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What's the story?
AJ Styles wasn't present on this week's SmackDown Live, but the WWE Champion was in action against Shinsuke Nakamura after the cameras stopped rolling.
In case you didn't know...
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura have collided a number of times over the past few months, following their dream match back at WrestleMania. Each time Styles has found a way to defeat his challenger, which frustrated Nakamura so much that he turned heel in a bid to knock The Phenomenal one off his game, but even this didn't work.
Nakamura has since moved on in his hunt for Championship gold and is now the United States Champion after defeating Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules. Styles has also moved forward to a new challenger in the form of Samoa Joe heading into SummerSlam.
The heart of the matter
Samoa Joe cut a promo on SmackDown Live calling Styles a bad father and husband as a way to push his buttons ahead of their match, but Styles wasn't part of this week's show and only appeared after SmackDown went off the air.
It was a familiar matchup that WWE opted for when Styles took on former friend Shinsuke Nakamura in a match that lasted around 10 minutes before the WWE Champion secured the victory with a Styles Clash. It appears that even when the cameras have finished rolling, Nakamura is unable to defeat the Champion.
What's next?
Styles and Nakamura are no longer embroiled in a feud, since the WWE Champion is now looking over his shoulder at Samoa Joe and Nakamura is the United States Champion so he will be looking to fight off all challengers to his title in the coming months too.
Do you think AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura will open up a new feud in the future? Have your say in the comments section below...
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