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.
Smackdown and 205 Live tonight will emanate from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The featured match will be a rematch from Extreme Rules between Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy with the United States Championship on the line.
Only one match is confirmed for Smackdown, whereas two are confirmed for 205 Live.
Smackdown Live! 7/17
United States Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Jeff Hardy
At Extreme Rules on Sunday, Nakamura defeated Jeff Hardy after a low blow and a quick Kinshasa. After the match, Randy Orton inexplicably came out and targetting Hardy. Was he trying to send a message to the champion? Or does he have some grudge against Hardy?
WWE is reporting that Jeff Hardy demanded his contractually obligated rematch tonight.
#AndStill WWE Champion AJ Styles
At Extreme Rules, AJ Styles defeated Rusev. It was his 9th televised WWE Championship defense of this reign and 15th all-time.
What is next for the champion? WWE.com is teasing Styles’ next challenger could make themselves known tonight.
How Will Asuka React To Her Second Straight Loss To Carmella?
Carmella retained her title on Sunday by slamming Asuka’s head into James Ellsworth’s shark cage. Despite her second straight loss to Carmella in a Championship match, WWE is indicating Asuka might not be out of the title picture yet as we get closer to SummerSlam.
Will Team Hell No Bounce Back From Their Loss To The Bludgeon Brothers?
Before their match on Sunday, the Bludgeon Brothers attacked Team Hell No. Kane’s leg was in a brace and Daniel Bryan had to start the match alone.
Kane is still not medically cleared compete tonight.
205 Live 7/12
TJP vs Noam Dar
When Noam Dar returned to 205 Live two weeks ago, he defeated TJP in under 30 seconds. Previously, TJP had been complaining he wasn’t being given tough enough competition.
TJP demanded this rematch tonight.
Lio Rush vs Akira Tozawa
Lio Rush has been chastizing Tozawa as of late. He showed up on commentary during a recent match of Tozawa’s and then after the match told him he wasn’t doing enough to be successful.
Tozawa returned the favor to Rush last week during Rush’s match. Drake Maverick then made this match official for tonight.
A big title change occurred at the WWE Extreme Rules show.
Shinsuke Nakamura beat Jeff Hardy to win the United States Title at Sunday’s (July 15, 2018) WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena on the WWE Network.
Following the match, Randy Orton made his return after being on the sidelines due to a recent surgery to have an intense staredown with Nakamura and then laying out Hardy.
This marks the first title that Nakamura has held as a member of the main roster with the sports entertainment company. Back in April, Hardy won the United States Championship for the first time from Jinder Mahal.
As a result of this title win, it makes him the second star to complete the modern Grand Slam format after completing the original format.
Obviously, WWE has yet to announce when Hardy will get his rematch for the title but with Orton coming back and having an intense moment with Nakamura, it’s likely that Orton vs. Nakamura will take place on an upcoming episode of SmackDown Live on the USA Network or at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that is slated to take place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center. Time will tell when WWE books this rematch.
What are your thoughts on this title change? Was this the right decision made by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon? Do you wanna see a rematch between these stars? Sound off in the comment section.
Former NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura returned to in-ring action during yesterday’s (Mon. July 9, 2018) WWE live event in Augusta, Maine. Nakamura suffered a defeat to AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in a No Disqualification main event match.
This was the Japanese star’s first match since being bitten by a dog a few weeks ago. The belief is that Nakamura was re-evaluated yesterday and then cleared. Nakamura will take on Styles in a non-title match tonight on SmackDown Live.
Undertaker Receives Custom Sneakers
The Undertaker recently took part in WWE’s live event from Madison Square Garden this past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018). “The Deadman” teamed up with Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman to defeat the team of Kevin Owens, Elias & Baron Corbin.
While visiting MSG, Taker apparently received some custom sneakers from Mache Custom Kicks. The design is actually pretty cool, and you can see a picture of them being presented to Taker via Mache Custom Kicks’ Twitter account:
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.
Nakamura and Tanahashi have faced each other a number of times before in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and were considered the top rivals in the company.
