The latest episode of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) weekly show SmackDown LIVE saw former United States Champion Jeff Hardy begin the show amidst huge fanfare. Hardy talked about he will take his revenge against US Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Hardy lambasted Nakamura and said that he lacked ethics, conscience and code of honour. He signed off after he mentioned about his rematch, later tonight.

Nakamura, who was hearing Hardy’s talk backstage, took a jibe at Hardy, mentioning him as a sad clown who wore paint to hide his tears. The US Champion said that he would make Hardy cry tonight too, referring to the main event later in the show.

The first match of the night saw AJ Styles clash with Andrade “Cien” Almas compete in a non-title match. Then, it was Becky Lynch vs Mandy Rose which the former won with ease. However, Becky issues a challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella, that she had her eyes on her and, now, would be coming after her.

There were other matches in the night which, much to the crowd’s amusement. The segment between The Miz and Daniel Bryan was quite a spectacle too. The Miz ran-down Team Hell No, especially Daniel Bryan, after their tag-team lost to The Bludgeon Brothers at Extreme Rules 2018. However, Bryan had the last laugh as he attacked The Miz from the behind, amidst huge cheers from the WWE Universe.

List of all matches that took place WWE SmackDown LIVE, on July 17, 2018:

Sr. No. Matches Stipulations Winner
1. AJ Styles vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas Singles Match AJ Styles
2. Becky Lynch vs. Mandy Rose Singles Match Becky Lynch
3. Tye Dillinger vs. Samoa Joe Singles Match Samoa Joe
4. Eric Young vs. Kofi Kingston Singles Match Eric Young
5. Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura WWE United States Title Match Jeff Hardy

The main event of the night saw a dramatic ending. It was Jeff Hardy’s rematch against Shinsuke Nakamura, which was spoiled by the returning Randy Orton.

The Viper made an appearance at the end of their match at Extreme Rules too. On Tuesday’s episode, the evenly-contested fight between Hardy and Nakamura saw Orton intervene, which resulted in a disqualification win for Hardy.

To make matters worse, Orton tortured Hardy and beat him black and blue before he left the ring. Match officials and referees rushed out to stop Orton of his misadventures, but to no avail. SmackDown LIVE went off-air as Hardy tried to recover ringside while Orton was marching to backstage with a remorseful look.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 09:10 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).