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What's the story?
This week's SmackDown Live saw Daniel Bryan announce a Handicap match for the Royal Rumble where AJ Styles would defend his title against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
After SmackDown Live went off the air, Styles had more support, as he teamed with Bobby Roode and Shunsuke Nakamura to take on Owens, Zayn and Jinder Mahal in a six-man tag team match. The end of the show also saw NBA Hall of Famer, Karl Malone, step into the ring to celebrate with Bobby Roode.
In case you didn't know...
Styles faced and lost to both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, in two consecutive weeks, due to the inadvertent distraction provided by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. On this week's SmackDown Live he lost his temper, and this earned him a match at the Royal Rumble, where he would defend his title against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, with Handicap Stipulations.
Karl Malone is a retired American professional basketball player and NBA Hall of Famer. He had a short stint in WCW, where he teamed with Diamond Dallas Page to take on the team of Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman in a match at the Bash at the Beach pay-per-view.
The heart of the matter
AJ Styles teamed up with Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura to take on Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Jinder Mahal in a Six Man Tag Team match.
During the match, Zayn threw a water bottle at Styles which Styles promptly caught and threw back at him.
After Styles, Roode and Nakamura had won the Tag Team match, the three of them emptied the contents of the water bottle on an indignant Sami Zayn.
After the match was over, Karl Malone entered the ring, to celebrate the win with Bobby Roode.
What's next?
AJ Styles is set to take on both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens with handicap stipulations to defend his title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on the 28th of January.
Author's take
After the show goes off the air, the WWE stars relax as they are no longer in front of the cameras. The shenanigans which otherwise might not be allowed, are fun and do their part in entertaining the Live crowd.
