WWE SmackDown Preview: 1st January 2019

Rusev reigns supreme as United States Champion

The Super Athlete wins his third United States Championship on Christmas... and on his birthday... and on Rusev Day!

What a week it was for Rusev! The Bulgarian Brute is now the new champion on the block, having captured his third United States title in the final WWE match of 2018. He overcame a strong champion in Shinsuke Nakamura.

It's going to be interesting to see what he does as champion. The Rusev that just won the US title is a very different Rusev from the last two reigns. Nakamura won't just stand by the sidelines. He's going to retaliate. The question is how the new champion deals with it.

Breaking Vince Russo and Jim Cornette update HERE.

Rusev now has the approval of the WWE Universe and by his side, he's become stronger. With him winning the title on Christmas, which also happens to be his birthday (and Rusev Day!), it's going to be interesting to see what he has to say. Will he be a true fighting champion?

About the author

Rohit Nath is a content writer from Bangalore, India. A former full-time employee of Sportskeeda, Rohit was a part of building Sportskeeda's WWE section in its rapid growth. His work has been featured in both Sportskeeda and Wrestlezone.

Some of the big names interviewed by Rohit are AJ Styles, Jinder Mahal, Jimmy Uso and Sasha Banks. Some of his popular weekly features include RAW Preview, "X things Subtly told us" and "Wrestling rumors we hope are true and those we hope aren't".

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Edited by Shiven Sachdeva