6 Things WWE subtly told us on SmackDown: Former World Champion makes in-ring return after 6 years, 11-month Championship reign ends (January 8th, 2021)

#1 Shinsuke Nakamura emerges as the star of SmackDown and turns face

A solid match

SmackDown belonged to Shinsuke Nakamura, who put on his best performance in WWE since April 1st, 2016. The aforementioned date was when he made his WWE debut at NXT Takeover: Dallas - defeating Sami Zayn in the process.

He has been in important positions between 2016 and 2018, but he fell off the radar for a bit. Even so, he was accused of "phoning it in" and not giving his best to WWE.

👏 👏 👏 👏#SmackDown #GauntletMatch @WWEDanielBryan @ShinsukeN pic.twitter.com/GMKLAQgd87

— WWE (@WWE) January 9, 2021

It's clear that WWE is Shinsuke Nakamura's retirement plan, and on SmackDown, it became clear that the King Of Strong Style can do well when he wants to. The Gauntlet Match is always the perfect platform for one star to shine, and on SmackDown, it was Nakamura.

WAIT A MINUTE! @WWERomanReigns @WWEUsos #SmackDown #GauntletMatch @ShinsukeN pic.twitter.com/QJv5HiI42m

— WWE (@WWE) January 9, 2021

Nakamura ran through Rey Mysterio, King Corbin, and even pinned Daniel Bryan clean. After his assault by Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, it became clear that he quietly turned babyface. This means that his alliance with Cesaro is effectively over. What will be next for the babyface Nakamura on SmackDown after coming so close to Universal title contention?