The Artist Collective

At the 2019 Extreme Rules event, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Finn Balor to win the Intercontinental Championship. On the August 20 episode of *SmackDown*, Nakamura formed an alliance with Sami Zayn during a *Miz TV* segment, during which Zayn revealed himself to be Nakamura's official spokesperson due to Nakamura's weak English. Zayn assisted Nakamura in retaining the title against The Miz at Clash of Champions. Shortly after, Cesaro joined Zayn and Nakamura as their frequent ally as he occasionally teamed with Nakamura. On the November 8 episode of *SmackDown*, Cesaro and Nakamura teamed together for the first time as a team and defeated Ali and Shorty G in a tag team match. The duo unsuccessfully challenged The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship on the November 29 episode of *SmackDown*. During the end of the year, the trio began feuding with Braun Strowman, who began pursuing Nakamura's Intercontinental Championship. They lost to Strowman and the New Day in a six-man tag team match on the December 27 episode of *SmackDown*, and Cesaro and Nakamura lost to Strowman and Elias in a tag team match on the January 24, 2020 episode of *SmackDown.*

Strowman earned himself an Intercontinental Championship match against Nakamura by defeating him in a non-title match on the January 10, 2020 episode of *SmackDown*. On the January 31 episode of *SmackDown*, Nakamura lost the title to Strowman. At Elimination Chamber, Zayn, Cesaro and Nakamura defeated Strowman in a 3-on-1 handicap match, with Zayn pinning Strowman to win the Intercontinental Championship. Shortly after, Zayn began feuding with Daniel Bryan and his student Drew Gulak. On the March 20 episode of *SmackDown*, the group was named **The Artist Collective** with Cesaro and Nakamura losing to Bryan and Gulak in a tag team match. The following week, on *SmackDown*, Gulak defeated Nakamura to earn Bryan an Intercontinental Championship match against Zayn. At WrestleMania 36, Cesaro defeated Gulak on the kickoff show while Zayn successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Bryan, with the help of Nakamura and Cesaro. Zayn disappeared from television after the title defense.

Cesaro and Nakamura formed temporary alliances with King Corbin and Mojo Rawley during Zayn's absence. Cesaro failed to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match against Daniel Bryan on the April 17 episode of *SmackDown*. On May 12, Zayn was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship and a tournament was set up to determine a new champion, with Nakamura losing to AJ Styles in the quarter-final round on the May 22 episode of *SmackDown*. On the June 12 episode of *SmackDown*, Cesaro and Nakamura defeated the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day in a non-title match, which earned them a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match against the New Day on July 10 episode of *SmackDown*, which ended in a no contest. Cesaro and Nakamura would earn wins over Big E and Kingston in singles matches respectively to earn another title shot against New Day in a tables match at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, which Cesaro and Nakamura won, thus beginning Cesaro's second reign and Nakamura's first reign with the title. They successfully defended the titles against Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) on the August 21 episode of *SmackDown*.

Zayn returned to WWE on the August 28 episode of *SmackDown*, proclaiming himself to be the "real" Intercontinental Champion as he was never beaten for the title. Later on in the show, Zayn reunited with Cesaro and Nakamura backstage; however, Cesaro dismissed him from the locker room so that he and Nakamura could have some discussion by themselves, thus removing Zayn from the group. Cesaro and Nakamura continued their tag team as they retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against the Lucha House Party at Clash of Champions. They lost the titles back to The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) on the October 9 episode of *SmackDown*. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, the Artist Collective unofficially reunited as Cesaro, Nakamura, and Zayn teamed with King Corbin against Big E, Daniel Bryan, Chad Gable, and Otis in an eight-man tag team match in a losing effort. On the January 29, 2021 episode of *SmackDown*, Nakamura helped Big E and Daniel Bryan fight off Cesaro, AJ Styles, and Sami Zayn, thus disbanding their team.