the WWE Championship against Rusev and Nakamura will challenge Jeff Hardy for the US title.
This will be the 7th match between the two (not including house shows). They are 2-2-2 against one another:
WrestleMania 34 – AJ Styles (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura – WWE Title
Greatest Royal Rumble – AJ Styles (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (double count-out) – WWE title
Backlash 2018 – AJ Styles (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (No-contest) – WWE Title
Smackdown May 15th, 2018 – Shinsuke Nakamura defeated AJ Styles
Money in the Bank 2018 – AJ Styles (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura – WWE title.
Asuka vs James Ellsworth – Lumberjack Match
Asuka will challenge Carmella on Sunday for a chance to win her first title on the main roster. She’ll get to enact some revenge on James Ellsworth tonight, however.
Ellsworth’s return to WWE at the Money in the Bank PPV caused enough of a distraction to allow Carmella to pull off a huge upset and defend her title.
Asuka might be looking for revenge tonight but rest assured Carmella is probably looking for an opportunity to soften up her opponent for Sunday.
Tye Dillinger vs Samoa Joe
Last week in a WWE exclusive, R-Truth volunteered up Tye Dillinger to take on Samoa Joe this week.
Truth had originally been trying to recruit Tye as his newest tag-team partner but some comic hijinks resulted in Truth challenging Joe on Tye’s behalf instead.
Sin Cara vs Andrade “Cien” Almas
In a match that has been pushed to the back-burner for a few weeks, Andrade Almas will finally face Sin Cara tonight.
The angle they have been going with is that Sin Cara and Almas used to be friends but now Almas has adopted a new outlook under the guidance of Zelina Vega.
205 Live 7/10/18 Preview
Only one match/segment is scheduled for 205 Live tonight.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Cedric Alexander (c) vs Hideo Itami
Cedric Alexander insisted 205 Live General Manager, Drake Maverick, make this match as Itami defeated top-contenders Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali in a triple threat match on June 19th.
Maverick was hesitant only because Itami has been interfering in matches and the GM didn’t want to reward bad behavior.
Alexander is the 8th champion in the title’s lineage and the belt is currently in its 10th reign.
Not including house shows, Alexander will be attempting to defend the belt for the 3rd time.
Should Alexander be victorious tonight, his reign will move into the second longest all-time position, passing Enzo Amore’s 2nd run with the belt of 93 days. The longest reign in title history was Neville’s 197-day run between January and August of 2017.
Neville’s 7-title defenses during this reign is also a record.
AJ Styles is closing in on a significant milestone as WWE Champion.
As of this writing, Styles has been WWE Champion for 243 days. This is his second title reign, during which he’s defended the title 59 times, with only 7 defenses on television / pay-per-view since November.
Including his previous run with the title, Styles has been WWE Champion for a total of 383 days. Should he remain champion through next week, Styles will surpass WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels’ career record of 396 days.
The next milestone for Styles after surpassing Shawn Michaels’ record would be CM Punk’s 463 days as WWE Champion.
Of course, the man who was WWE Champion more days than anyone else in history is the late Bruno Sammartino, who held the title for a staggering 4,040 days (11+ years) during his illustrious career.
AJ Styles is slated to make his next title defense against Rusev at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view event on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena.
What are your thoughts on Styles’ reign as champion?
Add WWE star Tyler Breeze to the list of professional wrestlers getting in on the video game streaming community. The Breezango member has officially launched his very own Twitch channel, Breezeman88, Where he will play games and chat with fans.
Breeze has been prominently featured on Xavier Woods’ gaming channel, UpUpDownDown, several times in the past few years:
Well guys. New development! You can now subscribe! @Twitch Breezeman88 Check it out!
WWE Champion AJ Styles and SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Carmella recently paid a visit to Melbourne, Australia for a promotional tour. You can check out “The Phenomenal One” and Carmella’s highlights from their trip in the video below:
Kenny Omega has his eyes on a pair of top WWE talents should he execute a potential move to the professional wrestling juggernaut.
“The Cleaner” recently joined WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report, and was asked about the possibility of signing with WWE. He also touched on potential matches that await him in the promotion. Omega named two potential opponents specifically that fans would love to see him share the ring with – Seth Rollins and AJ Styles:
“When I think about the possibilities and stuff like that it does get me excited,” Omega said. “Every promotion has so many good guys – there’s no way that I would have a bad time going almost anywhere because the depths to the talent is so deep. WWE right now has a very great collection of talent.
“I would feel like it was a missed opportunity if I couldn’t work with them at some point. If I could work with Seth Rollins at some point in time that would be a lot of fun. And of course, the huge name amongst all that, is AJ (Styles). I would love to work with AJ at some point. And I would like to be able to do it while I can still move, you know what I mean?”