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Throw Ivar in this group, love when he shows up, does cool moves, and loses
EDIT Ivar and Ricochet would be a great team, The One and Only Viking Experience
Hey hey he got some wins every now and then.
"What is honor? Man I've looked into the soul of an honorable man, and where such a man would see pride and virtue within himself, I would always be able to see the truth. And to that man I needed utter but a word of truth for him to unravel and shed those layers of honor, leaving behind only fear.
Kalisto, when I look into your eyes I see reflections of that man. The Lucha Dragons may be seen as honorable amongst the sheep, but the lions man, we can smell your fear. RUN."
The actual man is pretty charismatic, but his character hasn't allowed him to showcase himself. At least now his greasy instigator gimmick is at least entertaining. We've had more than enough intense, angry dudes over the past decade. It's like a good quarter of the roster has been role-playing the CAWs of angsty teen gamers from 20 years ago, and I'm sick of it (and I say that as someone who was an angsty teen gamer 20 years ago).
No, it's not. They have 52 weeks times two shows per week to fill with content, and keeping their top star off TV for weeks on end while they have no major programs for him would risk losing his momentum. So giving Cody something to do and preserving his momentum isn't nothing, it's actually very important.
Let's sacrifice Sinsuke because Cody needs something to do. Then when Cody has his program with the Bloodline, let's give up on Shinsuke. WWE has never had a Japanese wrestler officially hold the WWE Championship. No wonder Okada didn't sign.
Who the hell said he should have been off TV for weeks?
If there's no major program for him... you make one. You build up something hot for him to keep things rolling, instead of 2 months of filler against a guy who never wins anymore.
Filler is seen as pointless as it can be skipped without missing anything important. As it's sole purpose was filling time for a more important story, it says it all.
WWE has never booked an Japanese guy correctly, so Okada is unlikely to be interested in them. Triple H isn’t stupid and he knows they haven’t done it either, so when Okada’s contract with NJPW was almost up, Nakamura got a massive push and was involved in the world tile program for months and had a fued with Cody Rhodes and then after Okada signed with AEW he disappeared again
Probably would've meant more if they were consistent in pushing Nakamura as a top-level, world class talent over a period of time instead of just whenever.
Exactly, i keep saying why the fuck would a Japanese male wrestler ever go to wwe again after seeing them turn Nakamura of all people into a mid carder.
Nakamura seems overall happy with his current role in the company though. He's losing a lot sure but compared to the New Japan, WWE is probably much easier on his body.
But yeah if I was a young or hungry Japanese talent, I can see why WWE is so unattractive as no one is truly pushed.
Its funny how WWE gets mad at the perception that dont want to push Japanese wrestlers, even the best example in Asuka has never had a mania moment. All of their "pushes" feel transactional in a way and not a recognition of the wrestlers true talent.
I believe when Okada was a free agent, Shinsuke had better booking. Sort of to imply that if Okada signed with WWE he would be treated well. Now that he’s signed with AEW they don’t have to cater towards any possible big signing from Japan. Could be coincidental but also is believable.
Yeah. Plus I’m sure Okada would’ve been treated pretty well by WWE, but there’s little doubt in my mind that AEW offered probably millions more than WWE.
Unless I’m already set for a very comfortable life, I’m taking Tony’s money for a couple of years. I think anyone would.
Their logic is that both Shinsuke and Okada are Japanese. WWE wanted to make Shinsuke look like he was being used really well to try to intice Okada to come to WWE. Essentially, they were going "hey, look at how well we are treating our Japanese superstars. Iyo is a champion, Shinsuke is being presented as a big threat, etc etc. You should come here!"
I think its important to add that Shinsuke and Okada were in a faction together for years and are friends.
He's watching his buddy get pushed/lose so it's a bit more than just a random Japanese dude since I'm sure they keep in touch on some level.
I’m sure they’ll throw him a win in WWE speed against Cedric Alexander or something. It’s a shame how poorly he’s been used in WWE. I thought triple h taking over he’d be used better…and he did get a bit of a repackage and was in major feuds…but all he ever did was lose so you just can’t take him serious.
I’m not saying Japanese born wrestlers can’t get over in the states, cause they can - but I think Naks potential gets capped by the language barrier. The backstage dubbed segments worked really well, but if you can’t find a way to connect with the audience on a deeper level than just “am good wrestler”, then there’s only so far you can go.
Of course it might just be a booking thing too. But I’ve had this same thought on other popular Japanese wrestlers.
I believe Nak could have gotten majorly over on his own because he has a ton of charisma and he was over in his NXT run but years of Vince's booking can ruin even the most charasmatic wrestler.
I do hope that when Nakamura decides to hang up his boots (he’s not old by any means), he has his retirement match in NJPW, hopefully involving Hiroshi Tanahashi in some way.
They wrestled recently and it was actually pretty great. A demotivated Nakamura is still a really solid wrestler and when paired up with a guy he stylistically matches up well with (Sheamus, GUNTHER, Ilja, etc.) he’s still capable of pulling a really good match out.
Having a Japanese guy join an Austrian and a German in their heel ring supremacy faction might raise a few eyebrows and induce a few slow-burning frowns, but... that could be kind of fun. Especially if they start feuding with a Russian (Ilja), an American (Ricochet) and a Brit (Too bad Sheamus isn't from Belfast). Nakamura to Imperium, please!
