WWE News: Huge 6-man tag team match takes place after SmackDown Live

What's the story?

The live audience in Denver, Colorado, were treated to a huge six-man tag team match following SmackDown Live last night.

The dark match for the show saw Randy Orton team up with WWE United States Champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura to take on Rusev, Baron Corbin and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal.

In case you didn't know...

Dark matches featuring the biggest names in WWE are par for the course, as the biggest wrestling promotion on the planet tries to send its crowd home happy after the long television tapings. The babyfaces almost always win these matches, much like the bouts that have taken place on house shows over the years.

AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura are undoubtedly the three biggest names on SmackDown Live today, so the Denver crowd would have been baying to see them in action. Orton decimated Aiden English during the TV taping, but AJ and Nakamura didn't compete.

The heart of the matter

Unsurprisingly, the team of Orton, AJ and Nakamura picked up the win over their heel opponents. It was Orto who picked up the victory for his team, hitting his rival Rusev with an RKO for an easy 1-2-3. The trio celebrated following the match.

#SDLive Dark Match VIDEO [10/3/17] @RandyOrton RKO's @RusevBUL to get the win for him @AJStylesOrg and @ShinsukeN pic.twitter.com/4f5JjRQxZd

— The Orton Girl (@TheOrtonGirl) October 4, 2017

The match involves three sets of opponents for this Sunday's WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, including two championship matches. Orton and Rusev will go one-on-one again in a match that will hopefully last ten seconds, in an attempt to kick-start their underwhelming rivalry.

Championship gold will be on the line as Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles defend their WWE and United States Championships respectively, against Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin. It is somewhat surprising that the former isn't defending his title inside Hell in a Cell, but this is WWE after all.

What's next?

WWE Hell in a Cell takes place this coming Sunday night and will be headlined by a match inside the eponymous structure featuring Kevin Owens and current SmackDown Live Commissioner, Shane McMahon. The match is now a Falls Count Anywhere Hell in a Cell match, undoubtedly the most superfluous stipulation addition in WWE history.

All six men from last night's dark match will also be in action. The New Day and The Usos take their tag title rivalry inside Hell in a Cell, Natalya will defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair and Bobby Roode will go up against Dolph Ziggler.

Author's take

'Trio of faces defeat trio of heels in the dark match' isn't exactly the most groundbreaking news, but it is somewhat interesting that Rusev took the pin here. Despite his supposed demotion, it is clear that WWE sees Baron Corbin ahead of the Bulgarian on the SmackDown ladder.