Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: Rumors, Preview for WWE SmackDown June 26

Shinsuke Nakamura has a new target in his sights after failing to capture the WWE Championship. The King of Strong Style will look to kick, knee and club his way to the United States Championship when he faces Jeff Hardy on Tuesday's WWE SmackDown.

Can Hardy stave off Nakamura, or will the Kinshasa put an end to his reign?

Raw spotlighted its own midcard title on Monday as Seth Rollins challenged Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. The blue brand is set to follow suit with Hardy and Nakamura colliding over the U.S. title.  

Ontario, California, will host that title match and more on Tuesday night. Rusev and Becky Lynch will be in action. The Miz will have a pair of imposing guests on his Miz TV segment.

News updates and the SmackDown preview on WWE.com help provide an early look at the latest SmackDown episode before it airs on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network. 

News, Rumors

Stars of Netflix's GLOW are on their way to SmackDown. Actors Sydelle Noel and Britt Baron both announced on social media they would be making an appearance. 

Mike Johnson and Steven Fernandes also noted: "PWInsider.com can also confirm that Chavo Guerrero, who handled the training of the GLOW talents as well as the flight coordinating for the show, will also be at SmackDown tomorrow."

The WWE champion, however, apparently won't be there.

According to Figure Four Online: "AJ Styles is off all shows this week. He is not advertised even for TV." Styles has been doing promo work for WWE in Australia. 

Charlotte Flair is poised to miss Tuesday's episode, as well.  According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc), Flair will be out of action while she recovers from surgery to repair a ruptured breast implant. 

And Daniel Bryan will no longer have to tangle with Big Cass.

His rival no longer works for the company as of last week. WWE announced on its official website that it had released Big Cass.

Rumors continue to circulate about the reasons for his exit.

SmackDown Streaks

The Bludgeon Brothers remain a dominant force.

The SmackDown tag team champions knocked off Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to extend a growing streak. The Bludgeon Brothers have now won 10 consecutive matches, per CageMatch.net. 

The more WWE builds up Harper and Rowan like this, the bigger deal their eventual fall will be.

Billie Kay, on the other hand, has fallen plenty already. WWE doesn't seem interested in making her a formidable foe.

She lost to Becky Lynch last week to continue a recent slide. Per CageMatch.net, Kay has lost four straight matches and has gone 0-7 in her last seven singles bouts. Not everyone can go on an Asuka-like run, but it's surprising just how much of a pushover WWE is making Kay.

Preview

After clashing on social media, Xavier Woods and Rusev will move their fight to the ring.

Rusev has mocked The New Day member, bringing up his old victories over him. Woods has taken his own shots including implying on Twitter that Rusev's birth was an accident. 

On Tuesday, Rusev will look to have the last laugh as he preps for his upcoming WWE title match with Styles.

The Miz, who lost to The Lion of Bulgaria last week, will welcome The Bludgeon Brothers to the ring for an intriguing edition of Miz TV. Harper and Rowan aren't the type to sit down for a civil interview.

Credit: WWE.com

The duo could reveal their reasoning behind attacking Bryan. The Bludgeon Brothers upended last Tuesday's Gauntlet match when they beat down the beloved underdog. The Miz took advantage of that ambush, leaving one to wonder if he orchestrated it.

Lynch, meanwhile, will continue her quest to regain momentum and reclaim the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Last time out, she knocked off Kay to partially get rid of the taste of a Money in the Bank ladder match loss. On Tuesday, she will clash with Kay's best friend and tag team partner Peyton Royce for more of the same.

Whether a feud is in the works here or if The IIconics are stepping stones for what Lynch is up to next should be clear by the end of the night. 

Tuesday's main event will follow all that as the U.S. title takes center stage.

Nakamura's love of low blows has made him a lot of enemies of late. He clocked Hardy where it hurts most recently and the high-flyer will now be looking for some payback.

There's now a good chance SmackDown will crown a new champ before the Extreme Rules pay-per-view arrives. Nakamura couldn't keep Styles down in several tries but will look to fare better against Hardy in Cali.