AJ Styles Beats Shinsuke Nakamura, Retains WWE Championship at Money in the Bank

AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match at Money in the Bank on Sunday to retain the WWE Championship.

Styles threw everything, including a Styles Clash off the steel steps and onto the floor, in order to keep Nakamura down for the 10-count. Eventually, he hit a Phenomenal Forearm from the top rope to the outside and through an announce table.

Styles returned to his feet before the referee completed the count, while Nakamura was unable to recover his faculties in time:

Nakamura absorbed a ton of punishment in a losing effort:

Yet another defeat to Styles will be a hard pill to swallow for the former NXT champion:

Sunday marked the fourth consecutive pay-per-view match between Styles and Nakamura dating back to WrestleMania 34 on April 8.

The rivalry between the popular Superstars has evolved significantly since The Phenomenal One beat Nakamura on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Following Styles' win, The King of Strong Style hit him with a low blow and cemented a heel turn that has led to his best run to date on the main roster.

After a double count-out at the Greatest Royal Rumble, Styles and Nakamura fought to another no-contest at Backlash when neither man could answer the count of 10 after hitting each other with low blows.

The indecisive finish led to another encounter at Money in the Bank, but Styles and Nakamura were first given the opportunity to choose a stipulation.

In a match on SmackDown Live, Nakamura feigned getting hit with a low blow by Styles and used that to his advantage to beat his rival and earn the right to pick the stipulation for Money in the Bank.

The following week, Nakamura attacked Styles with a steel chair and put him down with a Kinshasa before counting to 10, signaling that he would go for the WWE Championship in a Last Man Standing match.

The Last Man Standing stipulation seemingly played into Nakamura's hands given his willingness to break the rules and do anything possible to become WWE champion.

That didn't work in his previous meetings with Styles, but Last Man Standing allowed Nakamura to do whatever he wanted in an effort to keep The Phenomenal One down for a count of 10.

While there can be diminishing returns at times when Superstars face each other on several occasions over a short time span, the decision to make Sunday's bout a Last Man Standing match contributed to it feeling different and more vicious than their previous encounters.

Styles and Nakamura got to show off their technical ability at Money in the Bank, but they also tapped into their resourcefulness and proved they could thrive in the hardcore environment as well.

Although Nakamura came close to becoming the first Japan-born WWE champion in company history once again, Styles managed to stave him off.

With Styles having avoided defeat at the hands of Nakamura at each of the past four pay-per-views, all signs point toward The Phenomenal One getting a new opponent heading into Extreme Rules in July and SummerSlam in August.

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