New Title Match Set For Backlash 2018

Once more, with feeling. One of the bigger stories in WWE over the last few months has been AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the SmackDown World Title. The match was billed as a dream showdown at WrestleMania 34 with AJ Styles retaining. After the match, Nakamura turned heel and attacked Styles for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, though frustration is a likely cause. It was clear that the two would meet again, and now we know where that will be happening.

They had a rematch too.

Shinsuke Nakamura's mind games fire up AJ Styles: Greatest Royal Rumble (WWE Network Exclusive)

As announced on Friday at the Greatest Royal Rumble, Nakamura and Styles will be facing off again for the SmackDown World Title at Backlash 2018. The third match was set up after their match at the Greatest Royal Rumble went to a double countout. This makes the series 1-0-1 in favor of Styles with the third match being announced almost immediately after the double countout. The match will also mark the one year anniversary of Nakamura’s first match on the main roster, as he made his in-ring debut at Backlash 2017.

You can read the full results from the Greatest Royal Rumble here.

Opinion: This makes sense as it was hard to imagine that Nakamura vs. Styles was going to be wrapped up with a double countout, which is about as obvious of a way to continue a feud as you can have. Nakamura’s heel turn has breathed some life into the feud as Styles now has a reason to be angry and emotional, as the first match was almost all about the respect between the two, which might make for a good in-ring match but not the most thrilling performances.

Do you want to see these two again? Who will leave with the title? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 26 wrestling books. His latest book is the WWE Grab Bag.

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