Reason For Shinsuke Nakamura's Absence On WWE SmackDown Live
Nakamura was scheduled to face United States Champion Jeff Hardy.
Shinsuke Nakamura missed this week's SmackDown Live, having been scheduled to face current WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy.
The announce team explained that he hadn't been cleared to wrestle - which seemed like a kayfabe reason at the time, but could well be a legitimate one too.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Nakamura was bitten by a sniffer dog in Bakersfield, California - the location of a WWE house show on Monday night.
The incident apparently took place at the Rabobank Arena, the venue of the show itself.
Nakamura missed the entire SmackDown Live broadcast, including any form of backstage promo or pre-taped appearance. Hopefully he recovers well and is ready to compete again soon.
Hardy instead put forward an open challenge for his United States Championship, one which was answered by Eric Young - leader of the Sanity stable.
Hardy and Young's match ended in a DQ when The Usos got involved, attacking Sanity in retaliation for events on last week's show. A six-man tag team match was hastily booked, in which Hardy and the Usos defeated Sanity clean.
Elsewhere on the show, SmackDown general manager Paige booked a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match for Extreme Rules, pitting the Bludgeon Brothers against the newly-reformed Team Hell No. She also announced a rematch between Asuka and Carmella for the latter's SmackDown Women's Championship.
Finally, a match was announced for next week's SmackDown Live, which will see Asuka take on James Ellsworth - a rare example of WWE embracing intergender action.
Extreme Rules is set to take place on July 15 from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The announce team explained that he hadn't been cleared to wrestle - which seemed like a kayfabe reason at the time, but could well be a legitimate one too.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Nakamura was bitten by a sniffer dog in Bakersfield, California - the location of a WWE house show on Monday night.
The incident apparently took place at the Rabobank Arena, the venue of the show itself.
Nakamura missed the entire SmackDown Live broadcast, including any form of backstage promo or pre-taped appearance. Hopefully he recovers well and is ready to compete again soon.
Hardy instead put forward an open challenge for his United States Championship, one which was answered by Eric Young - leader of the Sanity stable.
Hardy and Young's match ended in a DQ when The Usos got involved, attacking Sanity in retaliation for events on last week's show. A six-man tag team match was hastily booked, in which Hardy and the Usos defeated Sanity clean.
Elsewhere on the show, SmackDown general manager Paige booked a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match for Extreme Rules, pitting the Bludgeon Brothers against the newly-reformed Team Hell No. She also announced a rematch between Asuka and Carmella for the latter's SmackDown Women's Championship.
Finally, a match was announced for next week's SmackDown Live, which will see Asuka take on James Ellsworth - a rare example of WWE embracing intergender action.
Extreme Rules is set to take place on July 15 from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Written by Jack King
jack.king@cultaholic.com Twitter: @JackTheJobber
