AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura Fight to Double Count-out at Greatest Royal Rumble

In a rematch of their meeting at WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship over Shinsuke Nakamura on Friday at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, due to a double count-out. 

Emotions ran high in Friday's match after Nakamura hit Styles with yet another low blow, as shared by WWE on Twitter:

Styles managed to avoid defeat, but it sent him over the edge and caused him to attack Nakamura outside the ring, leading to a count-out.

After the result was official, Styles continued to take the fight to Nakamura:

The WrestleMania clash between Styles and Nakamura was considered a dream match among many wrestling fans, as it marked the first time they had ever competed in a one-on-one match in WWE.

They previously locked horns in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but they took things to another level when they competed on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Although the match itself at WrestleMania was entertaining, it was what happened after the fact that truly made headlines.

The Phenomenal One beat Nakamura by catching him in a Styles Clash, and just when it seemed The King of Strong Style was prepared to give Styles a proper show of respect, he shocked the WWE Universe instead.

Nakamura rocked Styles with a low blow and kicked him out of the ring, thus cementing a heel turn that seemingly came from out of nowhere considering Nakamura's popularity with the WWE Universe.

In the weeks after WrestleMania, Nakamura continued to wreak havoc on Styles.

That included interfering in the first-ever WWE singles match between Styles and Daniel Bryan on SmackDown Live. Then, Nakamura hit Styles with another low blow the following week in a match that saw The Phenomenal One and Bryan team up against Rusev and Aiden English.

By attacking Styles and pretending that he could no longer speak English, Nakamura successfully got the WWE Universe to react negatively toward him, and that added a much-needed element to the rivalry.

As a result of the developments at and after WrestleMania, the second WWE match between Styles and Nakamura at the Greatest Royal Rumble was a highly anticipated affair with major blue-brand implications moving forward.

While many of the matches at the Greatest Royal Rumble featured Superstars from different brands, the fact that the WWE Championship bout was between two SmackDown Live Superstars meant that there was an element of unpredictability.

It was easy to envision either Styles or Nakamura coming out on top, and that undoubtedly added to the overall enjoyment of the contest.

Although Nakamura posed a major threat to Styles' reign, The Phenomenal One managed to escape with the title in his possession.

Since there was no winner in Friday's match, though, all signs point toward another match between Styles and Nakamura for the WWE Championship at the upcoming Backlash pay-per-view.

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