Stipulation For WWE Championship Match Revealed
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe will do battle in Melbourne - but under what rules?
Sep 19, 2018
WWE Champion AJ Styles is set to again defend his title against Samoa Joe, this time in Melbourne, Australia.
The match will take place on October 6th at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as part of WWE's Super Show-Down event.
The stipulation for that WWE Championship match has now been officially been revealed; it will be fought under 'No DQ, No Countout' rules - with the slightly ominous tagline 'there must be a winner'.
Some fans online have expressed confusion at the stipulation - notably Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, who suggested that the match type would imply that their bout at Hell in a Cell ended in a no contest.
Instead, Styles was declared the winner after trapping Joe in a pinning predicament while locked in the Coquina Clutch. Controversially, the champion was shown to have tapped out just before the referee's count of three, meaning that Joe should rightfully be the champion.
The upcoming stipulation would perhaps be better suited to Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman's feud, after their Hell in a Cell match was deemed a no contest after interference from Brock Lesnar.
Regardless, it looks as though Styles and Joe will be wrestling for the WWE Championship under that stipulation, as demanded by Joe and approved by SmackDown general manager Paige. The other matches on the Melbourne show are as follows:
Triple H w/ Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker w/ Kane
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
No. 1 contender's match: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: New Day (c) vs. The Bar
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Buddy Murphy
John Cena and Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Elias
The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre
Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins vs. The Riott Squad
Asuka and Naomi vs. The IIconics