WWE News: Title match added to Extreme Rules at the last minute

What's the story?

WWE has announced that Finn Balor will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura on the Extreme Rules kickoff show.

In case you didn't know…

Finn Balor defeated Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 35 to become a two-time holder of the Intercontinental Championship.

Since then, the Irishman has struggled for television time as a member of the SmackDown Live roster, with his only televised title defences in the last three months coming against Elias at The Shield's Final Chapter event and against Andrade at WWE Super ShowDown.

On the latest episode of SmackDown Live, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Balor in a non-title match to cement his status as the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship – a title he has never held.

The heart of the matter

Speaking on the ‘WWE Now’ YouTube show ahead of Extreme Rules, Cathy Kelley broke the news that Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura will take place on the pay-per-view’s kickoff show.

Excluding the 51-man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown, this will be Nakamura’s first PPV appearance since he teamed with Rusev to challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 35.

It will also be the first time that the two men have met one-on-one at a PPV event since signing with WWE.

What's next?

As well as Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, 10 other matches are scheduled for Extreme Rules, including the ‘Winner Takes All’ tag team match between Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch and Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans for the Universal Championship and Raw Women’s Championship.

The Undertaker will also be in action, teaming with Roman Reigns against Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre, while Samoa Joe is set to challenge Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship.