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WWE Smackdown: Chris Jericho returns, John Cena confronts Jinder Mahal

By Wade Sheridan
(Left to right) A returning Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and AJ Styles met in a Triple Threat match Tuesday on Smackdown Live with the United States Championship on the line. Photo courtesy of WWE/Twitter
1 of 2 | (Left to right) A returning Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and AJ Styles met in a Triple Threat match Tuesday on Smackdown Live with the United States Championship on the line. Photo courtesy of WWE/Twitter

July 26 (UPI) -- Chris Jericho made his surprise return to the squared circle Tuesday on Smackdown Live when he confronted his former best friend, United States champion Kevin Owens.

Jericho was put out of commission by Owens when he lost the United States championship to the self-proclaimed New Face of America in May. Jericho demanded a rematch for the title at the same time AJ Styles wanted a rematch for the gold after losing to Owens Sunday at Battleground.

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The solution made by commissioner Shane McMahon was to have a Triple Threat Match between all three competitors with the title on the line.

The main event of the night, the bout featured multiple near-falls as Jericho nearly pinned Styles after nailing The Phenomenal One with a Codebreaker. Owens also nearly won the match after planting Jericho with a Pop-up Powerbomb.

The match ended after Owens landed a top-rope Frog Splash on Jericho, but was then thrown out of the ring by Styles who quickly pinned Jericho for the victory. Upset at losing the United States Championship once again, Owens got on the microphone and demanded he have a rematch against Styles next week on Smackdown Live.

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Fresh off his victory over Randy Orton inside the Punjabi Prison, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal demanded he know who he would be defending his title against at SummerSlam when he met John Cena face-to-face.

Instead of getting into a war of words with the Modern-Day Maharaja, Cena congratulated Mahal on staying WWE Champion, but wished him good luck for when they face off at SummerSlam.

General manager Daniel Bryan then entered the arena and explained that Cena would need to earn his title shot against Mahal in a No. 1 contender's dream match against Shinsuke Nakamura next week on Smackdown Live.

Also on Smackdown Live, Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin; Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch defeated Lana and Tamina; Sami Zayn and Tye Dillinger defeated Mike Kanellis and Aiden English; and The New Day's Smackdown Tag Team Championship celebration was ruined by The Usos.

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