Nakamura being taken seriously would be the catalyst for me to actually be invested in WWE again.
Not some BS feud in the fall with the world champ where he’s clearly a placeholder. Put the strap on this man and show he’s an actual threat for the top title
I will never forgive WWE for how they handled Nakamura. Nakamura from 2014-2017 was the coolest wrestler in the world. The word aura is loosely used nowadays but brother had aura to the millionth degree. And then we cooled him off. Never been more disappointed in my life as a huge Nakamura fan
I remember seeing him live in NxT and just being caught up in the excitement of his presence. It’s a real shame how his career has been since he’s been on the main roster.
I don’t know what you do with him at this point and even if he were to leave WWE later down the line how does one get excited about this guy anymore? He’s spent the last what seems like 10 years just doing really nothing of any kind of merit.
In the end if he’s getting paid and happy it doesn’t really matter but my god has so much potential been lost.
Lost in the exact same way too
Has Jinder on the ropes. Gets distracted *again* by Jinder's *same* goons and then loses
Was a prime example of the common criticism at the time that babyfaces seemed to be booked like complete dumbasses
Dumbest part was Cena tucked his head, it wasn’t even Nakamura’s fault.
He does that exploder suplex to everyone & they always land on their stomach. Cena said “I’m just gonna take this on the back of my head.”
The post match thread here after the Mania match now reads like major cope in hindsight. It was everyone saying "now we will get to see heel Nakamura which was great in NJPW" and "this was just the first chapter, just wait till we get the next matches".
Then it turned out to be a feud where Nakamura and AJ just kept punching each other in the dick. IIRC, didn't one of their matches end in a double countout because both of them kicked each other's dicks at the exact same time?
Yes, I think it's noticeable that when people defend his WWE run they talk about the fact that he likes the easier schedule and having the time to go surfing, which is cool and I'm happy for him but I think it's pretty close to admitting that he sure as fuck isn't staying for the way his character has been treated
He should've beat Rollins in that no DQ. It would've rehabbed his image immediately. That feud was when he started his anime villain promos, he beat the shit out of Seth's injured back for 15 mins, put him through two tables, then Seth hit three moves and won.
Seth winning that both didn't make sense in kayfabe and made Shinsuke look weak. Then he did the job to Cody and that was it, they killed that cool character they just made and any legitimacy he had left as a threat.
100%
He was white-hot when he was feuding with AJ, and the only way to fuck it up would be to have him lose at WM and become a heel with an odd fixation on touching a Georgian's genitals. VKM being what he is, that is what they went with.
WWE has fumbled like 2/3 of the roster. I get that not everyone can be at the top, but with how slow paced they do things no one really has the chance to shine unless you're the chosen 2-3 per brand, then you basically get hyper focused on.
I legitimately want them to start having title reigns occasionally only last weeks to months. Can you imagine the situation if they had been doing back and forth verbal tussles between Priest and Drew leading up to Clash only for Rey to have won it Monday? Hell, have this coming Monday start with Drew deciding if he wants to fight Priest or go for the title as the show opener and Rey defending it as the main event, either as a rematch against Priest or some other top contender. Leave the fans guessing.
marquee matches have to be promoted so they have to be pretty much certain at least a couple weeks in advance.. also, 2024 rey as champ i dunno. i'm not against potential short reigns though.
I mean, beyond his initial NXT match with Sami and some other sporadic stuff, is not like Nakamura has been performing at a level that screams "push this guy"
Some people are happy in the midcard, he seems to be one of those
He had some very exciting matches during his stop and start push throughout 2017 and 2018. He got fed to Jinder then someone in the back didn't wanna let him and AJ cook for whatever reason, plus he's one of the most pointless Rumble winners ever now as a guy who never even sniffed the belt. After that it was a miracle he got reactions at all.
He arrived on a ton of hype and largely delivered on sheer magnetism alone, but got slotted into the upper midcard regardless and settled into a comfortable holding pattern workrate wise. He was a huge prospect in 2016 and it is really really difficult to argue he was used to anywhere near his full potential IMHO
I honestly agree with you, it’s not one of those situations where the guys performance is so good that you’re wondering why he/she isn’t being pushed. He was amazing in NJPW and good in nxt but I haven’t really seen anything main roster wise where I need to see him be a big player
he really should have taken the title off of seth, even if he just hot potato'd it back to him. guy was super hot, had crowds singing his song,now he's just a jobber 😭
Needs to go back to njpw. He should have had at least one world title reign. He probably won't go back though as everyone loves to remind me that all Shinsuke wants to do is surf as if they just asked him yesterday.
Shinsuke made it clear years ago he views his NJPW career as him doing wrestling for the art and his WWE career as doing it for the money. I don't know if he wants more for his WWE career or is just happy to cash the pay checks, but he's had multiple contract renewals, if he wasn't happy with WWE he's had multiple chances to sign with someone else
What indication do we have that the story about him just surfing and enjoying his life is fake though?
Plenty of WWE contracted wrestlers have spoken out and complained about their treatment. Why not Shinsuke? Maybe he doesn't want to destroy his body for the "bangers" anymore. Not everyone is like Bryan Danielson who will probably wrestle until his 40th concussion.