Both of them have main evented Wrestle Kingdom, in 2008 and 2014 for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship respectively.
Another Match Added To Chris Jericho’s Cruise
Ring of Honor Wrestling has announced that their Sea of Honor Tournament on Chris Jericho’s upcoming Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager cruise will feature another match. “Hangman” Adam Page will go against Kazarian in singles action:
Shinsuke Nakamura is in the middle of his first heel turn under the WWE banner.
The former WWE Title contender recently spoke withAsbury Park Press to promote his appearance at iPlay America in Freehold on July 7. In this interview, he was asked about his transition from babyface to heel, which started during his program with WWE Champion AJ Styles in May.
Nakamura noted that he is feeling better than before due to the fact that his character came from the heel stuff as he played a heel while he was in Japan. He pointed out that all of his created moves were when he was a heel and that when he uses the stomp to the face and then the vibration, it’s him teasing his opponent.
“So now also a lot of people (are) asking me, ‘So how do you act in the ring like crazy?’ but I think I don’t act, I just adjust. A human being has a lot of sides, like a kind of diversity, so it’s like a good side, a bad side, a crazy side, a normal side, like a man-ish side, a woman-ish side. I just pick, I adjust.”
You can add Nakamura’s name to the long list of WWE stars who want to wrestle former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan following the news a few months ago that he had been cleared to compete in a WWE ring once again.
Nakamura mentioned that wanting to wrestle Bryan was one of the reasons he decided to sign with the sports entertainment company.
“But now, I’ve got like a high possibility to wrestle with Daniel at like the biggest stage in wrestling history. So I’m so excited.”
What are your thoughts on Nakamura’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Shinsuke Nakamura is not competing at WWE’s live events from Japan this week, but he did get physical
At Friday’s WWE live event from Tokyo, Japan at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, Nakamura had a confrontation with Samoa Joe that did not exactly go his way.
Nakamura had been scheduled to challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles at the event, but is currently out of action due to injury. Nakamura came out on crutches to cut a promo for the Japanese crowd, which brought out Samoa Joe. After some trash talking back and forth, Nakamura attempted to hit Joe with a low blow, but wound up in a Coquina Clutch.
AJ Styles ran out to make the save, setting up the Styles vs. Samoa Joe main event for later in the show.
#WWETokyo Shinsuke Nakamura entered the ring with a crutch, and read a little promo before being attacked by Samoa Joe.
As noted earlier this week, Nakamura’s leg was bit by a police dog backstage at Monday’s SmackDown live event from Bakersfield, CA. It’s unclear at this time how long he’ll be out of action for.
WWE Live Event Results from Tokyo, Japan (6/30)
– The New Day defeated The Bar
– Hideo Itami defeated Shelton Benjamin.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Shelton Benjamin. Tye answered the open challenge by Benjamin.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella retained over Becky Lynch
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Sin Cara
– Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz
– Asuka and Naomi defeated Lana and Billie Kay with Peyton Royce
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers retained over The Usos, Rusev & Aiden English and Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
– WWE Champion AJ Styles retained over Samoa Joe
What are your thoughts on Nakamura’s injury? Sound off in the comment section.
Since being called up to the main roster, Shinsuke Nakamura has had 6 televised WWE Championship matches. He’s failed to win the title in all 6. He was scheduled to have his first match for the WWE United States championship this Tuesday. Unforeseen events prevented this from happening, however.
On Tuesday, it was reported Nakamura had sustained an injury on the previous day’s house show. He would not be able to face Jeff Hardy on Smackdown. Instead, Sanity’s Eric Young took his place.
It was later revealed that Nakamura had been bitten by a police dog on Tuesday, causing him to be taken to a local medical facility for treatment.
Police Statement On Dog Biting Nakamura
“On Monday, June 25, 2018, officers of the Bakersfield Police Department Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Team were conducting a protective sweep of the Rabobank Arena in preparation for the WWE Live Summerslam Heatwave Tour.
