Shinsuke Nakamura Retains United States Championship Against Jeff Hardy

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jeff Hardy on SummerSlam on Sunday night, earning his second successful [...]

By Connor Casey

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jeff Hardy on SummerSlam on Sunday night, earning his second successful title defense against the "Charismatic Enigma."

Late in the match Nakamura set up for the Kinshasa, which Hardy countered with an attempted Twist of Fate only to back off when the champ went for a low blow.

Hardy finally connected with a Twist of Fate seconds later followed by a Swanton Bomb, but Nakamura put his hand on the rope to break the count. Hardy connected with a second Twist of Fate but Nakamura rolled out to the apron as he climbed the top rope. Hardy decided to try a Swanton on the apron and brutally crashed as Nakamura dodged the attack.

Nakamura tossed Hardy back into the ring, nailed a kick to the back of the head and hit the Kinshasa for the win.

Nakamura initially won the championship against Hardy at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in July in shockingly quick fashion. Just as the match introductions had concluded and the referee was handing the title to the timekeeper, Nakamura nailed Hardy with a low blow. He then connected with a Kinshasa after the bell rang to get the cover.

After the match Randy Orton's music hit and the former 13-time world champion made his way onto the entrance ramp. He began slowly walking down to the ring, but decided instead to turn around and go back without laying a hand on an injured Hardy.

Orton has been heavily involved throughout the feud, as he made his return from surgery moments after the match at Extreme Rules to further attack an already weakened Hardy. He then interfere during Hardy's contractually obligated rematch days later and would attack Hardy on several episodes of SmackDown Live.

"The Viper" hinted at getting involved with the match back on Tuesday when he could be seen peaking behind the curtain while Hardy was in the ring.

Shortly after the win, Nakamura posted a photo of himself holding the title backstage.

Other match results from Sunday night included Roman Reigns winning the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles defending his WWE Championship via disqualification by attacking Samoa Joe with a steel chair, The Miz using brass knuckles to successfully knock out Daniel Bryan and Charlotte Flair winning the SmackDown Women's Championship in a triple threat match with Carmella and Becky Lynch.

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