Wednesday 24 July 2019 08:08, UK
Randy Orton will compete for his 14th WWE world title when he faces Kofi Kingston at SummerSlam, it was confirmed on last night's SmackDown.
The champion Kingston took the unusual step of challenging his next opponent for the August pay-per-view in Toronto, an event widely regarded as second only to WrestleMania in terms of prestige.
The two faced off in a war of (only) words on this week's SmackDown, in which Kingston reminded Orton that he still reached the top of the mountain, despite all Randy did to keep him down over the years.
The Legend Killer didn't deny the claim that he used his influence to hold Kofi back, telling Kingston that he wasn't ready for the main event then and still wasn't ready now.
Orton pinned Kingston in a six-man tag-team match eight days ago and remained at ringside for his non-title match with Samoa Joe which followed their tete-a-tete.
At one point, Orton attempted an RKO on Kingston but instead hit Joe with one, giving Kofi the opportunity to drop his SummerSlam challenger with a perfect - and perhaps perfectly-timed - Trouble in Paradise.
The Fiend accepts Balor's challenge
Finn Balor admitted to being confused about the true intentions of Bray Wyatt's 'Fiend', who attacked him on Raw last week and did the same to Mick Foley this Monday.
But he was certain of one thing - that he wants to fight The Fiend at SummerSlam.
The issuing of that challenge led to a quick cut to the Firefly Fun House, where Wyatt accepted the challenge on The Fiend's behalf, but warned Balor he would be facing a very dangerous opponent, someone he does not even consider to be human.
McMahon's plans come unstuck
With Drew McIntyre as the special guest referee, Elias as the special guest timekeeper and Shane McMahon as the special guest ring announcer, the plan was to get Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns to tear each other apart in this main event contest but it quickly became clear that Owens and Reigns were far more interested in taking out the heel trio than each other.
Shane-O-Mac and his cronies tried to use their numbers advantage on KO and Reigns once they went rogue, but the pair rallied to take out McIntyre and Elias, leaving "The Best in the World" alone to eat a Superman Punch from Roman and two Stunners from Owens.
With Shane fleeing alongside Elias and McIntyre, KO promised the WWE fans that what they saw would pale in comparison to what they would see him do to Shane at SummerSlam...
Moon picks up massive win over Flair
Ember Moon challenges Bayley for the SmackDown women's title at SummerSlam and she goes into that match with some major momentum after winning against Charlotte Flair this week.
Flair is back on television after an unenforced absence and will almost certainly be seeking a place in the SummerSlam title match, given her pedigree and position as a top-tier player in the business.
But such plans took a major dent with a loss to Flair, which was secured when the arrival of Bayley at ringside was enough of a distraction for a roll-up victory.
Flair then wiped out Bayley with a big boot but Moon had the last laugh, delivering an Eclipse to both women in what could represent the start of something very special for the emerging star.
