WWE Spoiler: New Champion Crowned During Smackdown Live Christmas Day Tapings

Like the Christmas Eve episode of Raw, WWE decided to pre-tape their Christmas Day edition of [...]

By Jeremy Snodgrass

Like the Christmas Eve episode of Raw, WWE decided to pre-tape their Christmas Day edition of SmackDown. That means spoilers and in this case a new United States Champion.

Next week WWE will air a match between US Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, but thanks t the powers of the internet we know how that bout will finish: Rusev will become a 3-time United States Champion.

Nakamura first won the title back in July and held it for a total of 156 days. His time as champion didn't come with too many great memories as October came and went without a traditional pay-per-view and November saw him go one-on-one with Seth Rollins in a non-title bout at Survivor Series.

For Rusev, this marks a return to prominence. While things have been sow as of late for the Bulgarian Brute, 2018 has been his best year in WWE by far. After sparking the Rusev Day phenomena, the 32-year-old was the most popular star in the company for back-to-back months. This manifested a Casket Match with The Undertaker at The Greatest Royal Rumble, a match Rusev lost, but gained his bet exposure since WrestleMania 31. Rusev Day would eventually fizzle out after WWE made the decision to split Rusev and Aiden English. However, Rusev did get his first crack at the WWE Championship when he fought AJ Styles at Extreme Rules.

In recent months Rusev has cooled, but now that he once again is holding WWE gold, don't be surprised if his popularity begins to surge.

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