Last week, LA Knight defeated Berto of Legado Del Fantasma in a ruthlessly efficient United States Championship match. On Friday's episode of "WWE SmackDown," "The Megastar" took to the faction's leader, Santos Escobar, in a similarly successful title defense, only to have his celebration similarly cut short by the newly returned Shinsuke Nakamura.

Before Knight and Escobar could even lock up, Nakamura made his presence known via ominous video message, a tactic that Nakamura has used extensively in the past to intimidate his opponents. Escobar took advantage of the taunt tactic to land the first hit on a distracted Knight, and the match lurched into life.

Escobar landed a few solid hits onto Knight, but "The Megastar" turned the tide of the fight after a choice headbutt on the top rope. Knight's momentum, however, was kiboshed after Nakamura appeared on the entrance ramp to demand his attention. Escobar, ever the opportunist, landed a hurricanrana on the distracted Knight, and nearly upset Salt Lake City with a Phantom Driver. Knight escaped the move by the skin of his teeth, however, and transformed the momentum into a successful BFT to retain.

Knight had little time to celebrate, as Nakamura swiftly entered the ring to lay blow after blow on the United States Champion. Nakamura laid out Knight with a Kinshasa, and for the second week in a row, Knight was laid out by the "King of Strong-style."

While Knight is currently 0-2 against Nakamura's post-match ambushes, his title reign remains strong at 111 days and counting, and he now has seven successful title defenses under his belt. Knight's next opponent for the United States Championship — whether that be Nakamura or somebody else — remains unclear.