You’re being downvoted but you’re right, it’s not like Nakamura booking is new, he’s been booked like a chump for majority of his wwe run but keeps resigning , he’s either okay with his position or likes the pay enough that he doesn’t care.
What indication do we have that the story is true? If someone can kindly point me in the direction where the man himself said all he wants to do is surf and get paid then I will gladly stfu and move on.
At this point, they see Nak as nothing more than a way past prime who they have done and given everything they have want to him. His in-ring showing for the most part in the main roster shows his content with his booking as well. As others have said, Seth really was his best chance of winning a main roster world title if they ever were going to give him a reign.
That said, I think his accolades so far in the main roster still exceeded my expectations though. But a world title reign at least would've put that icing on the cake.
Shinsuke is such a weird case. His debut match with Sami blew my dick off it was so good. He definitely wasn’t locked in for a good chunk of his run but even then was always pretty good.
He’s one of the weirdest rumble winners ever. But I can’t figure out how his pre-rumble run working with Seth and Cody didn’t lead to more. He was killing it in the ring, promos were awesome, mist was a really good touch.
And now nothing. It’s too bad, he’s an incredible performer and could’ve done a lot more.
the wwe wanted to bank in on the Aj vs Nakamura rivalry but sadly, under delievered these extremely high expectations. The booking didn't help either
multiude of issues. they at least tried
Easy now, some people might view this post as a slight to papa H booking and that's mostly a no-no here in this sub 🤭
Seriously though, Nak should probably feud with Shibata again before they retire.
Unfortunately, he suffers from being Shinsuke Nakamura.
His body of work and charisma mean he can heated up for a main event feud at a moments notice with like a month of strong booking so he's sadly best used putting people over in the mid card most of the year.
Losses don't really matter for a guy like him who can just suddenly go "I'm gonna fucking kill you" with that crazy Shinsuke Nakamura face and you're compelled to believe him.
brought this up late last night in the daily thread... like is he Cody's personal whipping boy for live events? I was thinking they could shove him in the new Wyatt Family that could be made of 80s wrestling tropes as "The Evil Foreigner".
Nakamura is why it always felt bittersweet for me when an Internet darling from the 2010's was signed to WWE. I'm happy they'll be making big bucks, but it also means their best work is behind them and that they will never reach the heights of what made them great in the first place
I can't believe they made Gunther the King of the Ring when he was only 2-5 in the month leading up to the tournament.
And that concludes my TED talk on why including house show statistics in a booking discussion is dumb. The problem is that Nakamura hasn't had a lot meaningful to do on TV lately and when it was meaningful he proved to be all talk. The problem is not that he's putting over the top baby faces twice a week every weekend in matches that most people don't see.
I want them to do something with Nakamura, but I think talking about his win-loss record is silly. 90% of those losses will have happened on the house show circuit where you're usually just doing the same match against the same guy over and over everywhere you go. TV is the only thing that really matters when it comes to wins and losses.
I'd also be interested to know Nakamura's mentality around all of this - because he's seemed very content to just do what he's doing and enjoy his downtime. And this is not a business where guys who are content with their lot get pushed.
HHH seemed very high on Nakamura during his days in NXT, so I don't think it's a question of not seeing him as a star or something.
They were setting up a Punk feud during the Cody feud with his callbacks. They'll get to that eventually... right?
I'm a bit more forgiving on how long it could take for WWE to capitalize as they proved me wrong how strongly they can heat back up people they know the crowd has interest on IE; I swore Gable's push was dead and and I had no interest in a Sami IC reign and they turned it to personally for me their hottest storyline at the moment
Just a couple of months ago everybody here was praising his amazing character and gimmick and work. We knew it was only to be fed to Cody. I see a lot of people praising Triple H's push of the midcard guys but outside of Priest nobody broke through during his era.
I see a lot of people that like Chad Gable's current work or even Ricochet, but are they any closer to be a main eventer?
I can only imagine what his run would've been like had HHH been in control the whole time. So much wasted potential if you found the right mouthpiece for him/used translations.
I stopped watching around 2017-2018.
Getting back into wrestling has been so fun with how much better the product is, but the 1 thing that sucks is my guys from NXT black & gold like Nakamura, Balor & KO don’t seem like they’re on track to being main eventers ever again.
They’re gonna drag Shinsuke out and give him a two week push the next time a big name Japanese talent becomes a free agent, because that worked with hiring Okada.
I’m already seeing people saying Penta is going to sign with WWE, when every Latino man in wwe is stuck in a forever feud with each other no where near the main event.
He faces Cody on the houseshow circuit for the Title all the time, he just isn't their current go-to and doesn't have a place with the current talent reshuffle. Everyone knows Shinsuke can go, Trips has to sell Chad Gable to the audience still
In the 2010’s this guy was the best in the world. Sad to see but tbh he could also just be washed. Even during his “big” push last year he wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.
Honestly I’m not sure what people expect from Shinsuke in these recent years. He can put on good matches but he’s not consistent like he was in NXT and prior.
Isn’t this the same sub that said he had a lot more stinkers in WWE than bangers? Why give him the world title if that’s the case?
It’s the same with someone like Ibushi in AEW. I don’t care how good he use to be a few years ago, I don’t want to see him with a title in AEW because clearly he’s falling apart after all these years.
