Shinsuke Nakamura is a major attraction, but he is yet to win the top prize in WWE. According to one former employee, he is just not championship material.
Shinsuke Nakamura Labeled Not Championship Material
Shinsuke Nakamura was a huge star in NJPW. So, WWE made a strong effort to sign him and they were successful.
Seven years ago, he signed with WWE and went to NXT to adjust to the American way of wrestling. During his time there, he was NXT Champion on two occasions.
He would get the nod to join the main roster within a year.
He won the Men’s Royal Rumble Match for a WrestleMania 34. There, Nakamura lost to WWE Champion AJ Styles.
There was lots of hype heading into the contest because of their styles inside the ring. Unfortunately, the match was rather boring and a huge disappointment.
At the conclusion of the bout, Nakamura turned heel. He would continue to challenge for the belt, but no luck.
Still, he held other titles in WWE such the Intercontinental Championship, United Staters Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Champion.
For a bit, Nakamura disappeared from TV. He remerged on SmackDown before being drafted to RAW.
Now, Nakamura is working a program with Seth Rollins. At Payback, Rollins retained his title, although he was attacked afterwards.
While speaking on The Wrestling Time Machine podcast, WWE Hall Of Famer Teddy Long went over Nakamura. He likes Nakamura, yet he does not see him as championship material.
“Don’t get me wrong,” said Long. “Shinsuke is a great wrestler, but I just don’t see him being championship material.”
“Maybe this is just my feeling about it. When you put a title on somebody, there has to be a lot of charisma; there needs to be a lot of excitement.”
“And he has some of that. But like I said, I could be wrong, but I don’t see them putting the title on him.”
Since returning, Shinsuke Nakamura has shown improvements with his English. Having the American fans not understand much of what Nakamura says can be challenging when trying to sell a superstar.
So, is Teddy Long right about Shinsuke Nakamura not being championship material?
