“The reign of terror is over”- Wrestling fans elated after 42-year-old star becomes 2-time United States Champion in main event of SmackDown

Popular WWE superstar dethrones Shinsuke Nakamura to win the United States Championship heading into WrestleMania 41.

“The reign of terror is over”- Wrestling fans elated after 42-year-old star becomes 2-time United States Champion in main event of SmackDown

LA Knight dethrones Shinsuke Nakamura to become US Champion (via WWE)

LA Knight shockingly lost his United States Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura at Survivor Series: WarGames 2024. For the past three and a half months, the 42-year-old has been on a quest to regain his title. Finally, he got another shot at winning back his belt on the latest episode of SmackDown.

These two superstars truly put it all out there and put on a stellar match for the fans that featured a highly chaotic finish. Toward the end, LA Knight went for a BFT, but it was denied. Out of frustration, he went to the ring floor and grabbed a steel chair. Nakamura went out himself, grabbed the chair, and took it inside the ring.

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Referee Charles Robinson struggled and tried to take the chair from the competitors. Amidst the chaos, Nakamura went for the mist on his opponent’s face, but the latter ducked. This led to the match official being blinded and sliding out of the ring. The 2018 Royal Rumble winner landed a few kicks and grabbed the chair once again. However, Knight kicked it out of his hand, hit a BFT on top of the chair, and won the United States Championship once again.

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This rematch was originally scheduled for last week’s episode of SmackDown. Unfortunately, Nakamura’s close friend passed away, and the Japanese superstar did not make it to the show. Thus, WWE decided to run a 6-man tournament to crown the #1 contender for the United States Championship. Although this tournament was quite fun, it did not make any major difference, as Knight came out on top of the tournament anyway.

Wrestling world reacts to LA Knight beating Shinsuke Nakamura to win the United States Championship

The WWE Universe was overjoyed to see LA Knight win back the United States Championship. After all, he is a huge favorite with the live crowds and social media users. However, fans were even more glad that Shinsuke Nakamura’s “reign of terror” was finally over.

LA Knight
LA Knight as US Champion (via WWE)

During his 97-day championship reign, Nakamura barely showed up to any episode of SmackDown or a PLE. WWE has already had a tough time booking the midcard on the blue brand, with guys like Andrade and Apollo Crews floating around aimlessly. Having an absent champion did not help the matter at hand at all.

Many fans wondered what the point of stripping Knight of the title was anyway. Perhaps the company wanted to build Shinsuke Nakamura up with his new gimmick and then hand the title back to the Megastar. However, due to his limited appearances, this objective was not achieved. Many believed that the title should have never changed hands in the first place, as the 42-year-old was having a pretty good reign before losing it.

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