Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Samoa Joe made his rivalry with AJ Styles personal Tuesday on Smackdown Live, by once again bringing up the WWE Champion's family.
Joe, who had previously said that Styles was such a successful champion that it made him a terrible father due to never being home, read on-air to The Phenomenal One a letter he claimed to have received from Styles' wife, Wendy Styles.
The letter, which called Joe's earlier statements true, called into question Styles' commitment to his family wife and kids.
"'At SummerSlam, I pray that you win so AJ can know the feeling of losing the thing he loves the most because I lost him a long time ago,'" Joe said, reading the letter to a puzzled Styles.
Backstage, Styles needed to be subdued by members of the Smackdown locker room as he attempted to charge at a taunting Joe. Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Joe Sunday at SummerSlam.
Also on Smackdown, SummerSlam opponents Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Smackdown Women's Champion Carmella came face-to-face before their Triple Threat Match on Sunday.
The confrontation featured Carmella attempting to create tension between friends Lynch and Flair, bringing up how Lynch's previous one-on-one championship bout was turned into a more difficult Triple Threat Match due to Flair.
After a war of words, Smackdown general manager Paige arrived and placed Flair and Lynch in a Tag Team Match against Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. The match ended with Lynch able to win on her own, sending Deville to the outside and making Rose tap out to the Dis-arm-her.
Flair would bring up how Lynch won the match without needing her help backstage, hinting at some tension between the friends.
Other moments from Smackdown included The Bludgeon Brothers laying waste to local competitors Triple Threat; The New Day defeating SAnitY; Andrade 'Cien' Almas defeating Aiden English; and Jeff Hardy defeating Shelton Benjamin before he fended off an attack by United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.
