What’s Next For Shinsuke Nakamura?

Money in the Bank literally just ended, its about 11:30 PM where I’m at, so what I should do is probably go to bed so I can be a functioning adult on Monday morning. But what I am gonna do is write an article about what could be next for Shinsuke after losing at Money in the Bank. Wrestling is great isn’t it. (I can’t wait to drink like 8 coffees tomorrow morning).


Shinsuke just lost his 6th title match in a row, 7 if you include when he lost the NXT championship to Bobby Roode at Takeover: San Antonio. He lost twice to Jinder Mahal and now 4 times to AJ Styles. The issue with this is that he is now a phenomenal heel, but it somewhat feels like a squandered heel turn. I think that he should have won the title at least once at this point. Also I think everytime that I pick Shinsuke to win a match in the prediction league that I’m in he always losses, aside from the Royal Rumble. He is a wrestler that has proven to me, at least, that he should get a run for the big belt sooner rather than later. But now after 4 failed attempts at the big one, let's see what are Shinsuke’s options now.

GO BACK TO NJPW

This one is the least likely option, so that's why I want to get it out of the way first. When he first was in NJPW, Shinsuke was a phenomenal wrestler. His track record in NJPW is as follows: 3 time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, 5 time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, 1 time IWGP 3rd Belt Championship, 1 time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, 1 time IWGP U-30 Openweight Champion, 2011 G1 Climax Winner, 2006 G1 Tag League Winner, 2014 New Japan Cup Winner, and many others. The man is one of the 3 guys I immediately think of when people say New Japan, the other 2 are Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. The reason this won’t happen is that, simply, Shinsuke seems happy where he is. I have looked over a lot of articles, and none have said that Shinsuke is unhappy in WWE and since he worked so hard to get to where he is now, and might have given the main roster their first 5 star match since ironically 2011 Money in the Bank (Punk v Cena) in the same building, there is no real chance that Shinsuke will leave that I see.

Move over to RAW

Shinsuke has been on Smackdown since his call up to the main roster. While someone like Shinsuke may love being on a certain brand, sometimes a change of scenery is what is needed for a wrestler to thrive again. Plus looking at some of the matches we could get if he does move over could be a great idea. Look at Shinsuke vs Roode, Shinsuke vs Balor (more on this later), Shinsuke vs Reigns even would be good. One issue with this is that the shake-up has happened and Shinsuke may be on Smackdown till at least next year, or so we think. Shinsuke could ask for a trade, and move to Raw for, say the likes of maybe Balor or a returning Ambrose perhaps. While this idea is a little out there, I honestly could see this happening.

Take some time off

Shinsuke has worked almost every Smackdown and has been on every PPV since being called up. Looking at it, you can imagine that Shinsuke’s batteries have to be running on empty. Many people see this as the prime opportunity to go home for a bit and charge their batteries and regroup to come back and be even better than before. Shinsuke could benefit from this and come back recharged and reenergized to become champion again.

Move to the tag team division

Ok, now stay with me here. I see this being a very out their option and do not expect it to happen. But when Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman winning the Money in the Bank contracts, anything is possible. I look at it like this, if Shinsuke stays on Smackdown, he can start to justify his actions in his heel turn. He could say that he has gotten frustrated that he was being overlooked as a ‘good guy’ and wanted to be the ‘bad guy’ and was ready to be the man. But that still didn’t work, but he knows that he isn’t alone in these feelings and has allies that none of us would expect. I could see Shelton Benjamin or Tye Dillinger joining him in a heartbeat, and if I had to choose, I would prefer Tye, so then he could be used also. On the other hand, if he gets traded to Raw, imagine who could be his partner. Remember when I said that there would be more on Shinsuke vs Balor, well here it is. Imagine these 2 working together and thriving. They are both the thing of legends in Japan, and would be one hell of a tag team, and even a team that could seemingly be a perfect fit to face Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt.


Move to the mid-card

Should Shinsuke be in the main event picture, absolutely. I believe that however, Shinsuke would more than likely go to the midcard of Smackdown, and challenge for the US Title. You look at the current midcard on Smackdown, you have Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Andrade Almas in the near future, Randy Orton, The Miz, New Day, and Rusev. Shinsuke would fit right in and it could be a helpful one. I definitely see Shinsuke being the one that takes the title off of Jeff, since the WWE needs to capitalize on how hot Shinsuke is right now. This in turn could be used to get Rusev over as a face, and finally give the fans what we want for Rusev. Then after dropping the title to Rusev after a long title reign, Shinsuke can then go back to the main event and challenge AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan again.


So what do you guys think will happen to Shinsuke now? These are the options I thought of but would love to hear more from you guys. As for me, I’m gonna go to bed and wake up to watch some World Cup coverage, and drink all the coffee that I can find.


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