Shinsuke Nakamura Beats Jeff Hardy in 5 Seconds, Wins US Title at Extreme Rules

Shinsuke Nakamura beat Jeff Hardy at WWE Extreme Rules on Sunday to win the United States Championship in Pittsburgh, marking the start of his first title reign on the main roster.

Nakamura delivered a low blow to Hardy before the opening bell as the referee had his back turned. Then, immediately after the bell rang, Nakamura hit Hardy with the Kinshasa for the victory:

CBSSports.com's Brian Campbell thought the one-sided match helped Nakamura bolster his heel credentials:

After the match, Randy Orton would emerge and further attack Hardy:

Nakamura and Hardy first locked horns on the go-home episode of SmackDown Live prior to Money in the Bank. Hardy won that bout by disqualification after The King of Strong Style hit him with his signature low blow.

Five days later, Nakamura went on to lose a Last Man Standing match to AJ Styles in what was his final opportunity at the WWE Championship.

With Hardy wanting revenge on Nakamura for what happened in their match on SmackDown, general manager Paige booked a U.S. title match for Extreme Rules.

Originally, their first title match was scheduled to take place on an episode of SmackDown Live; however, a police dog accidentally bit Nakamura, which resulted in a postponement.

On the most recent episode of SmackDown, Nakamura had another match with Styles that ended in a DQ when Rusev got involved.

Hardy ran down to stop a two-on-one attack, which led to a tag team match pitting Nakamura and Rusev against Styles and Hardy.

Nakamura and Rusev were victorious, and the challengers entered their respective matches at Extreme Rules with momentum on their sides.

Hardy won the United States Championship in April after beating Jinder Mahal in a surprise match on the Superstar Shake-up edition of Raw.

He was then drafted to SmackDown, where he enjoyed successful defenses against the likes of Randy Orton and The Miz.

Nakamura fell short in several WWE Championship matches against Styles, including a bout at WrestleMania 34 that resulted in him shockingly turning heel.

Although Nakamura faced Styles several more times after that, he was never able to reach the top of the mountain on the blue brand.

Vying for the United States Championship was viewed as a step down, but Hardy is a future Hall of Famer. A rivalry between him and Nakamura feels fresh in comparison to the long-running feud pitting Nakamura against Styles.

While the U.S. title can be an albatross at times, Nakamura has been fantastic as a heel, and it is easy to envision the championship furthering his character in addition to him adding prestige to the title.

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