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A few hours ago, WWE announced that 'The Big Dog' Roman Reigns will challenge Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on the next episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
For many WWE fans, this news comes as a surprise, especially since Reigns never gave us any hints that he is preparing himself for a feud against the 'King of Strong Style.' Nakamura, with Sami Zayn in his corner, will be looking forward to putting 'The Big Dog' away before Reigns can take home Intercontinental gold.
As previously mentioned, many WWE fans have no idea why Reigns is challenging Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship. There has been no build and no indication in the storyline that this would even be a possibility. In this article, we take a look at a few reasons why 'The Big Dog' is setting his sights on WWE's workhorse title.
#3. Shinsuke Nakamura's title reign has been bland
Shinsuke Nakamura is one of the most gifted wrestlers in the world.The aptly named 'King of Strong Style' is probably the best pure striker in WWE. However, even with his immense in-ring capabilities, Nakamura has not been able to give the WWE Universe a memorable Intercontinental Championship reign.
Nakamura won the Intercontinental title from Finn Balor at Extreme Rules 2019 in the Kickoff Show. Despite that huge victory, Nakamura did not make it to the SummerSlam card. The only time Nakamura defended his Intercontinental Championship on television was at Clash of Champions against The Miz. Nakamura also failed to make it to the Hell in a Cell card.
Moreover, Sami Zayn's live commentary during Nakamura's matches is annoying to say the least. Although we cannot completely blame these two Superstars, we cannot turn a blind eye towards the fact that Nakamura's current Intercontinental title reign is devoid of anything that even resembles entertainment.
A fresh feud with Roman Reigns might rejuvenate Nakamura or rejuvenate the title by putting it on one of WWE's most popular Superstars.
#2. To elevate the prestige of the Intercontinental title
The Intercontinental Championship is one of the most important titles in WWE history. Long ago, WWE deemed the title as the "Workhorse Title," symbolizing its relevance to the upper mid-card. Some of WWE's greatest wrestlers held the title including Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, and Ultimate Warrior.
Due to the frequent hiatus of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, the Intercontinental Championship was the most sought after title on RAW from 2017-2019. The Intercontinental Championship even headlined a PPV over the WWE Championship less than 18 months ago.
With Brock Lesnar as WWE Champion on SmackDown, the company has no other option other than to elevate the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship once again. Lesnar will be absent for most of the year and the Intercontinental Championship is the next big thing on the Blue brand.
As mentioned previously, Shinsuke Nakamura has been enduring a lackluster Intercontinental Championship reign and is in desperate need of a resurrection. Igniting a thrilling feud between Roman Reigns and Nakamura could give the Intercontinental Championship the spark it needs to become relevant once again.
#1. To give us fresh matchups
Although Shinsuke Nakamura has been part of the WWE main roster since 2017, he has crossed paths with Roman Reigns only once - at the 2018 Royal Rumble. 'The Big Dog' and the 'King of Strong Style' were the last two men standing at the 30 man Royal Rumble match. Nakamura eliminated Reigns to earn a WWE Championship opportunity against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34.
A Nakamura/Reigns rivalry could be a breath of fresh air in WWE and a departure from the same repetitive feuds that are displayed week in and week out. Also, what if Roman Reigns wins the title from Nakamura?
We could see the return of the Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge - something Reigns did during his previous reign, drawing inspiration from John Cena's United States Championship Open Challenge. Imagine a 15 minute free TV match between Roman Reigns and Ali, or between Reigns and Sami Zayn, or between Reigns and Luke Harper. The WWE Universe could get amazing matches every week, if WWE were to bring back the Open Challenge. With FOX looking forward to a more sports-oriented show, the return of the Open Challenge could be a huge boost for SmackDown.
