With time ticking down until the biggest party of the summer, WWE SummerSlam is set to take place in Brooklyn four weeks from now. The card for the second-most important event of the year is continuing to take shape, particularly this week as a number of big matches were made on both shows.

Heading into Tuesday night's edition of SmackDown Live in Evansville, Indiana, there was a pressing question remaining pertaining to the SummerSlam lineup: Who will be next to step up and offer a challenge to WWE champion AJ Styles? Well, it will be a competitor that he has dealt with a few times over the years in a variety of places. 

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Samoa Joe sends a message

SmackDown general manager Paige was in the ring standing in front of a contract on the table, and after singing the praises of the all-women's Evolution show that was announced for October Monday night on Raw, brought out Styles. After soaking in the chants of his name, Styles referenced how proud he was of the Evolution show while pointing toward his young daughter as a reason. The champ then said he's ready to turn the heat up at SummerSlam against his next opponent and proceeded to sign his name on the deal. Paige asked for a drum roll to announce the opponent, but that was interrupted by ... James Ellsworth. 

Ellsworth mentioned the past instances where he defeated Styles and said he's ready to do it again at SummerSlam for the WWE championship. Paige stopped him in his tracks, but Ellsworth followed up with some insults. Having enough, the SmackDown GM fired Carmella's lackey and had him physically escorted from the building. While the ejection ruckus was taking place backstage, Styles' challenger emerged. 

Samoa Joe attacked Styles from behind, locking in the Coquina Clutch for a brief moment. Joe made his way over to the table, added his name to the contract, staking his claim to the WWE championship match in Brooklyn. Backstage, Paige ran down Joe to chastise him for his actions after she had given him the opportunity, but Joe said he didn't much like the plan of just trotting out there announced as the challenger. But his sneak attack and subsequent beat down, that was "phenomenal."

In the year 2018, Styles and Joe are going to clash for the WWE championship in a one-on-one match at a SummerSlam event. Simply incredible. If you're a fan who has never seen one of the many Styles vs. Joe matches that have taken place over the past 15 years or so, you're destined to be in for a treat come Brooklyn. Sadly, it is unlikely to be the main event in the Barclays Center, but it has the potential to be remembered as the match of the night if their previous encounters are any indication. Both men have been booked dominant lately in their own respective ways, so the build to this one should be enjoyable over the next few weeks. Grade: A+

The Miz gets one over on Daniel Bryan

Just as SmackDown was going on the air, a limousine was pulling up to the arena with the Miz being revealed as a passenger. He certainly wasn't alone, though. With "Miz and Mrs." set to premiere Tuesday night on USA Network and a premiere party scheduled for the end of the show, not only did Maryse make her television return, it was revealed their newborn baby Monroe Sky (or so we were led to believe) was ready for her first WWE appearance. 

Miz and Maryse made their way out for the premiere party, although it was clear from the jump that the baby was in fact not a real one. After gloating in the ring, which included Maryse claiming she started the women's evolution and Miz taunting Daniel Bryan, they were ready to roll some clips of their new show. Instead, it seemed as if Bryan hijacked the footage as only blooper clips of the couple were shown from throughout the years with the title of, "Miz and Misses." Backstage, Bryan swore he didn't know what happened with the footage before making his way to the ring. 

Bryan was met by security but he promptly took care of them. He entered the ring to get his hands on Miz, but was thrown the toy baby, allowing Miz to nail Bryan with the Skull-Crushing Finale. Turns out, not even the child at the beginning of the show was real, as Miz said he would never allow his real daughter to appear in Indiana. If fans wanted to see his daughter, they could tune into his new show in a matter of minutes. 

This got the main event segment and rightfully so. The crowd was hot for these two and the feud, and it made sense for Miz to get one over on Bryan here after he was thwarted last week during the Team Hell No eulogy. Overall, SmackDown was a great show on Tuesday night and this was the perfect segment with the perfect rivals to cap things off. Grade: A

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • Randy Orton explained his actions: Following what took place to close SmackDown last week, Orton opened up the show to offer up an explanation. After saying he's heard all the theories as to why he's been attacking Jeff Hardy lately, Orton admitted that it's ultimately been because of the fans who drove him to this. He wondered why the crowd doesn't respect him for a variety of reasons given his 16-year career and accomplishments -- and even took a subtle shot at former Bullet Club members currently with the company for stealing the "Too Sweet" hand gesture -- before proclaiming that he'll write the final chapter for Hardy when he gets his hands on him again. He ended by stating that while he's been known by many nicknames, going forward you can simply refer to him as: R-K-O. 
  • Andrade "Cien" Almas def. Rusev via pinfall: Almas pinned Rusev following the Hammerlock DDT but not without some minor help. Lana and Zelina Vega were brawling on the outside when Aiden English came out to assist. With Vega on his back, though, he inadvertently bumped into Lana causing Rusev to take his attention away from the match, allowing Almas to emerge victorious. Backstage, Lana and English were bickering before Rusev told them maybe neither of them were good enough for Rusev Day. 
  • Samoa Joe def. R-Truth via submission: Joe got the easy victory in a squash match with the Coquina Clutch. This was prior to the announcement he's the WWE title challenger at SummerSlam. 
  • Asuka def. Billie Kay via pinfall: A slew of kicks, with one square on the head, finished the job as Asuka continues her feud with The IIconics. 
  • Shinsuke Nakamura continues his taunting: The United States champion cut a pre-taped promo where he taunted Hardy for being attacked by Orton, while at the same time warning Orton that if he's thinking of coming for him eventually, he bites back. 
  • Becky Lynch def. Carmella via submission: Lynch tallied yet another win via the Dis-Arm-Her. Per the stipulation laid down last week, Lynch will now face Carmella at SummerSlam for the SmackDown women's championship. 
  • New Day def. SAnitY via pinfall: In first-round tournament action to crown the No. 1 contenders to the tag team titles, New Day advanced after Xavier Woods pinned Alexander Wolfe. Following the bout, with The Usos on their way into the ring from the commentary table, The Bar emerged to proclaim their return after being absent for a few weeks. They'll square off with The Usos next week for the right to face New Day in the finals.