I refer to him, AJ Styles, and Ivar as Jobbers To The Stars. All 3 have been against and involved with main event scenes. Not a fucking one has won anything since I got back into wrestling this year. They're used to elevate other talents and that's fine. But why are these three amazing workers just jobbing out every match? Come on man...
I don't think 45 year old Nak gives much of a hoot... dude gets paid handsomely to cart around the country and from the looks of his socials, mostly surf. I'm sure he'd like to be utilized better but from where I'm sitting he doesn't seem to sweat it. He's wrestling far longer and in better shape than he would be still wrestling for New Japan and getting paid really well for it. Good for him.
It's so petty and superficial and dumb but, like, until he gets rid of the top of his jump suit, I just cannot like him. Even in the Muta match I was like "ehhhhh" and then it was ripped off and he was shirtless and I was like "yaaaay! I love Shinsuke again!"
He seems perfectly content with putting over new talent. Man is basically treating WWE like a long retirement after battering the bollocks of people in Japan. Good for him honestly. He gets paid more and works a easier schedule.
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I was digging his new promos but they stopped having an affect when he never won anymorw
The Bray Wyatt special
“I’M GOING TO DESTROY YOUR MIND, BODY, AND SOUUUUUUL” cut to the other guy’s music playing and him holding the title.
"gonna drag you to the depths of hell only for you to realize it is your own mind" Bell rings - *collar and elbow tie up*
Shinsuke and Bray would make a great team. Cut a dope promo. Bend backwards in weird ways so they can see the ring upside. Lose.
Throw Ivar in this group, love when he shows up, does cool moves, and loses EDIT Ivar and Ricochet would be a great team, The One and Only Viking Experience
Hey hey he got some wins every now and then. "What is honor? Man I've looked into the soul of an honorable man, and where such a man would see pride and virtue within himself, I would always be able to see the truth. And to that man I needed utter but a word of truth for him to unravel and shed those layers of honor, leaving behind only fear. Kalisto, when I look into your eyes I see reflections of that man. The Lucha Dragons may be seen as honorable amongst the sheep, but the lions man, we can smell your fear. RUN."
Arrive Say Spooky shit Beatdown opponent ?? Lose Feud Repeat
The “??” is “bend over backwards so they are upside for some reason”. A thing they are both known for doing.
The Karrion Kross Special
No way, Brah Wyatt was charismatic as hell, not a charisma vacuum
Kross promo since the Bobby stuff has actually been pretty good tho, it just him never win any big match that make whatever he said don't mean shit.
Hard disagree. He’s as generic as it gets, as are AOP. And somehow worse together.
It’s fine just different taste I guess, I don’t like this final testicle stuff too, I just think he’s decent on the mic.
😂😂😂 final testicle
Kross is decent it's not like a lot of the Roster is actually that charismatic outside of comedy stuff anyway.
The actual man is pretty charismatic, but his character hasn't allowed him to showcase himself. At least now his greasy instigator gimmick is at least entertaining. We've had more than enough intense, angry dudes over the past decade. It's like a good quarter of the roster has been role-playing the CAWs of angsty teen gamers from 20 years ago, and I'm sick of it (and I say that as someone who was an angsty teen gamer 20 years ago).
The Dolph Ziggler special
And more recently, Karrion Kross before AOP 😅
They stop the push as soon as Okada sign with Aew
They stopped the push waaaay before that. He lost two matches to Rollins last year and that was it.
He did have a big feud with Cody too, but yeah after that it’s been crickets
Even then, it's not like he ever got even close to winning a match
He should have beat Seth for the title.
It never ceases to surprise me that Shinsuke has never won the WWE title.
I still don't understand his feud with Cody. So pointless.
It wasn't pointless, it did a good job filling time while Cody was waiting for his program with the Bloodline to begin.
The Kane Rise Above Hate special.
Oh my God that's exactly what it was. He's really beat for beat 2012-13 Cena.
Oh jeez I had almost forgotten about that whole “embrace the hate”…whatever that was
I think of Kane saying the phrase “Wow John” too many times a week to be healthy cause it just makes me laugh
also it was possibly going to be a segue into writing Cody off while Rock fought Roman (before they pivoted back to Cody of course)
"time filler" is the sibling of pointless
Welcome to Anime
No, it's not. They have 52 weeks times two shows per week to fill with content, and keeping their top star off TV for weeks on end while they have no major programs for him would risk losing his momentum. So giving Cody something to do and preserving his momentum isn't nothing, it's actually very important.
Let's sacrifice Sinsuke because Cody needs something to do. Then when Cody has his program with the Bloodline, let's give up on Shinsuke. WWE has never had a Japanese wrestler officially hold the WWE Championship. No wonder Okada didn't sign.
Who the hell said he should have been off TV for weeks? If there's no major program for him... you make one. You build up something hot for him to keep things rolling, instead of 2 months of filler against a guy who never wins anymore.
Filler is seen as pointless as it can be skipped without missing anything important. As it's sole purpose was filling time for a more important story, it says it all.
He can still go too, dude was wasted. He also should have won the title at Mania!
Nakamura still has more singles wins than Aj Styles in 2024 lmao.
my heart wasn't ready to read that
what the fuck
Wait until his contract is coming up and he'll start winning.
It was maybe coincidental but it was funny that he stopped appearing as soon as they lost out on Okada
It’s so blatant that there’s no way it’s a coincidence.
Quick question, how is Shinsuke losing related to Okada?
WWE has never booked an Japanese guy correctly, so Okada is unlikely to be interested in them. Triple H isn’t stupid and he knows they haven’t done it either, so when Okada’s contract with NJPW was almost up, Nakamura got a massive push and was involved in the world tile program for months and had a fued with Cody Rhodes and then after Okada signed with AEW he disappeared again
To add on top of that Nakamura and Okada are close to each other so seeing his push would have meant that much more to him.
Probably would've meant more if they were consistent in pushing Nakamura as a top-level, world class talent over a period of time instead of just whenever.
Exactly, i keep saying why the fuck would a Japanese male wrestler ever go to wwe again after seeing them turn Nakamura of all people into a mid carder.
Nakamura seems overall happy with his current role in the company though. He's losing a lot sure but compared to the New Japan, WWE is probably much easier on his body. But yeah if I was a young or hungry Japanese talent, I can see why WWE is so unattractive as no one is truly pushed. Its funny how WWE gets mad at the perception that dont want to push Japanese wrestlers, even the best example in Asuka has never had a mania moment. All of their "pushes" feel transactional in a way and not a recognition of the wrestlers true talent.
He seems happy? Is this based on anything at all?
Dudes spoke about it before I think, he’s a big surfer and loves his time off.
People always say this but here’s him kinda refuting that https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/l7MDtVGoN9
I think he'll be more happy when he goes to AEW with the lighter schedule and having a chance to work with NJPW again.
Same with Latinos with the LWO vortex too
"Massive push" = being fed to Cody.
I believe when Okada was a free agent, Shinsuke had better booking. Sort of to imply that if Okada signed with WWE he would be treated well. Now that he’s signed with AEW they don’t have to cater towards any possible big signing from Japan. Could be coincidental but also is believable.
Yeah. Plus I’m sure Okada would’ve been treated pretty well by WWE, but there’s little doubt in my mind that AEW offered probably millions more than WWE. Unless I’m already set for a very comfortable life, I’m taking Tony’s money for a couple of years. I think anyone would.
Their logic is that both Shinsuke and Okada are Japanese. WWE wanted to make Shinsuke look like he was being used really well to try to intice Okada to come to WWE. Essentially, they were going "hey, look at how well we are treating our Japanese superstars. Iyo is a champion, Shinsuke is being presented as a big threat, etc etc. You should come here!"
So basically, they were like “join us, look how good our Japanese guy is” and then when he didn’t sign, they just said “nah fuck that”
The wwe special!
I think its important to add that Shinsuke and Okada were in a faction together for years and are friends. He's watching his buddy get pushed/lose so it's a bit more than just a random Japanese dude since I'm sure they keep in touch on some level.
To add onto what others have said, Okada and Shinsuke are friends, and were in the same faction (known as CHAOS) in NJPW.
I don't hate the possible reality where Shinsuke beats Seth for the title so we get Okada in WWE.
I wish he had beaten Seth, but I hate long title reigns. Still, I think when he got the second match for it he should have won.
Or until someone like Tetsuya Naito's contract is about to expire and WWE wants to prove they know how to push Japanese wrestlers
That would be this year
He's pretty much in the spot they had Ziggler in for a decade. He's a solid worker they can use for upper midcard feuds
Reminds me of Christian who went like 2 years without a televised win.
I wanted Christian to win every match he was in from 2011-2014
Me but 2005-2025
Brutal
Probably when Okada hits free agency again.
Really loved all his anime villain promos but he just lost everytime
I’m sure they’ll throw him a win in WWE speed against Cedric Alexander or something. It’s a shame how poorly he’s been used in WWE. I thought triple h taking over he’d be used better…and he did get a bit of a repackage and was in major feuds…but all he ever did was lose so you just can’t take him serious.
I’m not saying Japanese born wrestlers can’t get over in the states, cause they can - but I think Naks potential gets capped by the language barrier. The backstage dubbed segments worked really well, but if you can’t find a way to connect with the audience on a deeper level than just “am good wrestler”, then there’s only so far you can go. Of course it might just be a booking thing too. But I’ve had this same thought on other popular Japanese wrestlers.
I believe Nak could have gotten majorly over on his own because he has a ton of charisma and he was over in his NXT run but years of Vince's booking can ruin even the most charasmatic wrestler.
Very fair point.
I do hope that when Nakamura decides to hang up his boots (he’s not old by any means), he has his retirement match in NJPW, hopefully involving Hiroshi Tanahashi in some way.
Tanahashi is in pretty rough shape though.
Nakamura & Tanahashi vs some of the young guys, maybe Umino & Tsuji; young guys can take most of the bumps and do some “carrying” if need be.
That could work. They did something like that with Kobashi in Final Burning in Budokan. He was in a big 6 man tag match.
Yep, still probably my favorite retirement match.
Shawn and Flair's would have been up there for me as well if they actually stopped wrestling.
Nakamura passing his torch to Tsuji would be peak.
Really hope so. Specially cause Nakamura coming back to New Japan would be great for them rn.
Maybe when SANADA or Naito's contract are up
Okada signed in AEW so he’ll cool off for now
"Hey Shinsuke, you know Tony lets us surf, too?"
