War Raiders Challenge Priest & R-Truth to Winner-Takes-All Tag Title Match on SmackDown

Following WWE’s acquisition of AAA, a genuinely historic cross-promotional title match is now on the table — and it could be coming to SmackDown sooner rather than later.

During the July 4 edition of SmackDown, AAA World Tag Team Champions The War Raiders interrupted a segment and issued a direct challenge to WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth, calling for a winner-takes-all match with both sets of championships up for grabs. Priest accepted, making clear the showdown would take place on SmackDown when the time came.

The confrontation followed a characteristically offbeat Independence Day Weekend moment in which R-Truth defeated Nathan Frazer in a hot dog eating contest, gleefully framing the result as a win for the United States over England. Frazer and his tag partner Axiom were heading backstage when The War Raiders stepped in and brought the tone sharply back to business.

Because SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis was not on hand, the match could not be officially sanctioned or given a formal date — but the challenge has been laid down and accepted.

The War Raiders became AAA World Tag Team Champions on May 30 in Monterrey, Mexico, defeating the team of Psycho Clown and Pagano, known as Psycho Circus. They have not defended those championships since. Priest and R-Truth, meanwhile, have been active champions since capturing the WWE Tag Team Titles from JC Mateo and Tama Tonga on the March 20 SmackDown in Raleigh, North Carolina. Their most recent defense came on June 19 in Kansas City, where they turned back the challenge of Talla Tonga and Tama Tonga.

With two sets of titles and a cross-promotional storyline fueled by WWE’s AAA merger, this match-up carries real stakes whenever Aldis makes it official on SmackDown.