Predicting WWE’s Post-WrestleMania 33 Call-Ups from NXT
By Adam O'Brien
Source: WWE.com
1. Shinsuke Nakamura – Raw
“The King of Strong Style”, Shinsuke Nakamura took NXT by storm last year, from making his debut in a Match of the Year candidate against Sami Zayn before WrestleMania 32, to capturing the NXT Championship on SummerSlam weekend.
He introduced the brand to a harder-hitting technique that sees Nakamura’s immense arsenal of power moves take a backseat to his even more vicious strikes — his patented Kinshasa in particular, which he used to knock off the best and brightest of NXT, and even served to dislocate the jaw of Samoa Joe last summer.
Over the last year, he’s used his unparalleled charisma to become one of the most awe-inspiring athletes on the brand, and along with Joe, Nakamura has become one of only two men to capture the holy grail of NXT on two separate occasions.
His entrance alone is hypnotic, and perfectly accentuates his unique personality as he waltzes his way to the squared circle in preparation for battle.
He’s accomplished all of this and more in the span of a year, and now that he’s done the favors for Bobby Roode in a tremendous outing in San Antonio last month, there’s nothing left for Shinsuke Nakamura to achieve in developmental.
Save for maybe a passing of the torch match against Kassius Ohno — who is believed to be next in line for an NXT Championship opportunity — Nakamura’s time as the face of the brand is behind him, and it’s now time to look to the future.
More from NXT
- Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
- WWE NXT DeadLine 2023 Predictions: Trick Williams Will NOT Become Iron Survivor
- The End of Trick and Melo Gang Will Break NXT Fans’ Hearts
- Dominick Dijakovic is doing his best work in WWE NXT
- Quick predictions for NXT Halloween Havoc Night Two
And what better way would there be to cap off his inaugural year under the WWE umbrella, than by emerging on Monday Night Raw right after WrestleMania, and embarking on the next chapter of his WWE career?
There are a plethora of names on Raw that would make for mouth-watering opponents for Shinsuke Nakamura; Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, Rusev and of course Sami Zayn just to name a few.
Nakamura gets a lot of flak for his matches coming across awfully repetitive, but each of these guys would be more than capable of bringing out the best in “The King of Strong Style” and weaving incredible matches together with him.
Related Story: WWE WrestleMania 33: Match Card Projections
The response to his breathtaking entrance would make for one of the most epic crowd reactions we’ve ever seen from a post-Mania Raw crowd, and would be the perfect way to start what could be an extraordinary run for Shinsuke Nakamura.