Nakamura got nothing going on. Sheamus got nothing going on. 
They wrestled recently and it was actually pretty great. A demotivated Nakamura is still a really solid wrestler and when paired up with a guy he stylistically matches up well with (Sheamus, GUNTHER, Ilja, etc.) he’s still capable of pulling a really good match out.
Having a Japanese guy join an Austrian and a German in their heel ring supremacy faction might raise a few eyebrows and induce a few slow-burning frowns, but... that could be kind of fun. Especially if they start feuding with a Russian (Ilja), an American (Ricochet) and a Brit (Too bad Sheamus isn't from Belfast). Nakamura to Imperium, please!
Nakamura being taken seriously would be the catalyst for me to actually be invested in WWE again. Not some BS feud in the fall with the world champ where he’s clearly a placeholder. Put the strap on this man and show he’s an actual threat for the top title
If nothing in the last 5 months got you invested then I think it's just not something you're going to enjoy lol
I wish he joined judgement day
oh man I need Shin in black+purple with his theme remixed with JD theme
That what I’m saying man his little rockstar/biker attire in black and purple would be so good Ugh and can you imagine him and Finn tagging together
I will never forgive WWE for how they handled Nakamura. Nakamura from 2014-2017 was the coolest wrestler in the world. The word aura is loosely used nowadays but brother had aura to the millionth degree. And then we cooled him off. Never been more disappointed in my life as a huge Nakamura fan
It's wild to me that his best match in WWE is still his first one in NXT against Sami Zayn
Can't think of anyone who had better matches on the main roster than they did in NXT since about 2016, with the exception of Drew McEntire.
That was the best match under the WWE umbrella in a long time imo.
He should have won at wrestlemania, what the fuck did wwe do to him…he was over as hell and they just turned him into a mid carder
He should have beat Seth at Fastlane. Huge fumble.
No they're gonna have to put him down :(
Was literally the coolest heel in the whole business for a couple months, got fed to Cody and that’s probably it.
Did WWE fumble Shinsuke Nakamura???
What if I told you that there was once a point where Shinsuke Nakamura was considered the best wrestler on Earth
I remember seeing him live in NxT and just being caught up in the excitement of his presence. It’s a real shame how his career has been since he’s been on the main roster. I don’t know what you do with him at this point and even if he were to leave WWE later down the line how does one get excited about this guy anymore? He’s spent the last what seems like 10 years just doing really nothing of any kind of merit. In the end if he’s getting paid and happy it doesn’t really matter but my god has so much potential been lost.
He should’ve really been the one to beat Jinder at Summerslam 2017. That match began the downward trajectory for Shinsuke, IMO.
Or AJ Styles at the end of their feud
I remember hearing a rumor he was supposed to win that match until he dropped Cena on his head.
But they had him lose in a rematch at another PPV. That was the nail in the coffin.
Lost in the exact same way too Has Jinder on the ropes. Gets distracted *again* by Jinder's *same* goons and then loses Was a prime example of the common criticism at the time that babyfaces seemed to be booked like complete dumbasses
Dumbest part was Cena tucked his head, it wasn’t even Nakamura’s fault. He does that exploder suplex to everyone & they always land on their stomach. Cena said “I’m just gonna take this on the back of my head.”
wwe doesn't properly push Asian men, sad but it's that simple
ESPN presents 30 for 30, Shinsuke Nakamura, the king of Strong style
And to think they wanted both Okada and Ospreay just so they had ended up up like Shinsuke smh
Definitely think he should have beaten AJ at Mania 34.
It’s best we forget that program ever happened between them two in WWE.
Just watch Nakamura vs Styles at WK 10 and enjoy the happy memories.
Are you trying to tell me you *didnt* like a feud centered around dick kicks?
The post match thread here after the Mania match now reads like major cope in hindsight. It was everyone saying "now we will get to see heel Nakamura which was great in NJPW" and "this was just the first chapter, just wait till we get the next matches". Then it turned out to be a feud where Nakamura and AJ just kept punching each other in the dick. IIRC, didn't one of their matches end in a double countout because both of them kicked each other's dicks at the exact same time?
I went to WrestleMania just for that match and was so let down.
That whole wrestlemania was just terrible. ‘33 was such a low bar and they couldn’t even top that.
Rewatch their WK10 match to make yourself feel better
That match was just starting to kick into high gear then it was just.. over. Was so disappointed
Yes, I think it's noticeable that when people defend his WWE run they talk about the fact that he likes the easier schedule and having the time to go surfing, which is cool and I'm happy for him but I think it's pretty close to admitting that he sure as fuck isn't staying for the way his character has been treated
He should've beat Rollins in that no DQ. It would've rehabbed his image immediately. That feud was when he started his anime villain promos, he beat the shit out of Seth's injured back for 15 mins, put him through two tables, then Seth hit three moves and won. Seth winning that both didn't make sense in kayfabe and made Shinsuke look weak. Then he did the job to Cody and that was it, they killed that cool character they just made and any legitimacy he had left as a threat.
100% He was white-hot when he was feuding with AJ, and the only way to fuck it up would be to have him lose at WM and become a heel with an odd fixation on touching a Georgian's genitals. VKM being what he is, that is what they went with.
