44-year-old veteran returns after 7 months to take out LA Knight; next US Title opponent potentially confirmed

LA Knight is still the United States Champion after a great title defense in an open challenge on SmackDown. However, he was attacked by a returning 44-year-old star, who returned after seven months to seemingly set up the next US Title match.

This week on SmackDown, LA Knight hosted an open challenge, which Legado Del Fantasma answered. Although Santos Escobar teased answering the challenge, he sent Humberto Carrillo to face Knight instead. It put LDF in a position where if Humberto won, and so did Elektra Lopez in the women's tournament, both US Titles would belong to the faction.

We all know that it was never going to play out that way, and LA Knight would take Humberto out in a very good effort from the young star. After the match, 44-year-old veteran Shinsuke Nakamura returned after seven months to take out the Champion and set up the next US Title match.

If you recall, Nakamura was drafted back to SmackDown this year but didn't appear until the November 15 episode. He was used for dark matches and live events while taking a hiatus from TV.

This essentially confirms Dr. Chris Featherstone's report from Sportskeeda, who initially stated that he was scheduled for November 8. However, it looks like there was only a one-week delay.

We have a huge program for the US Champion, something that has been missing for him since SummerSlam.