LA Knight Defeats Shinsuke Nakamura to Reclaim United States Championship – LA Knight has once again captured the United States Championship, marking his second reign with the title after dethroning Shinsuke Nakamura on the March 7 episode of SmackDown. This victory comes after Knight previously lost the championship to Nakamura and fell short in his first attempt to reclaim it.
The highly anticipated main event saw Knight aggressively pursue Nakamura from the outset, wasting no time in going after the champion. While Nakamura attempted to fight back early on, Knight’s momentum steadily grew as the match progressed. A signature Superplex from “The Megastar” signaled the beginning of the end for Nakamura.
Knight followed up with a top-rope elbow drop and attempted to seal the win with his signature BFT. However, Nakamura evaded the maneuver and introduced a steel chair into the match. As the referee intervened, Nakamura took advantage of the distraction and blinded the official with his signature red mist. With the referee incapacitated, Knight capitalized, delivering a decisive BFT onto the steel chair before securing the three-count with the help of a backup official.
Following his victory, Knight took to Twitter/X to share his thoughts, making it clear that he intends to elevate the championship:
“It’s been too long, man. Way too long. What I need to do is get these [sideplates] off here. What I need to do is get that LA Knight back on there. What I need to do is get that strap on, and what I need to do is take this title back to places, maybe that it once was, but to places that it’s never been. What I need to do is take this title all over the damn world. I think we’re going to Europe not too long from now, and the US Champ, the US Title, coming on over there, and I’ll tell you what, just the same as here in the US, you can all pledge allegiance to the champ of the United States, with everybody saying, ‘LA Knight.’ Two times, we did it again.”
In a SmackDown exclusive, Knight reflected on his journey, revealing that just a few years ago, he thought his career was coming to an end. Now, as a two-time champion, he is determined to bring the United States Championship out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
“Two times. Two times, United States Champion. It was only a few years ago, I thought my career was never gonna go anywhere. I thought my career was kind of nearing its end, and here I am, all the sudden just taking off, all the sudden just winning the United States Championship not once, but twice. When I think about it, it took me how many times last week to get here? Two times. Why? Because I had to wrestle some goof one time last week. Then I had to wrestle two other goofs another time last week. Two times to get here, two times the champion. Two times is nice. Double mint gum. Oh yeah, double mint twins, are they gonna be here? Nah, nah. But that’s okay because you got this man just dropping BFTs on everybody, turning three into two. Two-time US Champ, and there ain’t nothing anybody can do about it. Shinsuke Nakamura, you had a nice little reign in the shadows. Hope you enjoyed it, but now we’re bringing it out to the light like nobody else can. Once again, we can all pledge allegiance to the champ of the United States of America. Yeah.”
This defeat ends Nakamura’s third reign as United States Champion, which began at Survivor Series 2024 when he scored a clean victory over Knight. During his 98-day reign, Nakamura exclusively defended the title against Knight, including their first rematch on the January 10 episode of SmackDown. Knight earned this latest title shot by winning a special one-night tournament on February 28, setting the stage for his ultimate redemption.
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LA Knight Defeats Shinsuke Nakamura to Reclaim United States Championship
