WWE SummerSlam 2017: The Case for Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal
By Tim Sherry
Why Shinsuke Nakamura, not John Cena, is the ideal choice to face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
On the July 4 episode of Smackdown Live, John Cena returned to the blue brand for the first time since Wrestlemania 33. It was no shock that Cena returned to the company on Independence Day. He’s made a career out of being an overly patriotic figure who never turns down an opportunity use the American flag in an attempt to get over with the WWE audience. And you know what? This year’s July 4th speech was pretty good. He fired up the audience in Phoenix before he was interrupted by Rusev which eventually led to the two agreeing to a flag match at the forthcoming Battleground pay per view.
On paper, this all sounded pretty reasonable. Formulaic yes, but clearly reasonable. There was just one problem. Pretty much every fan of the WWE for the past 15 years could see where this whole thing was going. The WWE Championship was going to be contested at Battleground in what would clearly be the final match between Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal. Mahal, the anti-American character seemed destined to walk out of that show with the belt still in hand, and with Cena just shortly before that winning his pro-America flag match over Rusev, the pairing seemed inevitable. Once again, formulaic, repetitive, but still, a lock for SummerSlam.
So when Mahal kicked off the post Battleground Smackdown show it seemed only a matter of time before Cena would interrupt and the duo would just basically decide to square off at the company’s second biggest show of the year. And guess what? That’s exactly what happened. But then something very unexpected occurred. Daniel Bryan’s music hit and he came to the ramp to remind Cena that he wasn’t in charge of making matches and if he wanted to wrestle for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, he’d need to beat another man who had been successful at Battleground and earlier that night on the show, Shinsuke Nakamura.
So on the August 1st Smackdown, the dream match is set. Two of the most established, accomplished superstars in the history of pro wrestling will go to war with a shot at the WWE Championship on the line. Really, this match should’ve been saved for a larger venue, and maybe some day it will, but for now, this should be a landmark episode of sports entertainment television and enjoyed while it lasts.
But the big question remains: who should win? As mentioned earlier, this has a John Cena win written all over it for all those pro-America reasons but also because “Big Match John” has the chance to break the record for most WWE championships of all time at 17. But should this be the manner in which he breaks such an illustrious record over a guy like Mahal? “The Modern Day Maharaja” is a first-time champion who just 4 months ago couldn’t buy a win and a year ago wasn’t even with the company. This can’t be the moment that Cena climbs a mountain that nobody has before. It needs to be saved for something bigger.
The choice to face Mahal needs to be Nakamura. The company needs some fresh, babyface blood right now in the title scene and a guy like Nakamura is the type of superstar who could carry the WWE Championship all the way until Wrestlemania. Just think of the some of the title programs that could come from it. Nakamura/Jericho. Nakamura/Owens. Nakamura/Zayn. And of course, the vaunted Nakamura/Styles potential feud. Is there honestly a better world title feud that could be had in the WWE right now? The two only squared off once in New Japan Pro Wrestling and if their interaction at Money In The Bank is any indication of what the fans might think of the two finally squaring off, it might just be the program that brings the WWE back to where its needs to be.
Sure, Cena has quite an accomplished resume, maybe the best in WWE history. But Nakamura brings a loaded one too. A 3-time IWGP Heavyweight champion, 5-time IWGP Intercontinental champion, and a winner of the 2011 G1 Climax, “The King of Strong Style” has not slowed down since coming to the WWE in January of 2016. Within a year of signing, he won the NXT title twice while compiling an overall record to date of 166-9-2 between the two brands (cagematch.net). So yeah, he’s qualified.
Take something else in to account. Since Cena’s return, he’s labeled himself a “free agent” being able to work both brands. And with Cena hinting at a retirement sooner, rather than later, the idea of Nakamura carrying the company makes more sense. The best route would be for Nakamura to become champion at SummerSlam and have Cena try to win one more world championship on both brands but continuously come up short. That should last all the way until Wrestlemania 34 where Cena finally gets the job done and then retires the following night on RAW.
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All of that would be best case scenario but we as wrestling fans know that what we think is not always the way things go. There’s a very, very good chance that the WWE goes the safe route by having Cena beat Nakamura on Smackdown Tuesday night and then go on to SummerSlam to win his record-breaking 17th world title in what would be the exact thing we’d expect. But maybe, just maybe, they flip the script and make Cena really work for this last belt while Nakamura takes his first step to becoming the WWE legend that everyone expects him to be.