Incensed over his controversial United States Title defeat to Shinsuke Nakamura this past Sunday at WWE Extreme Rules, Jeff Hardy kicked off SmackDown LIVE. Jeff admitted that he possibly wasn’t thinking clearly when he chose to start the match two days ago after Nakamura went low. The Charismatic Enigma promised he would be focused on two things tonight: Making The King of Strong Style feel as much pain as possible and taking back his United States Championship.

Coming in as focused as he promised, Jeff Hardy took the fight to Shinsuke Nakamura as he attempted to regain the United States Title in this WWE Extreme Rules rematch. With the playing field leveled (unlike Sunday), the Superstars exchanged stiff strikes at a dizzying pace to stake their claim to the title.

In the pivotal moments, Jeff seemed to have Nakamura down for the count after hitting him with a picture-perfect Swanton Bomb. However, outta nowhere, Randy Orton arrived, broke up Jeff’s pin attempt and started savagely assaulting him to give The Charismatic Enigma the disqualification win.

A wounded Hardy attempted to fight back, but The Apex Predator overwhelmed the former United States Champion, stomping his skull into the steel steps. Then, in a very disturbing scene, The Viper attempted to rip the piercing out of Hardy’s ear, extensively stretching his earlobe. The Viper then threw Hardy over the announcer’s table and continued the assault. WWE personnel ran down to try to stop Orton’s attack, but Randy concluded the beating by DDT’ing Hardy off the table, as Nakamura just watched on from a distance.

Credit: WWE.com

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