During the sweep, the EOD Team, which consisted of an explosive detection trained canine team and bomb technicians entered an area of the arena where an employee of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was present. The canine entered the room to sweep for the presence of any explosive material. As the sweep took place the WWE employee was accidentally bit by the canine. The employee sustained an injury to his lower left leg. Medical aid was immediately summoned to the scene and the employee was transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment.”
Nakamura’s 2018
There is no update on Nakamura’s condition. WWE is likely hoping he will be in good shape to compete on WWE’s shows in Japan this weekend. Nakamura is expected to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE championship on the tour. He has played a primary role in the company’s advertising of the shows as well.
It’s been a difficult 2018 for Nakamura so far. After starting the year hot by winning the 2018 men’s Royal Rumble, he then followed that up by failing to win the WWE championship from AJ Styles in 4 attempts.
More details have surfaced regarding the injury that Shinsuke Nakamura sustained.
As we noted earlier on the site, Nakamura was set to challenge Jeff Hardy for the United States Title in Ontario, CA at the Citizens Business Bank Arena for this week’s episode of SmackDown Live. However, Nakamura was pulled after WWE had announced that he suffered an injury on Monday.
In an update, both Pwinsider.com and Dave Meltzer have been able to confirm that Nakamura was pulled from the show after an incident where he was bitten by a dog. Thus, WWE would not clear him to perform in the ring.
So here’s the situation. Before Monday’s live event Bakersfield, CA, local police brought in a dog to sniff around the building as part of a security check. As the dog passed by Nakamura, the dog sniffed Nakamura and then proceeded to bite Nakamura on the leg.
The sports entertainment company has yet to clear him for in-ring action but Nakamura was backstage at Tuesday’s SmackDown TV event. It was noted that his leg is still very sore from the incident. What are your thoughts on this odd story? Sound off in the comment section.
An injury has caused a change to a title match involving Shinsuke Nakamura on tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live.
Originally, the sports entertainment company announced that Nakamura would challenge Jeff Hardy for the United States Title. However, that has changed as WWE announced through social media on Tuesday afternoon that Nakamura suffered an injury at Monday’s WWE live event and is not medically cleared to compete on tonight’s show.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on exactly the injury Nakamura sustained or how long he’ll be out of action for. Thus, Hardy will now issue an open challenge for his title on SmackDown Live.
WWE is in Ontario, CA at the Citizens Business Bank Arena for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. WWE has already announced two matches for the show – Rusev vs. Xavier Woods and Peyton Royce vs. Becky Lynch. Also, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan will appear on Miz TV.
Shinsuke Nakamura has given some insight into how Roman Reigns is received by other superstars in the WWE.
The SmackDown Live star was interviewed by Lillian Garcia at the Ace Comic Con. In this interview, he was asked about who he would like to wrestle to which Nakamura stated that he wanted to have a one-on-one match with Reigns. “I really want to face Roman Reigns again,” said Nakamura. “So, we wrestled at the Royal Rumble, just like a short moment.”
Although Reigns and Nakamura have yet to have a feud on WWE television, they did compete against each other at this year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event as the 50-Man Royal Rumble match came down to Nakamura and Reigns, which saw Nakamura win the match.
Nakamura went on record by stating that although the fans may boo Reigns, all of the superstars is well liked and respect his in-ring work as a wrestler. “Everybody want to boo him, but every wrestler says that Roman is a good wrestler,” said Nakamura. “I want to feel it,” and would like to start a program with The Big Dog.
Shinsuke Nakamura is considered a legend in Japan and a lot of people were surprised when he decided to leave NJPW to join the WWE’s development territory, NXT.
Nakamura was recently interviewed by former WWE announcer Lillian Garcia at the Ace Comic-Con where among other things he also revealed why he left New Japan Pro Wrestling for his current employers.
According to Shinsuke, it was 2015 and he felt like he had accomplished everything in Japan. He then got a call from a WWE friend when he was trying to figure out what he should do next and that’s when the former NXT Star decided to sign with the company:
“In Japan, I thought I accomplished everything, So, I tried other things. So, then in 2015, [I thought], what should I do next? At the time, my friend, who works in WWE, called me. Probably it’s time to challenge next. Then I [decided to join WWE].”
