AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, keeping his momentum going into the Royal Rumble next weekend for his career threatening match against Gunther.
Nakamura made the challenge to Styles with it being confirmed that Styles would be putting his career on the line against Gunther, reigniting their storied rivalry for Saturday Night's Main Event and playing the greatest hits.
A key component of the story to the match was Nakamura's knee being worked over and damaged in a Calf Crusher, thus causing him to collapse when he had Styles in position for the Kinshasa.Styles connected with a Kinshasa of his own, but Nakamura broke the fall at the ropes by the count of two. It ultimately took a combination of both the Phenomenal Forearm and the Styles Clash to keep Nakamura down for the three-count.
Styles first met Nakamura in singles action 10 years ago at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom, with Nakamura defeating Styles after 24 minutes of action to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. They both went to WWE in the following month, with Styles debuting in the Rumble match and Nakamura debuting in "WWE NXT" to face Sami Zayn. Styles and Nakamura had reacquainted in WWE, starting at WrestleMania 34 in 2018, but had not faced one another in singles action since 2020. Their singles record against one another stands at 5-2-2 in favor of Styles, with one of those victories coming via disqualification.
