Carmelo Hayes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[7.0] "I wasn't expecting an attempt at an epic here so I was caught off guard but I did like this! Just not sure about the length god damn dude this was long! I did watch the ad-free complete version though so a lot of segments during breaks felt dull which didnt help the crowd but probably allowed more TV viewers to enjoy it. Great leg work here though I love seeing Nakamura tap into heelish submission-focused territory and he has good chemistry with Melo. Would love a rematch down the line! ***1/2"

[8.0] "It's always a pleasure to see Shinsuke Nakamura back in WWE ring, especially when it's for a title opportunity. Shinsuke remains the perfect opponent for a wrestler of the new generation, and he was exactly the right rival to showcase Carmelo Hayes. The match was fluid, fast-paced, and highly technical. While Carmelo has the edge in agility and speed, Shinsuke can surprise him with his technical mastery. It becomes a maelstrom of two different styles, yet perfectly complementary when executed well, and that was certainly the case here. We can only appreciate seeing Shinsuke Nakamura still performing at such a high level in 2026."

[7.0] "A good match. It's not amazing, but it's entertaining, with high-impact spots and a steady, albeit slow, pace that builds gradually. I like the match; it's not incredible, but it's not bad at all. Another good title defense for Carmelo Hayes."

[7.0] "Another Smackdown, another good title defense to Hayes. Nakamura had a solid performance there too, which, well, surprised me... (***1/2)."

[8.0] "Another great match with the US Open challenge. Zayn, Dragunov, and now Hayes keeping it up has been the(and sometimes the only) highlight of Smackdown. No difference here. While Hayes has been the weakest of the 3 for me, there's no denying he's got some good moves and did great in the match. Just not my cup of tea is all. Shinsuke looked more of a return to his old self, and the leg work he did on Melo was great storytelling. Fantastic match, well worth the watch"

[5.0] "[2.50*] Uh.. , Carmelo Hayes is not a good wrestler; the way he execute moves/ and sells moves is just showed this even more clearer, I just don't like this type of wrestlers and I just don't care about him, nakamura was awesome here, good match by one side, but kinda of awful in other (? )."

[5.0] "I really really wanted to like this but I guess it's enough for me that the match was generally well received. Even though both competitors did their stuff well for the most part, there were several moments where their communication felt clunky and there was distinct difference in energy between Nakamura and Hayes. I'll let you guess who was more animated than the other. Also I was not a fan of the stop-start selling of Carmelo's leg. Regardless I am happy to see both wrestlers being used appropriately."

[8.0] "This was a good match, and I am very happy that they are continuing with the open challenge and they keep delivering great matches."

[7.0] "Composed with a dynamic that is characterized by their contrast in styles, with Melo being the aerialist and Shinsuke the striker, they end up working towards an approach that is highly favorable to my taste. After some dueling work where the contrast in styles is highlighted, Shinsuke ends up taking the tactical route by targeting Carmelo's leg, leaving him wounded, which further gave Melo's performance more dimension by having to work through the limb damage. 11 minutes into the match, I'm not sure if Shinsuke grew tired, but there is a chunk there where Shinsuke's work dipped in quality. Even though from a logical standpoint things were still unfolding in the right direction, there was a noticeable lack of urgency to his work. However, in the closing minutes, Shinsuke did become reinvigorated and concluded things on a good note. I found Carmelo's performance to be outstanding here, such that even when I felt Shinsuke's work was slipping, he picked up the slack. I don't think the limb work for the most part registered with the audience, and it was quite evident when late in the match Melo came flying off the turnbuckle and saw Shinsuke cinch in a leg lock, which was meant to be this highly dramatic moment but ultimately failed at its intended purpose. Still, I highly enjoyed this one. ***1/2"

[8.0] "I need more Nakamura matches in 2026, because this one was absolutely beautiful, hard-hitting, extremely competitive, and genuinely enjoyable from start to finish. Hopefully the storyline with Tama Tonga actually leads somewhere"

[6.0] "Decent match, I probably am one of the only people who thought the match was just fine, most thought it was great, but I wasn't feeling it."

[8.0] "Really good match. Liked how this started off with Melo wanting to start this out in a more traditional way during his early shine when he was getting the better of Shinsuke, then Shinsuke used his veteran instincts in attempt to slow down Melo by going after his leg with some nasty dragon screws (shoutout Tanahashi), and some nice limb work on the leg, forcing Melo to dig down deep if he was going to remain Us champ and that's what he did. This could have been a bit more tighter, but the work was too good to be nitpicking over any hierarchy issues at play here. Melo is now 2/2 in his title defences so far and Shinsuke can still go when he's motivated. Hell yeah. ***3/4"

[8.0] "So so so happy that melo is the U.S. champion now he has been putting on some incredible matches this far. I enjoy the U.S. open challenge thing so much but it has also been going on now for 4 months across three seperate runs. I love the idea of it but at the same time I'd like to have some legit story built around the title especially with mania season right around the corner it deserves a proper build. (****)"

[7.0] "Very good match, like always it was with US title open challenge. We didn't saw Nakamura for a long time, but he can be really good. Brutal destruction of Melo's knee was cool. But I'm tired of this random matches. They are good, but I want more storylines."

