Shinsuke Nakamura Beats Ali, Retains IC Title at WWE Smackville

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ali at Saturday's WWE Smackville event in Nashville, Tennessee, to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

The match was originally scheduled to feature Nakamura defending the title against Finn Balor, but WWE announced the Demon wasn't cleared by the medical staff because of an undisclosed injury suffered earlier in the week.

With Nakamura in need of an opponent, Ali came out to challenge for the intercontinental title.

Unfortunately for Ali, he fell victim to Nakamura after The King of Strong Style hit a Kinshasa to score the pin.

Although Smackville was originally supposed to be a non-televised house show, it was recently announced it would air live on WWE Network, which gave Nakamura and Ali an even greater platform on which to perform.

The increased spotlight did help Ali, who has largely been absent from WWE television since being eliminated from the 51-man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia last month.

Nakamura entered Smackville without a SummerSlam match being set in stone. He did have an interaction with Ali, which made this match a natural fit and potentially the start to a longer program.

Nakamura managed to retain the IC title as expected, and he and Ali did put on a quality match, which significantly enhanced a show from which little was expected.

Now, Nakamura can focus on defending the Intercontinental Championship against an opponent at SummerSlam.

Meanwhile, Balor's status will continue to be carefully monitored as he is scheduled to take on Bray Wyatt at the Aug. 11 pay-per-view in Toronto.

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