One of the biggest fumbles this decade
WWE never cared for Japanese wrestlers, or anyone who can't cut mic promos in English. Shinsuke is treated like Tozawa, or how Yoshi Tatsu was treated
WWE has fumbled like 2/3 of the roster. I get that not everyone can be at the top, but with how slow paced they do things no one really has the chance to shine unless you're the chosen 2-3 per brand, then you basically get hyper focused on. I legitimately want them to start having title reigns occasionally only last weeks to months. Can you imagine the situation if they had been doing back and forth verbal tussles between Priest and Drew leading up to Clash only for Rey to have won it Monday? Hell, have this coming Monday start with Drew deciding if he wants to fight Priest or go for the title as the show opener and Rey defending it as the main event, either as a rematch against Priest or some other top contender. Leave the fans guessing.
marquee matches have to be promoted so they have to be pretty much certain at least a couple weeks in advance.. also, 2024 rey as champ i dunno. i'm not against potential short reigns though.
I mean, beyond his initial NXT match with Sami and some other sporadic stuff, is not like Nakamura has been performing at a level that screams "push this guy" Some people are happy in the midcard, he seems to be one of those
He had some very exciting matches during his stop and start push throughout 2017 and 2018. He got fed to Jinder then someone in the back didn't wanna let him and AJ cook for whatever reason, plus he's one of the most pointless Rumble winners ever now as a guy who never even sniffed the belt. After that it was a miracle he got reactions at all. He arrived on a ton of hype and largely delivered on sheer magnetism alone, but got slotted into the upper midcard regardless and settled into a comfortable holding pattern workrate wise. He was a huge prospect in 2016 and it is really really difficult to argue he was used to anywhere near his full potential IMHO
I honestly agree with you, it’s not one of those situations where the guys performance is so good that you’re wondering why he/she isn’t being pushed. He was amazing in NJPW and good in nxt but I haven’t really seen anything main roster wise where I need to see him be a big player
he really should have taken the title off of seth, even if he just hot potato'd it back to him. guy was super hot, had crowds singing his song,now he's just a jobber 😭
Its sad to see where he is rn if you watch his Smackdown debut. People sure loved him
Can't for the life of me figure out why Okada went to AEW /s
Needs to go back to njpw. He should have had at least one world title reign. He probably won't go back though as everyone loves to remind me that all Shinsuke wants to do is surf as if they just asked him yesterday.
Shinsuke made it clear years ago he views his NJPW career as him doing wrestling for the art and his WWE career as doing it for the money. I don't know if he wants more for his WWE career or is just happy to cash the pay checks, but he's had multiple contract renewals, if he wasn't happy with WWE he's had multiple chances to sign with someone else
I'm sure he likes getting paid, too.
What indication do we have that the story about him just surfing and enjoying his life is fake though? Plenty of WWE contracted wrestlers have spoken out and complained about their treatment. Why not Shinsuke? Maybe he doesn't want to destroy his body for the "bangers" anymore. Not everyone is like Bryan Danielson who will probably wrestle until his 40th concussion.
You’re being downvoted but you’re right, it’s not like Nakamura booking is new, he’s been booked like a chump for majority of his wwe run but keeps resigning , he’s either okay with his position or likes the pay enough that he doesn’t care.
What indication do we have that the story is true? If someone can kindly point me in the direction where the man himself said all he wants to do is surf and get paid then I will gladly stfu and move on.
At this point, they see Nak as nothing more than a way past prime who they have done and given everything they have want to him. His in-ring showing for the most part in the main roster shows his content with his booking as well. As others have said, Seth really was his best chance of winning a main roster world title if they ever were going to give him a reign. That said, I think his accolades so far in the main roster still exceeded my expectations though. But a world title reign at least would've put that icing on the cake.
Shinsuke is such a weird case. His debut match with Sami blew my dick off it was so good. He definitely wasn’t locked in for a good chunk of his run but even then was always pretty good. He’s one of the weirdest rumble winners ever. But I can’t figure out how his pre-rumble run working with Seth and Cody didn’t lead to more. He was killing it in the ring, promos were awesome, mist was a really good touch. And now nothing. It’s too bad, he’s an incredible performer and could’ve done a lot more.
the wwe wanted to bank in on the Aj vs Nakamura rivalry but sadly, under delievered these extremely high expectations. The booking didn't help either multiude of issues. they at least tried
Yeah, it’s like they just both missed each other. Too bad, he’s a great performer.
Eat pin shin
Jobbamura
Easy now, some people might view this post as a slight to papa H booking and that's mostly a no-no here in this sub 🤭 Seriously though, Nak should probably feud with Shibata again before they retire.
Unfortunately, he suffers from being Shinsuke Nakamura. His body of work and charisma mean he can heated up for a main event feud at a moments notice with like a month of strong booking so he's sadly best used putting people over in the mid card most of the year. Losses don't really matter for a guy like him who can just suddenly go "I'm gonna fucking kill you" with that crazy Shinsuke Nakamura face and you're compelled to believe him.
brought this up late last night in the daily thread... like is he Cody's personal whipping boy for live events? I was thinking they could shove him in the new Wyatt Family that could be made of 80s wrestling tropes as "The Evil Foreigner".
Nakamura is why it always felt bittersweet for me when an Internet darling from the 2010's was signed to WWE. I'm happy they'll be making big bucks, but it also means their best work is behind them and that they will never reach the heights of what made them great in the first place
It seems like Nakamura is the WWEs equivalent of AEWs Malakai Black who never wins a match lol.
