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After this week's SmackDown, WWE announced that a massive championship match will take place on next week's Friday night show. A major star will get an opportunity to reclaim the United States Championship.
LA Knight secured the US Title from Logan Paul at the 2024 SummerSlam. The 42-year-old star successfully defended the title against opponents such as Santos Escobar and Ludwig Kaiser, among others, before losing it to Shinsuke Nakamura at the Survivor Series: WarGames Premium Live Event.
On the February 21 edition of the blue brand's show, The Megastar aligned with R-Truth to compete against The Miz and Carmelo Hayes in a tag team match. However, The King of Strong Style attacked Knight during the match when the referee was distracted, allowing Melo and The A-Lister to emerge victorious.
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As confirmed by WWE on its website, Shinsuke Nakamura will put his United States Championship on the line against LA Knight on next week's SmackDown.
Former WWE star criticizes Shinsuke Nakamura's inconsistent booking
It's been over three months since the company put the US Title on The Artist. However, a former 24/7 Champion is still not sold on Shinsuke Nakamura's creative direction.
Speaking on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, EC3 critiqued WWE's booking of the 44-year-old star. He pointed out Shinsuke Nakamura's potential was squandered after a promising feud with Seth Rollins in 2023.
"It's hard, again, with the championship to pick or choose. Like, you build somebody and if they do not culminate with the big win, they are forever in purgatory unless they get some sort of reinvention or reigniting. I thought WWE did a cool job, maybe, a year and a half ago when he was jumping into that feud with Rollins, but then they scaled him back, and he became very dark and mysterious and doing ninja stuff on the beach, and he kinda was like a serious killer!" he said.
Fans will have to wait and see if LA Knight will succeed in defeating The Black Savior to become a two-time United States Champion.
Major rumor about recently released stars HERE
