WWE SmackDown Live Preview (17th July 2018)

The fallout from Extreme Rules will be the hot topic of conversation tonight when SmackDown Live rolls into the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

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Whilst there was only one title change for the brand, there was also an epic return and a few seeds that were planted for future feuds. Of course, Jeff Hardy's contractual rematch for his United States Championship has already been announced and will be taking place tonight, but the real question here is who will be AJ Styles' next challenger and how will Asuka react to her fastest ever defeat in WWE?

#1 An Apex Return

Jeff Hardy was defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura on Sunday night at Extreme Rules in one of the fasted United States Championship matches in the history of the belt, but the main topic of conversation following the match was the return of Randy Orton.

Orton looked to be making a beeline to the ring to attack Nakamura following his cheat win where he low-blowed Hardy behind the referee's back, but instead, Orton turned his attention to Hardy and further added insult to injury when he stomped on his groin.

Will Orton explain his actions tonight or will The Apex Predator instead make an appearance as part of the United States Championship rematch?

Just after losing The #USTitle to @ShinsukeN, @JEFFHARDYBRAND was ATTACKED by @RandyOrton at #ExtremeRules! pic.twitter.com/lRkQWLqof6
— WWE (@WWE) July 16, 2018

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#2 Carving out a new path?

What does the future look like for Daniel Bryan?

Daniel Bryan was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships alongside Kane at Extreme Rules after The Bludgeon Brothers attacked the duo backstage ahead of the match and effectively turned it into a two on one match.

Kane later limped to the ring wearing a surgical boot after it was revealed that The SmackDown Tag Team Champions had broken his ankle when they attacked him backstage, but that didn't stop him trying to help Bryan to win the titles, but Team Hell No came up short.

With Kane now on the injured list for the foreseeable future and with the speculation that Bryan has signed a new contract with WWE, what will the former World Champion be part of at SummerSlam?

#3 Nakamura has a Championship!

Nakamura is Champion! — Shinsuke Nakamura is the United States Champion!

After more than a year on the main roster, Nakamura finally has a Championship but he will be defending his United States Championship against Jeff Hardy in their rematch tonight on SmackDown Live.

Nakamura cheated to pick up that victory on Sunday night, but given the reports surrounding Hardy's physical state, there could be a reason why the match was so short.

With Orton's presence floating around this fixture, it's hard to see which direction this will go in but the most likely outcome would be for Orton to go on to challenge Nakamura at SummerSlam.

Low-Blow specialist @ShinsukeN hit a low blow to @JEFFHARDYBRAND before starting the match, after starting the match as officially, Nakamura hit a Kinhasa and become New @WWE United States Champion within 6 seconds. pic.twitter.com/4f2K7X7OXx
— Amazing Spyderman ツ (@amznspyderman) July 17, 2018

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#4 The Empress reacts to an impressive loss

How will Asuka react to her second consecutive loss to Carmella?

Asuka was handed her fastest ever defeat in WWE on Sunday night when she was beaten by Carmella thanks to another distraction by James Ellsworth. The Empress of Tomorrow has been attempting to overcome the numbers game with Carmella and Ellsworth over the past month and despite neutralizing Ellsworth, she is always on the backfoot when Carmella attacks.

Asuka is the best female striker in WWE and she has a number of friends in the locker room who could help her to even out the numbers in this match. Will Asuka go looking for help in order to finally get a fair fight for the SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam? Things are far from over between The Princess of Staten Island and her current challenger.

#5 Will AJ find a new challenger?

AJ Styles retained his WWE Championship at Extreme Rules

AJ Styles defeated Rusev at Extreme Rules and continues to dominate as the WWE Champion on SmackDown Live, but after holding the Championship for more than eight months, Styles will be looking for another challenger for his title heading into the Biggest Party of the Summer.

It has already been announced that Styles will address the WWE Universe tonight on SmackDown Live and possibly reveal his path to SummerSlam, but since Rusev and Aiden English failed to get the job done at Extreme Rules so they will be sent to the back of the queue.

Speculation suggests that Samoa Joe could be the man that steps up to the "Face that runs the place" and this could be the beginning of a fantasy feud ahead of SummerSlam so will Joe make his presence known tonight?