WWE Announces First Title Defense For New US Champ Seth Rollins

Seth "Freakin" Rollins first defense of his newly won WWE United States Championship will be on the October 17 episode of "Raw" against rival Matt Riddle. The match was announced during the October 14 episode of "SmackDown." Rollins won the championship from Bobby Lashley on the October 10 season premiere episode of "Raw" after Lashley was attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar.

The match against Riddle comes after he defeated Rollins inside the Fight Pit at the Extreme Rules event. The rivalry between Rollins and Riddle started during the weeks leading up to SummerSlam with "The Visionary" repeatedly attacking Riddle on "Raw." A match was initially made for SummerSlam but was called off due to storyline injuries Riddle sustained during one of Rollins' attacks.

The match was moved to the Clash at the Castle event, and the rivalry between the two men heated up dramatically after Rollins brought up Riddle's legitimate strife with his family in a promo segment on "Raw." After a few more similarly heated promo segments and backstage clashes, Rollins ultimately got the better of Riddle at "Clash at the Castle," but the rivalry didn't end there.

The issues between the two stars still existed, and Riddle wanted another shot at Rollins. A match was made official for Extreme Rules, and the Fight Pit stipulation was added to their match. In addition to this, Daniel Cormier was added to the mix to serve as the special guest referee for the clash between the two men. Riddle would ultimately make Rollins tap out to a Triangle Choke to get the win.