WWE SmackDown: 5 Biggest news stories - Surprising opponent for Roman Reigns, Sonya Deville's new role revealed (January 8, 2021)

#2: Shinsuke Nakamura earned a big moment and turned babyface on WWE SmackDown

KNEE. 2. FACE. 😱#SmackDown @ShinsukeN pic.twitter.com/GJUQDcIFyE

— WWE (@WWE) January 9, 2021

A gauntlet match took place on this week's WWE SmackDown to determine a challenger for Roman Reigns' Universal title at the WWE Royal Rumble event.

Rey Mysterio and Sami Zayn kickstarted the aforementioned match. Despite Zayn's conspiracy theories against WWE, Mysterio was able to eliminate Zayn first quickly. It was Shinsuke Nakamura who came next. The King of Strong Style was able to eliminate Mysterio with the help of an armbar submission.

Nakamura was also able to eliminate the next competitor, King Corbin, with a Kinshasa. This is when things escalated for the Japanese WWE Superstar, as he went on to face Daniel Bryan next. Bryan was the favorite to win here because of all the rumors which indicated that Bryan would face Roman Reigns around WrestleMania season.

However, Nakamura even managed to defeat Daniel Bryan via pinfall. Bryan and Nakamura shook hands after their back-and-forth encounter, which conveyed the message that The King of Strong Style has now turned babyface.

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

— WWE (@WWE) January 9, 2021

Nakamura had become a sideshow on the main roster over the past few years, even though he was one of the hottest commodities in WWE at one point. Not a lot of people expected Nakamura to be pushed on the Road to WrestleMania 37.

Even though he didn't win the gauntlet match because of reasons that will be covered in the next slide, the stage has been set for a future encounter between Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE.