AJ Styles vs. James Ellsworth title match, tag team battle royal announced for SmackDown
A battle royal and a WWE title match are both advertised for tonight’s live SmackDown show in Washington, DC.
WWE Champion A.J. Styles vs. James Ellsworth was originally set to headline last week’s show, but got pushed back one week due to Styles suffering a right ankle injury.
The battle royal will be a tag team style affair, meaning if one person is eliminated, the team is eliminated. It will be all the regular Smackdown teams except the champion Wyatt Family as the winners will become the top contenders, meaning Jason Jordan & Chad Gable would be favored.
The teams announced are Heath Slater & Rhyno, American Alpha, the Hype Bros, Breezango, The Ascension, Usos and Vaudevillains. For the Usos, tonight would mark their first return to action since Jey’s ankle injury.
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is also scheduled for an appearance on tonight’s show.
WWE will be taping Tribute to the Troops as well, set to air Wednesday night on USA.
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.