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What's the story?
After a hard fought victory at Money in the Bank, AJ Styles retained his WWE Championship. WWE have now officially announced what is next for the Champion, as tonight's SmackDown Live will feature a 5 man Gauntlet Match to determine the next challenger for the title.
In case you didn’t know…
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura have been feuding for the WWE Championship ever since the King of Strong Style won the 30 man Royal Rumble match back in January. After four title matches, it looks like the rivalry has been finally put to rest.
Money in the Bank did not prove to be a good showing for the Superstars of the blue brand as both the MITB Ladder matches were won by Raw superstars - Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss.
The heart of the matter
While Nakamura is expected to move on to a feud with Jeff Hardy for the US Championship next, WWE took to social media to announce what is next for the WWE Champion.
On tonight's SmackDown Live, The Miz, Samoa Joe, Rusev, Big E and Daniel Bryan will face off in a Gauntlet Match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at WWE's next pay-per-view - Extreme Rules in July.
The Miz, Samoa Joe and Rusev took part unsuccessfully in the MITB Men's Ladder match, Daniel Bryan beat Big Cass via Submission in their singles match while Big E did not compete at the PPV, as it was Kofi Kingston who represented the tag team in the Ladder match.
According to the rules of a Gauntlet Match, two men start things off in the ring, with a new Superstar entering every time a person is eliminated, via pinfall or submission.
What's next?
It looks like tonight's SmackDown Live will kick off a new rivalry between AJ Styles and another Superstar.
Extreme Rules is set to take place on July 15th at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Who do you think will win the Gauntlet Match tonight? Have your say in the comments.