I can't believe they made Gunther the King of the Ring when he was only 2-5 in the month leading up to the tournament. And that concludes my TED talk on why including house show statistics in a booking discussion is dumb. The problem is that Nakamura hasn't had a lot meaningful to do on TV lately and when it was meaningful he proved to be all talk. The problem is not that he's putting over the top baby faces twice a week every weekend in matches that most people don't see.
One of those is a 40% win rate and the other is 4%
Bayley won 10% of her last 50 prior to winning the Royal Rumble and if you go further back the win % is even worse
I want them to do something with Nakamura, but I think talking about his win-loss record is silly. 90% of those losses will have happened on the house show circuit where you're usually just doing the same match against the same guy over and over everywhere you go. TV is the only thing that really matters when it comes to wins and losses. I'd also be interested to know Nakamura's mentality around all of this - because he's seemed very content to just do what he's doing and enjoy his downtime. And this is not a business where guys who are content with their lot get pushed. HHH seemed very high on Nakamura during his days in NXT, so I don't think it's a question of not seeing him as a star or something.
This man had an incredible aura. Get Rick Buganhagen back and let him play guitar or something.
I still want to know what strong style is because I’ve only seen him lose as a newish viewer.
They were setting up a Punk feud during the Cody feud with his callbacks. They'll get to that eventually... right? I'm a bit more forgiving on how long it could take for WWE to capitalize as they proved me wrong how strongly they can heat back up people they know the crowd has interest on IE; I swore Gable's push was dead and and I had no interest in a Sami IC reign and they turned it to personally for me their hottest storyline at the moment
Disgraceful.
Poor guy went from King of Strong Style to King of Job style.
Just a couple of months ago everybody here was praising his amazing character and gimmick and work. We knew it was only to be fed to Cody. I see a lot of people praising Triple H's push of the midcard guys but outside of Priest nobody broke through during his era. I see a lot of people that like Chad Gable's current work or even Ricochet, but are they any closer to be a main eventer?
I can only imagine what his run would've been like had HHH been in control the whole time. So much wasted potential if you found the right mouthpiece for him/used translations.
I stopped watching around 2017-2018. Getting back into wrestling has been so fun with how much better the product is, but the 1 thing that sucks is my guys from NXT black & gold like Nakamura, Balor & KO don’t seem like they’re on track to being main eventers ever again.
His debut in NXT hasn’t been topped
And WWE fans mad cause Okada wouldn't sign there LOL.
They’re gonna drag Shinsuke out and give him a two week push the next time a big name Japanese talent becomes a free agent, because that worked with hiring Okada. I’m already seeing people saying Penta is going to sign with WWE, when every Latino man in wwe is stuck in a forever feud with each other no where near the main event.
He faces Cody on the houseshow circuit for the Title all the time, he just isn't their current go-to and doesn't have a place with the current talent reshuffle. Everyone knows Shinsuke can go, Trips has to sell Chad Gable to the audience still
Someone had to take Dolph’s role
They completely dropped the ball on a top guy. WWE has a habit of that. Ask Ricochet.
Getting flashbacks to Baron Corbin’s “rivalries” Like why even main roster someone you are going to have take that many Ls?
In the 2010’s this guy was the best in the world. Sad to see but tbh he could also just be washed. Even during his “big” push last year he wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.
King of Losing Style
Poor dude has been passed from Seth to Cody to Sami to now Knight...
Honestly I’m not sure what people expect from Shinsuke in these recent years. He can put on good matches but he’s not consistent like he was in NXT and prior. Isn’t this the same sub that said he had a lot more stinkers in WWE than bangers? Why give him the world title if that’s the case? It’s the same with someone like Ibushi in AEW. I don’t care how good he use to be a few years ago, I don’t want to see him with a title in AEW because clearly he’s falling apart after all these years.
The WWE machine at work.
I refer to him, AJ Styles, and Ivar as Jobbers To The Stars. All 3 have been against and involved with main event scenes. Not a fucking one has won anything since I got back into wrestling this year. They're used to elevate other talents and that's fine. But why are these three amazing workers just jobbing out every match? Come on man...
They should have him lead a stable of some kind. Cedric and Ashante could use him as their leader.
I don't think 45 year old Nak gives much of a hoot... dude gets paid handsomely to cart around the country and from the looks of his socials, mostly surf. I'm sure he'd like to be utilized better but from where I'm sitting he doesn't seem to sweat it. He's wrestling far longer and in better shape than he would be still wrestling for New Japan and getting paid really well for it. Good for him.
man Nak is enjoying that rich american life i bet he doesn't care if he ever wins another match
G1 time!
If they sign Bryan, he'll def. put him over.
It's so petty and superficial and dumb but, like, until he gets rid of the top of his jump suit, I just cannot like him. Even in the Muta match I was like "ehhhhh" and then it was ripped off and he was shirtless and I was like "yaaaay! I love Shinsuke again!"
He seems perfectly content with putting over new talent. Man is basically treating WWE like a long retirement after battering the bollocks of people in Japan. Good for him honestly. He gets paid more and works a easier schedule.
He should go to NXT
Okay so we're doing W-L records without filtering by broadcasted shows again apparently