Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei waahanga - I whakataetae a Nakamura i tana tukinga tuatahi mai i te SummerSlam i te wahanga o te Mahuru 11 o "SmackDown Live", ka ngaro ki a Jeff Hardy ma te whakakore i muri i te aukati a Randy Orton. Whai muri i tana whakakahore ki te tiaki i te WWE United States Championship i te Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, i whakahaua e te kaiwhakahaere matua a Paige a Nakamura ki te tiaki i te Championship i te waahanga o te Mahuru 18 o "SmackDown Live", i angitu ia, i hinga i a Rusev. I te SmackDown 1000, i hinga a Nakamura ki te hokinga mai o Rey Mysterio i roto i te tukinga tohu mo te WWE World Cup i Crown Jewel. Ka angitu a Nakamura ki te pupuri i te taitara i te Oketopa 30 o te waahanga o "SmackDown Live" ki a R-Truth ka mutu ki a Rusev i Crown Jewel. I hinga a Nakamura ki a Raw's WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins i roto i te tukinga o te toa toa me te toa i te Survivor Series. I te wahanga 25 o Tihema o "SmackDown Live" (i tuhia i te Tihema 18), i ngaro a Nakamura i te WWE United States Championship ki a Rusev, ka mutu tana kingitanga i nga ra 156. I te 27 o Hanuere 2019, i te Royal Rumble
, I hinga a Nakamura i a Rusev ki te wikitoria i tana tuarua WWE United States Championship. I muri mai i taua po, i uru ia ki te whakataetae Royal Rumble i uru mai i te # 3 engari i whakakorea e Mustafa Ali.