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What’s the story?
After Rusev asked for more competition on SmackDown Live, a former world champion answered his challenge and will take him on next month at SummerSlam.
The Bulgarian Brute Rusev will take on Randy Orton in a big first-time encounter.
In case you didn’t know...
Rusev was drafted to SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup, but did not appear on the show for several months.
Rusev stated that he was waiting until he received a championship match to appear on the show and was rumoured to be in line for a WWE Championship push, but that spot was given to Jinder Mahal and Rusev had to wait until the 4th of July episode of SmackDown to debut and confront John Cena.
This lead to a flag match between Cena and Rusev at Battleground that ended with Cena’s victory.
The heart of the matter
On this week’s episode of SmackDown, Rusev took on Chad Gable in singles competition and defeated him with The Accolade. After the match, Rusev cut a promo demanding more competition in the WWE.
Moments later, Randy Orton came out and accepted Rusev’s challenge and delivered an RKO to the former United States Champion.
This encounter will be Rusev’s third SummerSlam appearance while it will be Orton’s 15th.
What’s next?
This is Orton and Rusev’s first singles match, but there isn’t much time to build up the match for SummerSlam.
The next two weeks will be crucial for the development of this feud and will more than likely see Rusev retaliate for the RKO he got hit with on this week's episode of SmackDown.
Author’s Take
This match will make a great addition to the SummerSlam card due to the fact that both competitors need a win after their losses at Battleground.
Hopefully, both men can deliver a fantastic match and give the fans their money’s worth.
