WWE Backlash 2017: Reaction to Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler

At WWE Backlash, Shinsuke Nakamura made his long-awaited in-ring debut for SmackDown Live. What happened when he faced Dolph Ziggler?

Two nights after WrestleMania 33, Shinsuke Nakamura made his debut on SmackDown Live. While the vast majority of the WWE Universe has been enthralled by Nakamura’s presence, Dolph Ziggler has been less than impressed.

For weeks, Ziggler has tried to claim that Nakamura is unworthy of the praise he’s been given. To The Show-Off, having zero matches in WWE means you don’t matter. To prove that The King of Strong Style is overrated, Ziggler aimed to take him out at WWE Backlash.

We didn’t have to wait long to get to this highly anticipated match, as it opened the main show. Read on for all the highlights from Nakamura’s WWE debut.

Lots of mat-based wrestling started this one off. Ziggler used his Kent State background to his advantage, but Nakamura held his own.

It wasn’t long before the mind games got started. Nakamura did his best to get into Ziggler’s head, utilizing Good Vibrations in the corner. The two-time world champion wasn’t fooled, using his ring awareness to trap Nakamura with a neckbreaker through the ropes.

Ziggler quickly went to work wearing down his opponent. After a brutal dropkick, Ziggler began to taunt Nakamura, opening the door for a strong style comeback. A series of vicious strikes from Nakamura turned things around in a hurry.

Dolph was able to avoid the Exploder suplex, but was trapped in a triangle hold anyway. After the hold broke, Ziggler countered a suplex attempt into a DDT for a near fall. He followed that by hitting a Famouser after avoiding a Kinshasa – but still only managed a two count.

Ziggler got a little cocky and telegraphed a superkick, giving Nakamura a chance to duck. But Dolph countered the counter into a Zig Zag – and Nakamura still kicked out.

Shinsuke went for the reverse Exploder suplex again, but Ziggler landed on his feet and hit a superkick to the back of Nak’s head. When Ziggler got cocky again and spit in Nakamura’s face, the tide turned for the final time. Nakamura landed a long series of strikes before finally hitting the reverse Exploder.

It was the perfect setup for the KINSHASAAAAAAA (man, I’ve missed writing that), giving Nakamura a win in his debut match.

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The match may have gone on a bit too long, but it was a decent opener. What did you think?