AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Saturday Night’s Primary Event, keeping his momentum going into the Royal Rumble next weekend for his profession threatening match against Gunther.
Nakamura made the challenge to Styles with it being confirmed that Styles could be putting his profession on the road against Gunther, reigniting their storied rivalry for Saturday Night’s Primary Event and playing the best hits.
A key component of the story to the match was Nakamura’s knee being worked over and damaged in a Calf Crusher, thus causing him to collapse when he had Styles in position for the Kinshasa. Styles connected with a Kinshasa of his own, but Nakamura broke the autumn on the ropes by the count of two. It ultimately took a mix of each the Phenomenal Forearm and the Styles Clash to maintain Nakamura down for the three-count.
Styles first met Nakamura in singles motion 10 years ago at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom, with Nakamura defeating Styles after 24 minutes of motion to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. They each went to WWE in the next month, with Styles debuting within the Rumble match and Nakamura debuting in “WWE NXT” to face Sami Zayn. Styles and Nakamura had reacquainted in WWE, starting at WrestleMania 34 in 2018, but had not faced each other in singles motion since 2020. Their singles record against each other stands at 5-2-2 in favor of Styles, with considered one of those victories coming via disqualification.