AJ Styles is about to place his profession on the road against GUNTHER on the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next weekend, but before that, he’ll face considered one of his years-long rivals, each in WWE and for a handful of matches in NJPW, Shinsuke Nakamura. “WWE SmackDown” General Manager Nick Aldis invited Styles to Friday’s show after hearing he was gambling together with his profession, and he revealed in a backstage segment that Nakamura desired to speak with him.
Nakamura asked if Styles was really willing to lose all the pieces on the Rumble. He said if that’s the case, before Styles steps within the ring with GUNTHER, Nakamura wanted him to prove he’s still “Phenomenal.” He challenged him to a match at Saturday Night’s Major Event, which Styles accepted.
Styles and Nakamura placed on a classic at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 10 back in 2016. The pair also faced off on opposite sides of assorted tag teams for 3 other matches in Japan. Following each their signings to WWE, the corporate kept them apart for well over a yr before locking them in a feud in 2018, following Nakamura’s Royal Rumble victory. The pair faced off at WrestleMania 34, with five televised singles matches to follow. Their most up-to-date match got here on a May 2020 edition of “SmackDown.”
The match is the fourth on the SNME card, with the four-way match to determined Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre’s first opponent set to primary event. Elsewhere on the cardboard, Cody Rhodes will face Jacob Fatu and Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY will put the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on the road against Judgment Day’s Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez.