First Match In United States Championship Invitational Set For WWE SmackDown

For weeks, WWE United States Champion Austin Theory has been sneaking away with victories due in no small part to the involvement of Pretty Deadly. After tonight, though, we'll be one step closer to knowing who his next challenger is.

WWE is advertising a fatal four-way match ahead of tonight's "WWE SmackDown" to kick off the so-called United States Championship Invitational, which will comprise multiple matches. This first four-way will pit AJ Styles, Butch, Grayson Waller, and Santos Escobar against each other; the winner will advance to take on the winner of next week's four-way matchup (whose participants have not yet been announced) and the two winners will battle it out for a shot at Theory on July 28.

Styles is coming off a quick victory over Karrion Kross one week ago while Butch and Escobar recently came up short during the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match on July 1. Waller is coming off a loss as well, though taking 25-year veteran and WWE Hall of Famer Edge to the limit in your main roster debut that just so happened to take place in Madison Square Garden is no small feat.

As for Theory's Pretty Deadly apparent cohorts, Elton Prince and Kit Wilson are also scheduled for action tonight. They'll be taking on Butch's fellow Brutes, Ridge Holland and Sheamus, after effectively costing "The Celtic Warrior" the US title last week.