What’s the story?
Wrestling Observer points out that Shinsuke Nakamura was scheduled to face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at the latest Smackdown-exclusive live event in Vancouver, Canada. However, ‘the King of Strong Style’ was absent from the show and he was replaced by Seth Rollins, a member of the RAW roster.
In case you didn’t know....
Since the WWE Draft in 2016, RAW and Smackdown superstars have not appeared at the same live event. There are exceptions, which include WWE shows in Madison Square Garden and a few events after the superstar shakeup earlier this year.
The heart of the matter
There are rumours that certain travel issues prevented Nakamura from competing in the live event in Vancouver. Interestingly, the former 2-time NXT Champion had competed in Canada before. The most recent being at NXT Takeover: Toronto, where he defended the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe.
It can be stated that WWE compensated Nakamura’s absence from the show by replacing him with a former 2-time WWE Champion, Seth Rollins.
After Mahal had made his entrance, ‘The Architect’ came down to the ring and challenged the WWE Champion for a one-on-one title match. The contest for the title came to an abrupt end due to an interference from the Singh Brothers, which resulted in Seth Rollins winning the match via disqualification.
What’s next?
Smackdown’s upcoming live show will be held in Everett, Washington and the main event of this show is advertised to be Shinsuke Nakamura vs Jinder Mahal for the WWE title. It will be interesting to see whether it's Rollins once again or there are some other plans for this show.
Author’s take
It was really unexpected to witness a top-tier superstar of the RAW roster like Seth Rollins challenging for the top gold of the blue brand. Even if this was a result of a travel issue of Shinsuke Nakamura, unpredictable appearances like this make a live show more entertaining and obviously, boost future ticket sales.
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