Ali replaces Balor.
At tonight's WWE Smackville special, Shinsuke Nakamura was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Title against Finn Balor. However, prior to the match, it was announced that Balor could not compete due to an "injury." Nakamura thought he would escape Nashville with a count out victory, but Ali stepped up in Balor's place, challenging Nakamura for the IC strap.
Despite Ali's best efforts, Nakamura walked away with the victory, finishing off the challenger with the Kinshasa.
.@FinnBalor is unable to compete tonight, but @AliWWE is and he's ready to take FULL ADVANTAGE of this opportunity!@AliWWE vs. @ShinsukeN for the #ICTitle RIGHT NOW on @WWENetwork! #SMACKVILLE pic.twitter.com/gp41m5AN6I
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) July 28, 2019
A KINSHASA is all she wrote in #SMACKVILLE as @ShinsukeN stands tall against @AliWWE! pic.twitter.com/ZsxP4wWswU
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2019
As far as Balor is concerned, he doesn't appear to be seriously "injured." Fightful Select reports that Balor was hospitalized with the stomach flu. POST Wrestling's John Pollock reports that WWE hopes that Balor will be available for SmackDown on Tuesday.
Keep up with everything happening at WWE Smackville with Fightful's ongoing coverage.
