Shinsuke Nakamura debuted in WWE in an emphatic way, putting on a wrestling clinic with Sami Zayn at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. With the crowd bundled with joy over the battle that they saw, you could tell that Nakamura’s wrestling style would fit just fine and click with a US audience. It’s not like Nakamura has zero experience competing on US soil either, having wrestled at ROH as well. If booked properly, Nakamura could be a huge star in WWE. The big question is simple… will he?
As internationally-diverse as WWE is, there’s never been a Japanese superstar that has been a main-eventer in WWE. Yoshihiro Tajiri was one of the top cruiserweights in the company when he was there, but the biggest push he’s ever received was as a challenger for the US Championship and as a mid-carder at best. Sho Funaki was a former Cruiserweight champion and still plays a big role in WWE’s business ventures in Japan, but he was hardly booked as big star either. Hideo Itami is currently sidelined with an injury, with his true potential not being able to be showcased at NXT. It’s probably unfair to compare the likes of Tajiri and Funaki to Shinsuke Nakamura, as none of those wrestlers were as popular as Nakaumra was in Japan. However, it’s still new territory for WWE in terms of trying to make a Japanese wrestler a legitimate star in the company.
In NXT, so far so good. Nakamura has already been established as one of the top stars of the developmental territory and his match with Sami Zayn may have actually been the best match in all of professional wrestling in 2016. The big issue is the powers-that-be that are running the ship in WWE. Will they get behind and book Nakamura as well or stronger than he is in NXT? Jim Cornette expressed his concerns about the company’s use of Nakamura.
In a recent edition of the Jim Cornette Experience, Jim said: “Nakamura’s going to be an instant star in NXT for as long as he’s there. His success on the main roster depends on the chairman and how Vince McMahon sees him in pretty much, the long run, because Vince’s overwhelming success with luchadors or guys from Europe. How long did it take even Steve Regal to get a chance to get over, William Regal or the guys from Japan?”
The fact that William Regal was never booked as strongly as he should have will forever baffle me, as Regal clearly had the passion, charisma and wrestling ability to be a main-eventer. Although there are examples of international wrestlers that have had runs as the champion, like Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, the amount of main-eventers and world champions in WWE that weren’t born from the US or Canada is pretty damn insane. For a company that prides itself on its international diversity in terms of stars and content, there’s never really been a huge effort to promote these wrestlers as global superstars.
I’m sure that with the amount of international talent that has descended on WWE in recent years, there will be those that will argue that WWE are turning a corner. However, there’s still one big obstacle that will no doubt get in the way and that’s Vince McMahon. He’s 70 years old. It’s very difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Vince has a very specific idea in his head about what a WWE main-eventer needs to look like, whether we like it or not. That’s why he will never give up on Roman Reigns as being the top guy in the company. After 18 months of trying to get this fella over, he’s still being rejected by the WWE audience. Vince is hesitant on changing his philosophy on main-eventers, which could get in the way of Mr Shinsuke Nakamura.
I don’t want to be one of those people that say that things will be gloom and doom for Nakamura if Vince is in charge, but those in charge of WWE need to understand that Nakamura can’t booked in the same way as everybody else in order to get over. He must stand out and the ball is in WWE’s court to allow Nakamura to succeed.
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