We’ve been spoiled over the past three United States Championship reigns. Aside from Ilja Dragunov’s weird Tommaso Ciampa side quest, “WWE SmackDown’s” US title has been the best-booked title in the company. Sports entertainment enjoyers worldwide have gotten out of their seats for Sami Zayn, Dragunov, and, now, Carmelo Hayes’ electrifying weekly defenses against all array of opponents, and Friday was no different. Hayes hosted another match in his Open Challenge series in Berlin, and who better to answer the call than former United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura?

There was just no way this match was going to be bad. You’ll hear “underrated” often associated with Nakamura’s name, but that, unfortunately, very much is reality. Nakamura is absolutely phenomenal in that ring. He has the energy, aggression, and passion of a man half his age, and he combines that thrilling personality with experience and sheer aura only obtained through decades in between the ropes. He certainly brought the fight to Hayes tonight with his targeted shots at Hayes’ legs, an essential part in the champion’s high-flying moveset. Judging from the handshake at the end of the match and his recent Survivor Series weekend work with Sami Zayn, I’m pretty sure Nakamura is still a babyface, but golly, did he play the heel well tonight.

If Hayes wasn’t a convincing babyface before, Nakamura’s heelish moves catapulted him into that spot. While babyfaces can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and storylines, an essential part of the babyface is crowd support. How better do you build crowd support than by having a veteran, a guy with so many years over his opponent, whittle down a scrappy, underdog champion, only for said champion to climb the ropes on practically one leg to, against all odds, land his iconic finisher? Hayes embodied the indomitable human spirit that works so well for babyfaces. Babyfaces are best and most approachable when they reflect our internal struggles. I’m sure all of us have felt like Hayes: beat down, with life punching at that one bruise, that one insecurity, over and over again. If Hayes can take nearly 20 minutes’ worth of damage to his leg and still land Nothing but Net? That is a powerful performance, and that, combined with Hayes’ overall ring presence and incredible athleticism, is what is making him such a good babyface to get behind.

Recently, the United States Championship has been a workhorse title that brings the best, most scrappy, resilient babyfaces to life. First, it was the beloved and chronically overlooked Zayn. Then, it was the tough-as-nails Dragunov. Now, it’s Hayes, who clawed his way up from catering to gold. We’re in the Him era now, and I love it.

Written by Angeline Phu