Continuing on the topic, the Japanese Star also talked about how he couldn’t follow WWE when he was a kid because he didn’t have money to go to the video shop.
Shinsuke Nakamura signed an exclusive contract with WWE in January 2016 and as a result, he was stripped of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
WWE then announced his debut for the Takeover: Dallas event in April the same year where Nakamura defeated Sami Zayn. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
The latest episode of Raw saw a surprising title change when Dolph Ziggler answered Seth Rollins’ open challenge and defeated the Architect to win the Intercontinental Championship.
Now the company has announced another Championship match for this week where we could possibly see another title switch, though this time on SmackDown Live.
General Manager Paige recently made a tweet, saying that it’s her responsibility to make the matches that we want to see, and announced a US title match between Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura:
“As General Manager of #SDLive, it’s my responsibility to make matches that you want to SEE … so, I’m making it official. Jeff Hardy will defend the US Title against Shinsuke Nakamura THIS Tuesday,”
Jeff Hardy did not defend his Championship at the Money In The Bank PPV and the Charismatic Enigma has not been involved in any long-term feud since his move to SmackDown Live.
On the other hand, Shinsuke Nakamura lost the final bout of his rivalry against AJ Styles at the PPV and he now looks to be moving away from the WWE title picture.
The two started a rivalry when Shinsuke attacked the champion 2 weeks ago and both the stars then cut a promo on each other during last week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
While not confirmed, Nakamura looks to be a worthy opponent to defeat Hardy for the title and he could certainly use the championship now after losing the feud against Styles.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up taking the title away from Jeff during his rivalry and it could be as soon as this Tuesday night during the announced bout.
Having put some of his personal troubles (including a recent DWI arrest) behind him, WWE United States Champion Champion Jeff Hardy returned to Smackdown Live on Tuesday night and vowed revenge against Shinske Nakamura.
On the june 12th edition of SmackDown Live, US Champion Hardy won a match against Nakamura via DQ. Hoping to send a message to his Money In The Bank opponent AJ Styles, Nakamura was disqualified when he hit Hardy with a low blow. He then followed it up with a Kinshasa that left Hardy out cold in the middle of the ring.
Taking a cue from his big brother Matt, Jeff Hardy channeled the stranger aspects of his persona and donned the face paint that was popularized during his run in Impact Wrestling. It remains to be seen if Hardy will go full bore with the weirdness and revive other aspects of his Willow persona, but it’s something new for the WWE veteran.
During Smackdown Live, Nakamura responded to the New-Look Hardy’s promo, warning The US Champion not to cross him again.
Nakamura has been Smackdown Live’s #1 heel, and a newly painted Hardy against the artistic and bizarre Nakamura could easily become the main feud on WWE’s blue brand.
WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura recently had an exchange of words on social media. It all started once Nakamura posted a photo of himself with Hardy at a WWE event.
This led to Hardy responding to the tweet by bringing up Nakamura’s next big match, which him challenging WWE Champion AJ Styles for the title in a Last Man Standing Match at the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena, which will air on the WWE Network.
— #BrotherNero DELETED (@JEFFHARDYBRAND) June 10, 2018
NXT TakeOver: Chicago II Panel
WWE has officially announced the NXT TakeOver: Chicago II panel, which starts at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT before the event that airs just 30-minutes later on the WWE Network on Saturday, June 16, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena.
Charly Caruso, Sam Roberts, and returning analyst Pat McAfee will be working the show. Here is the updated card for this event:
Shinsuke Nakamura is having fun with being a heel in the WWE.
WWE Champion AJ Styles and Nakamura have wrestled each other four times over the last month. Styles successfully retained the title against Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, they went to a double count-out at both the Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash events. Nakamura did beat Styles in a non-title match on a recent episode of SmackDown Live.
The sports entertainment company has booked them in yet another match. Nakamura will challenge Styles for the WWE Title in a Last Man Standing match at the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV.
