WWE SmackDown 5 Takeaways: AJ Styles Has the Right Face Role

2. Shinsuke Nakamura Will Be in the Title Picture After This Feud

Shinsuke Nakamura’s main roster debut couldn’t have gone any better, and AJ Styles might be the only superstar on the roster who is more over than “The King Of Strong Style”. Heck, you could make the argument that Shinsuke is the most over wrestler in the WWE right now, because all he has to do is make gestures and subtle facial expressions to draw reactions. Just by walking into the arena, Nakamura receives huge pops from the crowd, and Becky Lynch is the only other superstar who gets arenas to sing his music.

This is the first time I can remember Dolph Ziggler being in a feud with a new face who is more over and more experienced than him. That’s a great thing for the fans, because instead of watching throwaway matches involving Ziggler and Apollo Crews, Mojo Rawley, Baron Corbin, Kalisto, and Tyler Breeze, we’ll get to see two of the most gifted in-ring performers in the WWE going head-to-head. As Ziggler pressed on Talking Smack, hopefully they get a chance to tear the house down at a Pay Per View, and I can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t be excited to see Ziggler sell the Kinsasha knee strike.

Most of the time, wrestlers who feud with Ziggler are being groomed for bigger things. Nakamura is already one of the best in the business, so this feud should be a stepping stone for him to enter the WWE Championship picture, which is basically non-existent outside of Wyatt and Orton. Already championship material without having been in a singles match on the main roster, Nakamura will likely star in this feud with Ziggler, dispose of his foe relatively quickly, and start fighting for the biggest prize in sports entertainment.