Another Friday, another chaotic night on WWE SmackDown, as Shinsuke Nakamura’s United States Championship reign remains intact—though not without a heavy dose of drama, interference, and broken furniture. LA Knight stepped up for his much-anticipated rematch, but unfortunately, his championship dreams got superkicked to the curb, courtesy of Bloodline-adjacent chaos.
Knight, the crowd favorite and perpetual thorn in The Bloodline’s side, brought his A-game, dominating much of the match. However, his pre-show eviction of Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga turned out to be a costly decision. Proving you can’t just throw them out like last week’s leftovers, Fatu and Tonga returned mid-match and laid waste to Knight. The referee, probably just as tired of Bloodline drama as we all are, called for a DQ. Nakamura retains the title because, hey, rules are rules.
The beatdown didn’t end there. Fatu and Tonga were taking Knight to the woodshed when Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso charged the ring for a heroic save. The ring exploded into chaos, officials swarmed, and somewhere in the middle of it all, Cody yelled loud enough to be heard over a hot dog stand, demanding Nick Aldis book a tag team match later in the show. Aldis, with the air of a man who just wants to make it to the weekend, obliged, ensuring that the night would continue with even more fists flying.
For Nakamura, his first title defense in 42 days ends with the belt still around his waist, even if it wasn’t exactly clean. For LA Knight, this loss only fuels his vendetta against not just Nakamura, but everyone who keeps getting in the way of his championship dreams.