Shinsuke Nakamura returning in time for WWE Extreme Rules
It appears that Shinsuke Nakamura’s dog-bite injury won’t keep him from wrestling at Extreme Rules.
On tonight’s SmackDown, WWE announced that Jeff Hardy would be defending his United States Championship against Nakamura at the pay-per-view. The match was originally scheduled for the June 26 edition of SmackDown, but WWE pulled Nakamura from the episode after he was bit on the left leg by a police dog at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California on the morning of WWE’s June 25 house show at the venue.
While using a crutch, Nakamura appeared at SmackDown’s house shows in Tokyo and Taipei this weekend but didn’t wrestle. He did an interview with Nikkan Sports while in Japan and said that he expected to be out of action for two more weeks, which would allow him to return in time for Extreme Rules.
Hardy defeated The Miz in a US Championship open challenge on tonight’s SmackDown. A promo from Nakamura also aired, with him promising to take Hardy’s pride, honor, and title.
The PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will host Extreme Rules on July 15. Here’s the updated card:
- WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Rusev
- Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax in an extreme rules match
- SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
- Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
- Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match
- United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
- SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) defending against Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane)
- Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending against The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas)