5 things you need to know before tonight's WWE SmackDown Live (December 18, 2018)

3: How will Nakamura react to TLC snub?

Shinsuke Nakamura was absent from the pay per view, despite being the United States Champion.

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs may have been a historic pay per view for many SmackDown Live Superstars, but for Shinsuke Nakamura, it was just another day not being on Pay Per View.

In what has sadly become a running habit for the founder of Nak-America, the United States Champion was nowhere to be seen at the pay per view, once again.

This will surely not have gone down well with the company's resident rockstar, who has vowed to improve SmackDown Live often at the expense of those who oppose him, including former champions such as the Charismatic Enigma Jeff Hardy, and the Bulgarian Brute, Rusev.

Whatever the United States Champion has planned, expect the former New Japan star to make his intentions clear tonight on SmackDown Live.