The latest episode of WWE SmackDown witnessed the return of Shinsuke Nakamura in a rechristened character to ignite a fresh feud with the reigning mid-card champion of the WWE. As such, the returnee is possibly going after the only singles title that he had held in the WWE in the past.
On the November 15 episode of WWE SmackDown, Nakamura made his WWE television return by attacking LA Knight. It came just after Knight had just successfully defended the United States title against Berto in an Open Challenge.
While his face was partially covered, it appeared that Nakamura sported a new look, wearing all back and also face paint. Coming out from behind, he laid out Knight with the Kinshasa. The segment ended with Nakamura walking away from the scene with his face covered with his hair.
Nakamura had been absent from WWE SmackDown since April when he was moved back to the blue brand as part of the 2024 WWE Draft. Interestingly, he was active in the house shows of the WWE around the over places like the United States, Japan, and Europe.
As such, Nakamura even competed in matches against Knight during WWE’s tour in England for the United States title and came up short. Now that he has resurfaced on WWE SmackDown, it appears that this rivalry will officially unfold on WWE television. Knight has been the United States Champion since this year’s SummerSlam by defeating Logan Paul for the belt.
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WWE SmackDown: Nia Jax defeated Naomi to retain her title
In more news from this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Naomi got her shot at Nia Jax’s WWE Women’s Championship. After picking up a series of high-profile wins in recent weeks, she had a ton of momentum by her side, but she eventually came up short.
During the match, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were shown attacking Cargill and Belair. Back in the ring, Tiffany Stratton attacked Naomi while the referee was checking on Jax. Later, Bayley and Candice LaRae also interfered, allowing Jax to deliver The Annihilator finisher for the win on WWE SmackDown to retain her title.
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