Shinsuke Nakamura reappeared on WWE programming on the November 15 episode of "WWE SmackDown," promising to take away everything that United States Champion LA Knight had to offer. At Survivor Series, Nakamura kept his word, and walked out of Vancouver as the new United States Champion.
From the beginning of the match, it was clear that Knight was off of his game. Knight failed to deliver any meaningful offense to the challenger in the early goings of the match, and fell victim to Nakamura's infamous brutal strongstyle several times over the contest. The two fought back and forth, with Knight only able to score a near fall after landing an inverted Burning Hammer late in the match. Cole noted that Knight could not "get anything going," and things finally unravelled for "The Megastar" after a trip to the outside.
Nakamura had just landed a Belly to Back suplex onto the champion for a near fall, and the fight spilled onto the steel flooring just outside the ring. Nakamura dumped Knight onto the unyielding metal, and Knight seemed to land on the back of his neck before he was dumped back into the ring. With Knight aching and helpless, Nakamura closed in on the champion like a predator, and nailed Knight in the back of the neck with a Kinshasa to claim the United States Championship.
With his victory, Nakamura ended LA Knight's first main roster title reign. Knight held the United States Championship for 119 days, having dethroned Logan Paul for the gold at SummerSlam 2024. Nakamura is set to begin his third reign as the United States Champion, with a combined 159 days as champion from his first two reigns. No challengers appeared in the aftermath of the title bout; as of this writing, Nakamura's first challenger remains undisclosed, though a rematch with the former champion is always a strong possibility.
