AJ Styles and Andrade “Cien” Almas will be facing off in their first-ever singles match tonight.
WWE posted a video today where Styles was doing an interview and said he’s heard Paige has already decided on who will challenge for his WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Zelina Vega interrupted him and said that Almas should be the one to challenge him at the pay-per-view. Vega said Almas likes to do his talking in the ring, and Styles challenged him to a match tonight. Vega then accepted.
WWE had Paige tweet out that Styles vs. Almas will be the first match on tonight’s SmackDown: “And the #WWE Universe won’t have to wait very long BECAUSE… @AJStylesOrg vs. @AndradeCienWWE will be the FIRST match of #SDLive. I’m ready to see this one. #TheFuturevsThePhenomenal
Styles vs. Almas will presumably be a non-title match.
New United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against Jeff Hardy is the only other thing that’s been announced for tonight’s show. Nakamura gave Hardy a pre-match low blow and then quickly defeated him with the Kinshasa at Extreme Rules on Sunday to win the title. Randy Orton then returned, had a staredown with Nakamura, and kicked Hardy for a low blow.