One wrestling fan (@aj_autograph) posted on Twitter earlier this week that he met Nakamura at a signing event. He also shared photos of his WWE Pop! Vinyl figure signed by the lead heel on the blue brand. The funny part is the fact that Nakamura scribbled the words “no speak English”, before signing the side.
‘The King of Strong Style’ has been indeed very strong with his style of wrestling as of late, with AJ Styles receiving devastating low blows from him over the last two months. Even Styles had to retaliate back with the illegal attack to give Nakamura a taste of his own medicine.
Their most recent title bout at WWE Backlash in a no-disqualification match saw Nakamura delivering a low blow on Styles, only for Styles to return the favor. The match ended with both of them simultaneously hitting each other with a groin attack, only to be unable to answer the referee’s count of ten.
The WWE Universe is wondering what is in store in the Last Man Standing Match that’s going to take place at Money in the Bank. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the rumored ending of the match is going to take almost the same path with both Styles and Nakamura hitting each other with a low blow, but with a twist of Styles wearing a protective cup and getting a win.
AJ Styles is set to defend his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing Match at Money in the Bank on June 17th.
We now know the stipulation for the WWE Title Match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at Money in the Bank.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center on the USA Network, Nakamura and Styles did an in-ring segment that led to Nakamura attacking the WWE Champion.
The challenger would later reveal that their match at the upcoming PPV event will be a Last Man Standing Match.
The Money in the Bank pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured. Here is the updated card:
– Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Roode
– Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Lana
Shinsuke Nakamura won a match against AJ Styles on SmackDown Live this week. After this, he has earned the right to choose the stipulation for their upcoming match at Money In The Bank.
While so far, it’s not known when the Japanese Star will reveal the stipulation for the Championship match, he posted the following cryptic tweet with the hashtag – Stipulation:
As we noted before, reports suggested that the Officials are considering doing a Last Man Standing match between the SmackDown Stars a few weeks ago but whether or not the company has made a definite decision is not known yet.
Unseen Angle Of Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens
Seth Rollins continued his Intercontinental Championship open challenge on last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw and defeated Kevin Owens in a one on one match.
After the show, WWE posted the following video, showing the alternate angle of their championship bout from the Red Branded Show:
It’s worth mentioning here that after facing Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens went on to replace Jinder Mahal in the announced triple threat main event of the show and earned a spot for himself in the Money In The Bank match.
Not only that, but he wrestled a third match on the same night while teaming up with Sami Zayn and Elias to face the trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley after the show went off air
WWE fans has voiced their opinion about how WWE has been booking the feud between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Styles and Nakamura have wrestled each other four times over the last month. Styles successfully retained the title against Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, they went to a double count-out at both the Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash events.
Then, Nakamura beat Styles in a non-title match on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in London, England at the O2 Arena on the USA Network. As a result of this big win, Nakamura will now choose the stipulation for their upcoming WWE Title match at the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV.
Although the matches have been good, there have been a lot of fans who have taken to Twitter to show their frustration with the sports entertainment company and the way they have booked this feud thus far.
WWE producer and Smackdown Live creative team member Road Dogg responded to this criticism on Twitter where he wrote the following:
“You’re a fan since 2011? Thanks for being a fan but I need my job dude, I’d appreciate you not trying to get me fired. But, if you need to try…. ok ? #OUDK.
It ain’t easy but I try to rise above it. It gets to me some times tho for sure, I’m only human.”
You’re a fan since 2011? Thanks for being a fan but I need my job dude, I’d appreciate you not trying to get me fired. But, if you need to try…. ok ? #OUDK
As we’ve previously reported, RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax will defend her title against Ronda Rousey at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV) next month in Chicago.
Charlotte Flair Tweeted out the following in reaction to the announcement, warning both women to be prepared for when she wins the Women’s MITB Ladder match:
Witnessing history. Glad to say I got to see this up close! But both of you ladies need to be prepared for when I win that #MITB contract. 😎 #RondavsNiahttps://t.co/945j9t7VEf
AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura Hype Stipulation Match (Video)
Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live will feature a non-WWE Title match between champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. The winner will select the stipulation for their WWE Title match at the MITB PPV.
