Ever since he debuted against Sami Zayn at NXT Takeover Dallas, Nakamura has consistently put on blockbuster matches with the likes of Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode. Considering that most of the NXT crowd consists of hardcore fans that either tracked Nakamura since his beginnings in NJPW, or ones that hopped on the Strong Style bandwagon upon his arrival, it’s clear that NXT was Shinsuke’s place.
Unfortunately though, the same cannot be said for his time on the main roster thus far. From his debut on the SmackDown Live after WrestleMania 33 to now, we will go through every big program Nakamura worked through and assess where he is now and where he will be in the near future.
Debut & Dolph
Shinsuke Nakamura interrupted The Miz on the SmackDown Live after WrestleMania 33 to make his main roster debut. After Nakamura made his way to the ring to one of the biggest pops of WrestleMania week, he danced and posed. The same exact schtick happened for a few more weeks leading up to his first main roster match at Backlash against Dolph Ziggler.
This should have been a launch point for Shinsuke, but due to a bland matchup, his momentum hit a bit of a speedbump. Although the promo work of the build was certainly one sided and heavy on Ziggler’s shoulders, fans did not seem to care as they would constantly chant through each segment between the two. This was rightfully so, as we were all excited to see what Nakamura could do, but the match simply did not meet those expectations. Although Nakamura walked away with a win, the program hurt him with a month long build to something that was only decent, leaving him still as a guy with a fun theme song and… that’s it.
Jinder Mahal
I could complain about this feud all day. This was a time where everything was flip flopped and upside down. In the summer of 2017, Jinder Mahal was the WWE champion and AJ Styles and Kevin Owens were feuding for the US Championship. Every time I watched SmackDown in those months I would say that these titles should be switched around to match the clout of the stars holding and competing for them. It was a refreshing sight to see AJ competing for a midcard title, but the Jinder Mahal experiment had a lot of people scratching their heads for good reason.
Cue Shinsuke Nakamura and SummerSlam 2017. For the second SummerSlam in a row, the WWE title match felt like a midcard affair (with Ambrose vs. Ziggler occupying the previous year). Nakamura even defeated John Cena to earn the right to face Jinder Mahal; doesn’t that sentence sound so backwards? Jinder Mahal was not a legitimate enough opponent for a main roster-fresh Nakamura and their feud suffered because of it. It’s also because the entire premise was Mahal mocking Shinsuke’s weird faces and asian heritage like a vaguely racist, middle school bully. The feud had no continuity, no proper story and it did not feel like the right time for Nakamura to be a world champion. I’m happy WWE decided to wait rather than shoot another guy to the moon that simply was not ready for it.
NEXT PAGE: Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & Beyond
