'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The WWE rumour mill has been running wild recently with speculation that Shinsuke Nakamura could leave the company when his contract reportedly comes to an end in early 2019.
As of the time of writing, there hasn’t been any confirmation one way or the other from WWE regarding Nakamura’s contract situation, leading some to believe that a return to NJPW could be a very real possibility in six months’ time.
Either way, “The King of Strong Style” still has a few more months, and possibly years, left working for Vince McMahon’s company, and there are a whole host of accomplishments that he needs to tick off before returning to Japan.
In this article, let’s take a look at five things that the former NXT champion needs to do before his WWE career ends.
#5 Win the WWE Championship
When Shinsuke Nakamura defeated John Cena fair and square on SmackDown Live in August 2017, it looked like he would go on to capture the WWE Championship a few weeks later from Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam.
Instead, however, he went on to lose against “The Modern Day Maharajah” in what was, at the time, his biggest match in a WWE ring, and the rematch at Hell In A Cell in October 2017 resulted in exactly the same outcome.
Since then, Nakamura has had another four PPV singles matches for the WWE Championship against AJ Styles in 2018, starting at WrestleMania 34 and ending at Money In The Bank, but he failed to emerge with the title on every occasion.
Needless to say, six one-on-one PPV losses for the WWE Championship isn’t a record to be proud of, and it’s remarkable that the storylines were able to last so long when the Japanese star continued to fall short in title matches.
Nakamura’s character is more interesting now than it has ever been, so don’t rule out him returning to the WWE Championship picture before his time in WWE is up – only with a different outcome next time.
#4 Headline a singles PPV match
Given that Shinsuke Nakamura has challenged for the WWE Championship in one-on-one matches at six separate PPVs, it’s crazy to think that he is yet to headline a major WWE event in a singles match.
The Fatal 4-Way Universal Championship match at SummerSlam 2017 was chosen to go on last instead of Jinder Mahal vs. Nakamura, while the rematch at Hell In A Cell was only fifth on a seven-match card, with Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon main-eventing.
In 2018, none of the four PPV matches between AJ Styles and Nakamura closed the show, with Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe vs. Reigns, as well as the Greatest Royal Rumble and the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match, headlining ahead of the WWE Championship.
#3 Move to Monday Night Raw
Shinsuke Nakamura was drafted to SmackDown Live in the April 2017 Superstar Shake-Up and he has remained a member of the blue brand’s roster ever since.
“The King of Strong Style” is likely to receive a featured spot no matter which brand he is on, as we’ve seen since his NXT debut in April 2016, but it’s fair to say that Monday Night Raw will always be viewed as WWE’s biggest weekly platform.
SmackDown often produces more entertaining episodes in the eyes of fans, but Nakamura deserves a run on Raw, aka the ‘A’ show, before his WWE career is over.
#2 Create his own faction
With his sneaky low-blow move and increasingly successful heel antics, you could argue that Shinsuke Nakamura is one of the few WWE Superstars who doesn’t need any allies alongside him.
But, as we saw during his babyface feud with Jinder Mahal and heel feud with AJ Styles, the former NXT star is going to need more tricks up his sleeve if he’s going to make the step up from United States champion to WWE champion one day.
Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for him to recruit some fellow Superstars to form his own faction, just like Styles did with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson shortly after he joined WWE.
#1 Face Brock Lesnar
It remains to be seen if Brock Lesnar will continue his part-time deal with WWE when he inevitably returns to UFC in 2019. If he stays, one of the biggest matches he could still have in WWE would be with Shinsuke Nakamura.
Writing in his new book ‘King of Strong Style: 1980-2014’, Nakamura said he was reduced to tears after his NJPW match against Lesnar in 2006 – not because he lost, but because he “didn’t get the sense that he [Lesnar] had any love for pro wrestling”.
It would be difficult to build a rivalry about this right now – both guys are major heels on separate brands – but a blockbuster feud further down the line has the potential to blur the lines between storyline and reality.
