Shinsuke Nakamura To Make WWE Return On Next Week's SmackDown

After several months away, Shinsuke Nakamura will return to WWE TV on next week's edition of Friday Night SmackDown from Lincoln, Nebraska. If Nakamura will be involved in a match on the show was not revealed, only that he will be returning on SmackDown. 

The King of Strong Style has been off WWE TV since November 2022 when he lost a SmackDown World Cup first-round match to Santos Escobar. Nakamura continued to perform at house shows but he hasn't stepped inside a WWE ring at all since January 22 when he teamed with Braun Strowman and Madcap Moss to defeat Imperium's GUNTHER, Giovanni Vinci, and Ludwig Kaiser. 

Reports in recent days had noted that Nakamura would be returning soon, with WWE having simply put any plans for the 2018 Royal Rumble winner "on hold" until after WrestleMania 39. Nakamura was in attendance at the 2023 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony on Friday, March 31. 

Also announced for next week's SmackDown is LA Knight vs. Xavier Woods. The match came about after LA Knight interrupted Woods and Madcap Moss playing WWE 2K23 on SmackDown, taking issue with the fact Woods was featured at WrestleMania 39 while he was not involved despite the show taking place in the Los Angeles area. Woods offered to beat LA Knight again on SmackDown and the segment ended with the former Eli Drake breaking Xavier's PlayStation 5 controller.