Both Styles and Nakamura posted videos on WWE’s Twitter account hyping the match-up tonight. Check them out here:
Styles and Nakamura first fought it out at WrestleMania 34 this past April. Styles won that match-up but was assaulted by Nakamura afterwards. At the Greatest Royal Rumble they rematched, but that ended in a double count-out and resulted in Styles assaulting Nakamura after the match in return.
At Backlash last week, Styles and Nakamura put on what was probably their best match against each other in WWE. That ended in another double count-out, as neither men could get to their feet and answer the referee’s 10 count after exchanging low blows. It should be interesting to see how things shake out at MITB next month.
A new match has been officially announced for the upcoming WWE Money in the Bank PPV.
On Monday morning, WWE SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon revealed in a post on his official Twitter account that AJ Styles would defend the WWE Title against Shinsuke Nakamura at the Money in the Bank PPV.
Every fan of these athletes is looking for a definitive winner, a CLEAR victor…so I am making it official: @AJStylesOrg vs @ShinsukeN for the @WWE Championship at #MITB. #SDLive
It should be noted that although McMahon did not mention a stipulation for the match, WWE will likely add one during this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in London, England at the O2 Arena.
Styles and Nakamura have wrestled each other three times over the last month. Styles successfully retained the title against Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, they went to a double count-out at both the Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash events.
The Money In The Bank pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured. Here is the updated card:
WWE Championship Match:
AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match:
Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. 4 TBD
Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match:
Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair vs. 6 TBD
What are your thoughts on this match? Sound off in the comment section below.
– WWE has already confirmed that WWE Champion AJ Styles will wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura under the sports entertainment banner for the third time thus far this year. Their first match went down at WrestleMania 34 with Styles winning and their second match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event that saw no winner being declared as both superstars were counted out.
Now, Styles is slated to put his title on the line against Nakamura at the upcoming Backlash pay-per-view event in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center on Sunday. The WWE Champion sent out the following tweet to hype the upcoming match:
– WWE’s annual tour of the UK is right around the corner, and more lineups for these events have been revealed, which you can see here: Belfast, Northern Ireland (May 10th) — Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe — Baron Corbin vs. Braun Strowman — Elias vs. Bobby Lashley — Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler vs. Titus Worldwide with Dana Brooke — No Way Jose, The Ascension, Breezango vs. The Revival, The Authors of Pain, Curt Hawkins — Handicap Match: The Riott Squad vs. Ember Moon and Natalya — Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn — Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley — WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Roode vs. Finn Balor vs. Jinder Mahal with Sunil Singh Dublin, Ireland (May 11th) — Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin, Samoa Joe, Jinder Mahal with Sunil Singh — Bobby Roode vs. Elias — Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens — The Revival, The Authors of Pain, Curt Hawkins vs. The Ascension, No Way Jose, Titus Worldwide with Dana Brooke — Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon, Dana Brooke vs. Natalya, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan — Raw Tag Team Champions Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs. Breezango vs. Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler — Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss — WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn
Shinsuke Nakamura’s heel turn at WrestleMania 34 was seen as the start of a long-lasting feud between him and AJ Styles so their match at the Greatest Royal Rumble was expected to be just a stop on their rivalry instead of being a culminating bout.
Now WWE has confirmed that their match at the show was not the last encounter we’ll see between the two by announcing a rematch for the upcoming Backlash PPV next month.
The match between Nakamura and Styles at last night’s show ended in a double count-out after AJ speared the Japanese star onto the announcer’s table and they both kept brawling outside as the referee counted to ten.
Though the duo didn’t stop fighting even after the bell rang and the segment ended with the WWE Champion delivering a phenomenal forearm to the former NXT Star onto to the ringside floor.
After the show went off air, WWE announced on their website that the Phenomenal One will once again defend his title against the former NXT Champion at the upcoming dual branded PPV.
Following the announcement, here is the updated Backlash match card:
WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. The Miz
Raw Women’s Championship: Nia Jax (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Carmella (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
WWE Backlash will take place on May 6, 2018, at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.