The seeds to tonight’s WWE Championship match at Extreme Rules were planted last month on SmackDown Live, when the #1 Contendership to the title was up for grabs in a Gauntlet Match. While the undoubted favorite of the WWE Universe was Daniel Bryan, he was eliminated thanks to The Bludgeon Brothers. This left the door open and Rusev scored possibly the biggest win of his career to earn his opportunity at AJ Styles.

‘The Bulgarian Brute’ was able to show last Tuesday that he’s capable of winning the championship when he had Styles locked in The Accolade. Flanked by Aiden English, Rusev looked more prepared to take Styles to the limit in his first one-on-one chance at the WWE Title. ‘The Phenomenal One’ would look to chop the challenger down early on with strikes to the leg, however Rusev would live up to his moniker and utilized the power game to begin working the lower back.

Of course, AJ and his ‘Georgia Bulldog’ fighting mentality would get him back into the match, slapping on the Calf Crusher after multiple failed attempts to lock it in. The challenger would gain the bottom rope to force a break with help from Aiden English, leading to the perfect distraction to give Rusev control of the match with a belly-to-belly on the floor. A Machka Kick inside the ring nearly gave us a new champion, however ‘The Bulgarian Brute’ would go for The Accolade instead. Rusev couldn’t get it on fully though, as the damage had been done to his leg through the match and Styles crawled to gain the ropes. English would remove the top turnbuckle behind the action, but the plan would backfire as Rusev would hit the exposed steel. AJ would dispatch of Aiden and deliver the Phenomenal Forearm to hang onto the title.

The only way to make this #RusevDay better? Leaving #ExtremeRules with the #WWETitle! @RusevBUL pic.twitter.com/BzQBjdaXbG

— WWE (@WWE) July 16, 2018

#ExtremeRules just got #PHENOMENAL. @AJStylesOrg#WWEChampionship pic.twitter.com/gcPpe7bchs

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 16, 2018

An ideal way to celebrate #RusevDay. @RusevBUL #ExtremeRules #WWEChampionship pic.twitter.com/mlHBsqVWub

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) July 16, 2018

Not so fast, @RusevBUL… #ExtremeRules #WWEChampionship pic.twitter.com/kbkSxY6Frn

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 16, 2018

That rope is getting suspiciously closer to @RusevBUL's grasp…@WWEDramaKing #ExtremeRules #WWEChampionship pic.twitter.com/29FFn5gmSC

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 16, 2018

#AndStill ✅@AJStylesOrg #WWEChampionship #ExtremeRules pic.twitter.com/lSPLERqXFp

— WWE (@WWE) July 16, 2018

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