LA Knight to be replaced by 40-year-old star on WWE SmackDown? Crucial impact explored
Former WWE United States Champion LA Knight might be replaced by a 40-year-old superstar as the next potential challenger to Shinsuke Nakamura and his US Title. The superstar in question is Santos Escobar.
The Legado del Fantasma leader could be the next challenger WWE pushes against Nakamura while LA Knight stays out of the title picture for a while. The former US Champion might be involved in some other storyline on the blue brand as he has been in the US Title scene for the past few months.
He won it from Logan Paul at WWE SummerSlam 2024 and held on to it for nearly four months before losing it to Nakamura at the recently concluded Survivor Series: WarGames Premium Live Event.
In last week's episode of SmackDown, LA Knight came out to confront Shinsuke Nakamura once again but was interrupted by Andrade, who said that he wanted to take on The King of Strong Style. They were surprisingly attacked by Solo Sikoa and his Bloodline members, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga.
Knight and Andrade could now be booked in a storyline with The Bloodline, specifically against Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu. The two can team up to face the Bloodline members, while Shinsuke Nakamura might be involved in a storyline with Santos Escobar for the title.
WWE might book Santos Escobar and Nakamura for Royal Rumble 2025
Nakamura might feud with the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion at the Royal Rumble PLE next month. The storyline might start with Nakamura facing one member of Legado Del Fantasma, possibly Berto.
During the match, Escobar could come out and attack Nakamura, thus staking a claim for the United States Championship. This booking would further be beneficial for Escobar as the 40-year-old superstar hasn't featured in a big storyline since WrestleMania 40, where he teamed up with Dominik Mysterio to take on Rey Mysterio and Andrade in a tag-team match.
Escobar faced LA Knight for the WWE United States Title in a losing effort on the August 23 edition of SmackDown. Since then, he has not been involved in any title storyline, and the company can now use him to further elevate Shinsuke Nakamura.
Further, Shinsuke Nakamura is expected to retain the US Title for some time, as the 2018 Royal Rumble winner seems to be booked to be quite over on the roster currently. Nakamura returned on the November 15 edition of SmackDown, after a hiatus of nearly seven months.
He disappeared from television soon after losing to Sheamus on an episode of RAW in April 2024. He, however, competed in some dark matches during this period. It remains to be seen for how long Shinsuke Nakamura retains the US Title.