Royal Rumble 2019: Ranking all of the matches 

#9 Rusev Vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura won his second US Championship at the Royal Rumble

The decision to have Shinsuke Nakamura win back the US Title Belt after doing absolutely nothing of note with it throughout 2018 certainly proved a baffling one, but given the fact that AEW is likely to be sniffing around the former NJPW star, it does make some sense on the WWE's part.

The match itself was fine, but the fact that these Rusev and Nakamura have been relegated to the pre-show speaks volumes about the way the WWE has booked the SmackDown mid-card scene in recent months.

Lana's involvement certainly took the wind out of the match's sails, but obviously, it was all just a part of a much bigger picture.