WWE News: Four top WWE stars compete in dark match after SmackDown Live

What's the story?

Well, we all know WWE dark matches can be pretty special and last night's Talking Stick Resort Arena crowd in Arizona were treated to something quite special after WWE's televised programming went off the air.

In case you didn’t know...

After SmackDown Live goes off air these days, there are two more live televised broadcasts for the WWE Universe to enjoy, as the Mixed Match Challenge follows the blue brand immediately and 205 Live airs immediately after.

The crowd is normally treated to a dark match afterwards too, and the WWE Universe's patience was definitely rewarded if they stuck around until the end last night.

The heart of the matter

Shinsuke Nakamura has not appeared on WWE television for two weeks, however, we all saw a pretty impressive video package on the Royal Rumble winner during last night's SmackDown Live, which you can see below.

However, those who were patient enough were treated to seeing The Rockstar live in action as he teamed up with United States Champion Bobby Roode to face the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

Untelevised main event if the night: Nakamura & Roode vs. Owens & Zayn. pic.twitter.com/6pWFln0o9A

— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15) February 21, 2018

You can see fan footage of the entire match below.

Result: Shinsuke and Nakamura defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

What’s next?

Well, who knows when we'll next see Nakamura on television. WWE seems to be playing the "less is more" card with the Japanese star who looks set to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania, so long as AJ Styles can retain his WWE Championship in the Fatal 5-Way at Fastlane where both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will be looking to take the title. Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin make up the final two contenders.

Bobby Roode is scheduled to face Randy Orton for the United States Championship at Fastlane, too, in a match announced last night after he delivered a Glorious DDT to The Viper after countering an RKO.

Author’s take

Well, this is pretty cool - and a pretty standard format to have two very popular faces defeat two strong heels for the live crowd.

A pretty cool match for the NXT faithful in the crowd too with Roode and Nakamura being top of the yellow brand just last year, and Owens and Zayn being successful on NXT quite a while back too.

It's always awesome to see this kind of stuff!

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