to NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong in an inter-brand triple threat match also involving Raw's United States Champion AJ Styles. On the November 29 episode of SmackDown, Nakamura and Zayn formed an alliance with Cesaro, as he and Nakamura unsuccessfully challenged The New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. At Royal Rumble on January 26, Nakamura entered the Royal Rumble match at No. 11 but was eliminated by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. On the January 31 episode of SmackDown, Nakamura lost the Intercontinental Championship to Braun Strowman, ending his reign at 201 days. At Elimination Chamber on March 8, Sami Zayn, along with Nakamura and Cesaro, defeated Braun Strowman in 3-on-1 handicap match for the Intercontinental Championship; Zayn won by pinning Strowman. Nakamura, Zayn and Cesaro then began feuding with Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak, and on the first night of WrestleMania 36 on April 4, Zayn defeated Bryan to retain the Intercontinental Championship with the help of Nakamura and Cesaro. Nakamura began teaming with Cesaro more frequently as they feuded with New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the July 10 episode of SmackDown, Nakamura and Cesaro challenged New Day for the titles, but the match ended in a no contest with Cesaro and Nakamura putting Kofi Kingston and Big E through a table. On July 19 at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, Nakamura and Cesaro defeated Kingston and Big E in a tables match to capture the titles, marking Nakamura's first tag team title in WWE. During the 2020 WWE Draft episode of SmackDown on October 9, they lost the titles to The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. On the 2020 WWE Draft episode of Raw on October 12, they got drafted to SmackDown as the 19th pick. Alliance with Rick Boogs and Intercontinental Championship pursuit (2021–present) On the January 8, 2021, episode of SmackDown, Nakamura competed in a gauntlet match to determine the challenger for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, defeating Rey Mysterio, King Corbin, and Daniel Bryan, the latter of whom he proceeded to shake hands with following Bryan's loss, before he lost to Adam Pearce after being assaulted by champion Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, turning face for the first time since 2018. The following week, Nakamura reverted to his original theme song for his entrance and cemented his face turn by insulting Jey Uso