[8.0] "A great match, nothing more, nothing less. Good to see the US open challenge carrying on with Melo. It is one of, if not the best thing on Smackdown right now. HUGE missed opportunity to not have a one off Ludwig Kaiser appearance though."

[5.0] "A pretty comfortable win for Carmelo; an okay contest, but poor relative to the benchmark set by previous open challenge matches. The advert breaks sucked a lot of life out of this, and this whole match ultimately lacked pace and intensity. I'm not really sure where a lot of the higher ratings are coming from here, but I do hope Hayes can turn this reign around given it's been pretty lacklustre relative to Sami's & Ilja's so far."

[5.0] "This was alright but didn't really do it for me. I've been watching a lot of mid-10s New Japan recently so it's difficult not to compare Nakamura now to his prime form, and he just can't really go anymore. He's not really embarrassing himself or anything, but everything he does is very unconvincing and he can't go through the gears to have a standout match. Melo does a good job of making enough movement around Shin to keep it somewhat interesting, but I just found this to be fine."

[8.0] "Shinsuke Nakamura with a great showing. When he actually tries with someone, he can still give you a good match. This was a lot of fun, and Carmelo Hayes is reaching his highest peak. He has been on a tear, having consistent good matches, with the fans behind him. Shonsuke Nakamura was targeting Carmelo Hayes' leg, damaging it, and trying to get the advantage. I loved the chemistry between the two, and I enjoyed the finish of this match. Carmelo Hayes is going to have a major 2026. They need to keep this going because he's easily one of the enjoyable parts of SmackDown, and in WWE in general, he's been producing great stuff, showing off his confidence and playing like the star he is. Amazing stuff."

[8.0] "The referee for this match is Charles Robinson. It's always a pleasure to see him. The open challenge is always a pleasure to watch on SmackDown and has clearly raised the bar for the title. I hope that even when a heel wins it, the open challenge will continue, even if heels might cheat to stay in character. We had Nakamura's return. Nakamura slowed the match down and targeted Hayes' leg while Hayes tried to speed things up. Hayes sold his leg well throughout the match. He sold the Kinshasa well. I was thinking that since Williams is also on SmackDown, why don't they face off for the title with The Miz managing Williams?"

[8.0] "Simply a very good fight by Carmelo. A slightly cheesy finish when Nakamura was set up for Hayes' finisher for about 10 seconds."

[7.0] "My word, this was a breath of fresh air on this show. The Open Challenge remains undefeated in carrying this show. Shinsuke was solid here and Melo seems to be growing every week now after looking lost while tied to the Miz. Good match. Really good match. 7.5/10"

[8.0] "US open challenge matches continue to deliver. Hayes and Nakamura seem like a perfect pairing. They hit the big spots and had the crowd into the matchup. Nakamura is a good win for Hayes to get early in his run."

[7.0] "Yeah probably the match of the night if you ask me (and it still was only a decent match) between a great young talent and a man who on his day can still be really great but that day is rarer than a good episode of smackdown (which this was not). God this match was pretty dull for most of the first ten with some lifeless work which left me question why they gave Nakamura this match in the fucking first place but i will say it picked up towards thet end of the match mainly thanks to Melo doing a holy carry job for the most part before the nothing but net for a predictable win. Yeah a match that picked up the longer that it went on a probably the best match of the evening for me Melo his the rim and it rolled in just about. (***1/2)"

[7.0] "Good bout between the two, both incredible in-ring, Nakamura still being a force with his strikes. The match felt a bit repetitive at times with its long duration and the constant strikes and exchanges. Not a massive fan of matches like that. Carmelo Hayes continues on building his reign."

[7.0] "Good match for the US title. The open challenges continue, this time with Nakamura getting a shot. Nakamura is obviously well past his prime, but every now and then he can put together a good performance which this was. He worked on Melo's leg in an effort to keep the high flying champion grounded, Melo had to find some creative ways to work around it. Simple enough story that they told well, with Melo's selling of the leg being very good. The match went on longer than it should have, they dragged some stuff out just for the sake of it. The last few minutes were the strongest and Melo retains. 7/10"

[7.0] "This was a very solid match. Both worked well here and seem to know each other to have a good title match. Shinsuke had a good match in some time in my opinion and Carmelo just keeping improving and showing why he deserved the us title."

