3 WWE SmackDown stars who may get a Universal Title shot this year and 2 who may not

#4 SmackDown's booking of Shinsuke Nakamura indicates he will not get a title match against Roman Reigns

I Frustrated pic.twitter.com/Q8WyiCy1U1

— Shinsuke Nakamura (@ShinsukeN) May 8, 2021

At the start of the year, it seemed like Shinsuke Nakamura was heading for a push on SmackDown. He turned babyface during a gauntlet match on a January episode, which seemed to indicate exciting things in his future. However, nothing much has changed for former IC and US champ.

The spot was made for Cesaro, but he was in the middle of contract negotiations with the company at the time which is why Nakamura stepped in on that episode of SmackDown. Aside from a change in his theme song, there were no plans for the Japanese star to follow that stellar performance.

Fans had hoped he would step up and challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, but it doesn't seem like that will be happening any time soon. WWE had a chance to elevate Shinsuke Nakamura back to the main event scene, albeit for just one program, but he remains a midcarder.

THEY WANT THE SMOKE! @WWEBigE @ShinsukeN @FightOwensFight @AngeloDawkins & @MontezFordWWE vs. @WWEApollo @SamiZayn @otiswwe @WWEGable & King @BaronCorbinWWE NEXT on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/Mmiegpjeh3

— WWE (@WWE) May 8, 2021

It seems unlikely for the 2018 Royal Rumble winner to go beyond his current position on SmackDown, which is unfortunate. A match between him and Reigns over the Universal Title would have been great, even if there wouldn't have been any doubt over the victor.