An action-packed edition of SmackDown Live may not have delivered in exactly the way WWE fans wanted, but it certainly had its high points -- especially at the beginning and end of Tuesday night's show. Four more matches were made for SummerSlam over the course of the two-hour program with Shinsuke Nakamura taking on John Cena in the main event for the opportunity to become the No. 1 contender to the WWE championship.

Just one year ago, Nakamura was fighting in NXT TakeOver Brooklyn ahead of SummerSlam. Now, after a short tenure on the main roster with SmackDown, the King of Strong Style will have the opportunity to win the most prestigious championship in professional wrestling.

That was just one part of a show that easily out-paced Raw this week. Check out the full results below.

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WWE SmackDown results

United States Championship -- AJ Styles (c) def. Kevin Owens via pinfall to retain the title: The three-segment match was their best to date. Styles hit the move of the match when he thrust himself over the top rope and hit a Phenomenal Forearm on Owens, who was outside the ring. Styles twice earned near falls with the Calf Crusher, but Owens broke out each time. A number of kicks to Styles' head gave Owens the advantage, but a swing and miss that connected with the official's eye threw Owens' game off. He superkicked Styles and attempted a Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Styles avoided it and locked Owens in a one-leg roll-up for the pinfall. It was clear that at least one of Owens' shoulders was up during the three count, but referee Mike Chioda was unable to see when counting. An incredulous Owens screamed at the ref after the match and was beside himself in the ring as he watched the replay and saw his right shoulder indeed off the mat.

Immediately after the match, commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan met up with Chioda, who was receiving medical treatment. McMahon and Bryan agreed that Chioda got the call wrong and were figuring out what to do when Owens interrupted, screamed at all three men and pushed Chioda down. McMahon and Owens began a screaming match with the commish agreeing that Owens got a bad call in the match. It was immediately decided that Owens would get yet another rematch with Styles at SummerSlam. Owens said the necessary rematch was obvious but demanded a referee who could handle the intensity of the showdown. Bryan picked McMahon for the job, and Owens lost it again. "Shane?! He's the worst one here. He's the most incompetent one here!"

This was done quite well by WWE. While it has been annoying to go through three televised Styles-Owens matches without a decisive finish, creative obviously felt it needed to extend the rivalry until SummerSlam. The special guest referee stipulation is not necessarily an enjoyable one, but it should work here with McMahon. Perhaps most importantly, this gives us a real good idea of who will win the No. 1 contender's match later in the show ...

On stage -- The Usos: Mimicking the typical New Day introduction before their entrance theme, The Usos emerged from under the TitanTron and rhymed their entire promo. "New Day, you can keep your unicorns, your ice cream bars and the New Day socks / We're taking your tag titles and your catchphrase because ... 'U-so Rocks.'"

The Usos continue to deliver on the mic, and by WWE simply having them cut their promo by walking around big screen and down the ramp, there was a nice difference to the brothers simply standing in the ring and reciting lines. It worked well.

Fashion Files -- Fashion Peaks: On his own in the Fashion Police Department, Tyler Breeze spoke into a recorder wondering where Fandango coudl be. Suddenly, Fandango appeared in a red button-down shirt speaking strangely as The Ascension appeared by his side, pouring honey onto a piece of wood while handing Fandango a rose. It all turned out to be a nightmare for Breeze, who woke up screaming "no more metaphors" and asserted that he knew exactly who kidnapped Fandango.

Aiden English def. Sami Zayn via pinfall: Zayn got some offense early, but English surprised him with a sideways roll-up for the 1-2-3. Immediately after the match, Maria & Mike Kanellis hit the stage to say how much they loved that Zayn lost.

English has picked up clean wins in consecutive weeks over Tye Dillinger and Zayn, who appeared to be getting a push after pulling off a number of underdog wins over Baron Corbin. Instead, Zayn has lost three straight matches and appears poised to continue his go-nowhere feud with Kanellis. Perhaps there's a Zayn/Dillinger vs. Kanellis/English tag match at SummerSlam? Eh.

Naomi & Becky Lynch def. Natalya & Carmella via submission: Natalya had Naomi locked in a Sharpshooter, but Carmella tagged herself in to attempt a submission of her own on the women's champion. Instead, Naomi reversed it, and when Natalya entered to interfere, Lynch hit her Beck-sploder suplex to neutralize the threat and allow Naomi to pull off the victory.

Backstage -- Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers: Renee Young asked Mahal whom he prefers to face at SummerSlam. Mahal said he does not care either way and will watch the "so-called dream match" from his sky box. He added that all he feels when he walks down the street is xenophobia. "I am the WWE champion, and no one can end the reign of the Modern Day Maharaja."

Rusev def. Chad Gable via submission: Gable, who entered to the American Alpha theme with new tights, got in his fair share of offense on Rusev despite the size differential, including multiple suplexes and a beautifully executed moonsault that nearly earned a three count. Rusev eventually caught Gable with a kick to the head that nearly led to The Accolade, but Gable slipped out from under him and put on the ankle lock submission. Rusev powered his way out of that, kicked Gable in the head again and locked him in The Accolade for the win.

Confrontation -- Rusev and Randy Orton: After the match, Rusev said he was promised competition when he joined SmackDown Live. While John Cena did beat him in a Flag Match, he didn't get a victory over Rusev in the ring, which Rusev said would be impossible for anyone on the roster. He made it clear that he does not have an opponent for SummerSlam, which he saw no surprise. That led Orton out to the ring. As he received "Ran-dy" chants, Orton cautioned Rusev that he's never beaten him either. "You want an opponent at SummerSlam? Look no further -- you've got one right here," he said.  Rusev responded in Bulgarian, and an angered Orton shut him up with an RKO.

Unlike earlier, when Zayn looked bad losing to English, this match allowed Gable to come off quite strong despite being overpowered by a more experienced Rusev. I'm not sure who exactly wants to see an Orton-Rusev match, but at least WWE found Rusev a spot at SummerSlam.

No. 1 Contender's Match -- Shinsuke Nakamura def. John Cena via pinfall: Cena began going through his Five Moves of Doom midway through the match, but Nakamura scouted him and locked the 16-time champion into a triangle. With Nakamura setting up for the Kinshasa, Cena was able to dodge it and place him in the STF, but Nakamura easily reversed it into an armbar he was not able to lock. Cena dodged another Kinshasa and hit the Attitude Adjustment, but Nakamura kicked out at two. This led Cena to set him up for another AA, which Nakamura countered, placing Cena into a guillotine. Cena hit Nakamura with a second AA, but rather than go for the pin, he tried to double up with a third AA. Nakamura flipped out of it, suplexed Cena onto his neck and hit Kinshasa for a clean 1-2-3 victory. After the match, Cena shook Nakamura's hand and the two bowed to each other in the ring.

When SmackDown went off the air, Baron Corbin attacked Nakamura from behind with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Cena then stood up for Nakamura and ran back into the ring, only for Corbin to beat him down and set stairs up next to the announce table by ringside. Instead of Corbin getting the last word, Cena and hit the AA on Corbin through the table. Looks like that match is set for SummerSlam, too.

WWE saved the final 15 minutes of SmackDown Live for the main event and managed to take two commercial breaks -- one after the entrances before it started and another three minutes in after nothing had happened. By the time it returned, there were eight minutes left in the show. With the complaints out of the way, the final eights minutes of the show were great and left a true Cena-Nakamura "dream match" a legitimate possibility for a pay-per-view down the line. It should be noted that Nakamura was especially careful with all kicks -- and the Kinshasa -- to Cena's movie star face, though the suplex was quite dangerous as Cena landed square on his neck.