WWE SmackDown 5 Takeaways: Jinder Mahal Executing Role Perfectly

3. How a Bad Segment Can Achieve a Goal

The best part of the Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler feud is that we haven’t seen a televised match between the two of them yet, and I hope this continues until their match at Backlash, in which Nakamura wins. Despite the fact that neither superstar has gone at it on television in a sanctioned match, I like that they had two dark matches (that were basically exactly the same). This is the WWE’s way of telling the fans to expect both of them to put on a great match, and I’m sure everyone is looking forward to Nakamura delivering the Kinsasha knee strike on Dolph.

Until then, we’ll continue to get back-and-forth promos between the two, and last night’s promo was a bit strange. It consisted of Ziggler making fun of Nakamura being from Japan. He hijacked Renee Young’s interview with Nakamura to conduct the interview himself. Ziggler wouldn’t allow Nakamura to answer his question, stating that he would translate Shinsuke’s thoughts. “The Show-off” said that Nakamura’s favorite wrestler is Ziggler, and he then proceeded to say that Nakamura stole his gimmick from Michael Jackson. Nakamura would later respond verbally before standing tall in the ring after Ziggler attacked him.

In terms of writing, it was the weakest segment of the show, and that’s for a multitude of reasons. Ziggler making fun of Nakamura’s nationality was cringeworthy at best, and the comparison to Michael Jackson was ridiculous and dragged on for too long.

So what was the point? Well, it was to make Ziggler look like an absolute jerk, and it was to show that Nakamura can indeed hold his own on the mic with his quick wit and pointed insults. Unfortunately, the crowd decided it would be appropriate to give “What?” chants to Nakamura, but for those watching on television, we were able to throw some heat on Ziggler and get more of an appreciation for Nakamura’s suave and economical promo work.