Unfortunate news for Shinsuke Nakamura following WWE SmackDown loss

Shinsuke Nakamura lost the United States Championship to LA Knight this past week on WWE SmackDown, in one of the week's biggest shocks. The Megastar was declared the No 1 Contender after a mini-tournament on last week's show.

Rhea Ripley lost her Women's World Championship earlier in the week while John Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber dominated the news for the week. That being said, Nakamura could take a back seat on the blue brand following this loss and it could have revealed WWE's intentions for his future.

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Nakamura would have celebrated 100 days as champion tomorrow if he was able to retain the title against LA Knight. The fact that he wasn't able to hold the title for more than three months, despite the change of character and the way WWE repackaged him, doesn't bode well for Nakamura moving forward, especially with WrestleMania on the horizon.

There's also the fact that automatic rematch clauses no longer seem to be automatic, so the former champion will be forced to battle it out with all other mid-card contenders for a chance to regain the title.

Will Shinsuke Nakamura have a place on the WrestleMania card?

It's interesting to see how much someone's fortunes can change in a matter of minutes since Shinsuke Nakamura was a definite for the WrestleMania card as United States Champion given the new two-day format, but now, it's unclear if he will even feature at all at The Show of Shows this year.

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The title match could pit LA Knight against someone else or even become a multi-man match, but there are only around five weeks until the show for WWE to make a decision and see where Nakamura fits on the card.

There was a belief that he would be given a huge push with this new character. But, sadly, a short reign and title loss on a weekly show could be a hint that WWE has already given up on him, which would be a shame for the fans.

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