If Shinsuke Nakamura is on his way to the WWE main roster, who should he face upon arrival?
Shinsuke Nakamura has had a remarkable WWE NXT career, which began at NXT TakeOver: Dallas and may culminate with TakeOver: Orlando, both of which are on WrestleMania Weekend. He’s done plenty during this time, like holding the NXT Championship twice, headlining four live specials and being the top babyface on the house shows.
Eventually, Nakamura’s time in NXT will be up and he’ll move on to the WWE main roster. There has been speculation of this happening soon, as Triple H posted a graphic for NXT’s tour of the Download Festival in June, which doesn’t feature the King of Strong Style. This isn’t taking place until June, but it’s possible he arrives before that.
The ideal time for Nakamura’s WWE debut is the Raw or SmackDown after WrestleMania. WWE have made a tradition out of doing this to make these shows feel important, and almost hit a reset button in their “new year.” They did this in 2016 and brought up, Enzo Amore, Big Cass, Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews, among others. Samoa Joe wasn’t saved for the 2017 batch of call-ups, as he arrived long before the Show of Shows. That leaves Nakamura as possibly the biggest name to move up.
If and when the 37-year-old heads to WWE’s main roster, he’ll need to feud with someone. There’s a handful of fresh options for him, including some familiar foes from his days in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Who could that be?