[8.0] "Obviously a great match finally some real wrestling with match time that actually fits a title bout. Both wrestlers did really well. Nakamura is always at the top in the ring, he deserves way more but he's not a WWE 'face' for them, either you have a gimmick or you go nowhere. Nakamura is a legend and an incredible worker, and he did divine work with Carmelo, who in turn wrestled really well too. I honestly wonder if it's normal that the best matches on SmackDown are always thanks to the US title. Anyway, excellent match."

[10.0] "A marvelous technical contest between a legend and the future. Tremendous work on Melo's leg who sold it beautifully and showed beautiful counters. Anyone who still think Shinsuke Nakamura is washed has serious brain issues. But unfortunately, the WWE is mainly watched by kids. Anyway, the perfect US title match between two wonderful talents"

[6.0] "I wasn't nearly as high on this as many of my fellow users here are. Nakamura is just so obviously washed at this point in his career; his later career compared to his career rival Hiroshi Tanahashi is night and day. Sure, Tanahashi may be broken down physically, but you can tell he is still as passionate now as he was in 2011. And that passion helped tremendously in elevating the matches he had in the last few years, including his classic retirement match against Okada at the January 4th show. Nakamura, by contrast, seems like he is going through the motions whenever he has to wrestle. Nothing he did here was at all compelling, event though he had almost twenty minutes to tear it up with an exciting up-and-coming babyface in Melo. It wasn't all bad; there was admittedly some good stuff down the closing stretch, but it wasn't enough to really hook me. The leg work was fine, but it didn't really go anywhere. It just felt like both guys were trying to play for time as they struggled to come up with anything interesting to do. Overall, a decent bout but by far the weakest US open challenge in recent weeks. **3/4"

[6.0] "A good match, but far from the best open challenge. The selling was good, although towards the end, Carmelo forgot about his knee... Glad to see Nakamura again and glad he's being given some time."

[10.0] "These two guys have incredible chemistry. Nakamura showed why he's the king of Strong Style, something he hasn't shown in a long time. Carmelo made some great spots. Nakamura showed once again how well he can perform when given the time. I'd love to see these two in a longer program. I think this is the best match among Carmelo Hayes' open challenges. 10."

[7.0] "really really enjoyed this performance from melo specifically, great selling from him accentuated by some fun leg work from shinsuke, this isn't the most dynamic pairing, melo likes to wrestle faster, shinsuke prefers it a little bit slower so shinsuke finding an opening to slow melo down to his pace is a strong narrative, melo finding ways to work around his leg is awesome too, the single legged springboard ddt and the dragonscrew reversal are strong parts of this; i'm not a huge supporter of melo doing open challenges but him working talent like shinsuke is a good challenge for him, the guys i would like him to face are jeff cobb, chris sabin, montez ford and berto"

[5.0] "Wasn't huge fan of the body language. The selling felt more like acting than working. It dragged at times. The fireman's carry into the Stunner counter when it didn't even look like Shin was countered was the moment I thought why am I even watching this? Regardless, serviceable match I guess."

[8.0] "It feels so good to have Shinsuke in a real, long, meaningful and fun match. Could not ask for anything more, so much fun to watch"

[7.0] "Solid match. Nakamura worked well with Melo. Melo is just super smooth in the ring. His selling in this match was outstanding. They worked a Super Junior's Cup-type match and it came off really well on TV. Thoroughly enjoyed this bout. 3.5/5"

[9.0] "It was much better than I expected. I love Shin's knee work and Carnelo's selling. Nakamura still has it when he cares."

[8.0] "Good match, a first contender for Hayes' title and its a legit one. Nakamura looked good here and despite the match being long it was not boring at all"

[10.0] "Honestly, a very good match that just shows that Nakamura still has it if he gives a damn, and why not give a damn when you saw your best rival having a great retiremtent match and have a match dedicated to him as your friend, this maybe is not as emotional as this one hoped out to be but this was really entertaining to say the least."

[7.0] "Good, solid match. This is probably the longest WWE Nakamura match in some time and it was good that Berlin gave him a nice reception. Carmelo continues to be great"

[8.0] "Hayes/Nakamura. I was a bit disappointed that it was Nakamura because I haven't been interested in him since SS 2024, but the match proved me wrong. What a physical match between the two. Nakamura was excellent with his work on Melo's leg. It's one of Nakamura's best matches in a very long time. Melo delivered again, giving his all despite his sore leg."

[8.0] "I didn't expect to see Shinsuke in a title match again, especially one so long and intense. The guys had great chemistry, and the match was a joy to watch. I really hope there's room for a wrestling legend like Shinsuke on a three-hour show, and we'll see him more often."

[8.0] "Another week, another incredible match from Melo. Also, credit to Shinsuke who has deffo lost a step but has proven he can still go in the ring since his return and face turn. Incredible limb work from Shinsuke and even better selling from Melo"

[8.0] "We need these US open challenges to continue every week because they hit every time. Nakamura answers and the match of course delivers. Nakmaure can still perform at a very high level at his age. Hayes gets the win after a really solid championship match."