Andrade calls out 44-year-old returning WWE legend after SmackDown; claims he'll win major title
WWE Superstar Andrade challenged a 44-year-old returning legend to a match after this week's edition of Friday Night SmackDown. He also expressed confidence in potentially capturing the United States Championship from LA Knight.
El Idolo faced The Megastar and Carmelo Hayes in a Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship at Crown Jewel. Fans witnessed an intense match between the three men before Knight took home the win by retaining his title at the premium live event in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Shinsuke Nakamura who was absent from WWE TV for over six months, returned on the November 15 edition of the blue brand. The King of Strong Style took out the reigning United States Champion after the latter's match against Berto. The 44-year-old legend did the same thing on this week's SmackDown after The Megastar's match against Santos Escobar.
During an interview with Byron Saxton on SmackDown LowDown, Andrade sent a warning to The Artist, who seems to have set his sights on the 42-year-old WWE star's US Title. El Idolo claimed that Shinsuke Nakamura needed to wait for his turn, and if the latter had a problem with that, he would be open to solving the issue with the Japanese wrestler inside the ring next week.
"Byron, [Shinsuke] Nakamura has been gone for a long time. He needs to wait in the line. I'll be the man to beat LA Knight for the United States Championship. If Nakamura has a problem with that, I can meet him in the ring next week," Andrade said. [From 02:49 to 03:19]
You can watch the full video below:
WWE veteran criticizes Shinsuke Nakamura's past booking
Following this week's episode of the blue brand, wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell shared his two cents on The King of Strong Style's previous creative bookings. On the November 22, 2024, edition of SmackDown, Nakamura threw LA Knight off his game by appearing in a video package on the Titantron.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell criticized Shinsuke Nakamura's past bookings. The WWE veteran expressed optimism about the 44-year-old legend's program with The Megastar, hoping for better character development and utilization of his talent.
"Hey, I've never been a Nakamura fan because they didn't do anything with him. He was just taking up space and time on TV. And his character, he was just a Japanese guy that had very little substance to him... I think this does have a little bit room to grow if they want it to and see what we can get out of it. He's a hell of a talent. They may have turned the page on him which I hope they have. Anything LA Knight does is entertaining as hell anyway. We'll see what they can do with it," said Mantell.
Check out the video below for his comments:
Only time will tell if Andrade beats Shinsuke Nakamura on next week's episode of WWE SmackDown in an effort to possibly win the United States Championship from The Megastar.
If you use the quote from the first part of this article, please credit WWE SmackDown LowDown and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.