What’s Next for Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE?

What direction should Shinsuke Nakamura take in the next twelve months in WWE?

On Wednesday night, we’ll see Shinsuke Nakamura take on Austin Aries at NXT TakeOver: The End. On a card featuring Samoa Joe and Finn Balor going at it inside a steel cage, it’s a match that could very well steal the show, between two men who are amongst the best professional wrestlers in the entire world.

Nakamura made his in ring NXT debut back at TakeOver: Dallas on WrestleMania weekend, tearing the house down opposite Sami Zayn in one of the best matches ever held inside an NXT ring. Since then he’s beaten everyone put in front of him, he’s proved why he’s one of the most charismatic men in wrestling, and has shown us that with only a few words or gestures he can get himself over with the NXT crowd even more than he already was.

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In a world where everyone is striving to be the best that they can be, Shinsuke Nakamura is a man who stands head and shoulders above everyone around him. He is legitimately the most charismatic man in the world let alone WWE, but how do you build him to even higher heights? Well you place a lovely shiny gold belt around his waist and build your company around him.

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When Samoa Joe walks away from that steel cage match with Finn Balor, he should still be holding the NXT title. With Balor now gone from NXT TV (The End has to mean the end of his time in NXT), Joe will be looking for a new opponent. Step forward Shinsuke Nakamura.

Nakamura will almost definitely get the win against Aries. With Balor out of the picture, Nakamura instantly becomes your next challenger. Joe can duck him for a while, coming out to try and attack the King of Strong Style after he’s took part in matches on TV. Nakmaura will always be too clever for the champion though, and they will never come to blows, until it’s for the title.

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A summer that contains a Nakamura vs Joe for one of the most important titles in WWE, will be a great summer for professional wrestling. Nakamura spent more than a decade honing his craft in the rings of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Joe has spent a similar amount of time travelling the world and building himself as one of the finest talents the world has ever seen. Only a few years ago, these two men colliding inside a WWE sanctioned ring would have been a pipe dream. It’s now turning into a dream match of epic proportions, that the NXT crowd would lap up more than anything they have before.

Nakamura is a man who carried some of the biggest cards in NJPW history. Joe is a man who has proved his worth to the WWE and NXT brand in his time inside those yellow ropes. If WWE, and more importantly Triple H, wants the NXT brand to continue to grow and prosper, then Shinsuke Nakamura needs to be the man who he pins his hopes and dreams on in the next couple of years.

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Who knows we may even see Nakamura make a big impact as part of the soon to happen brand split. Holding the NXT title and tearing up Raw or SmackDown at the same time, could be the perfect recipe to kick off a brand new boom period for the WWE.