WWE: Shinsuke Nakamura Doesn’t Have Heat for Suplex on John Cena

Shinsuke Nakamura doesn’t have heat on him for the botched suplex on John Cena from WWE SmackDown Live.

The match between Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena on SmackDown Live was hyped by the WWE as a “Dream Match”, and while they didn’t get a huge amount of time to work with on a television show, it did meet expectations.

Instead of having Nakamura win via shenanigans provided by Money in the Bank briefcase holder Baron Corbin, the WWE held off on “The Lone Wolf’s” run-in until after Nakamura won. The “King of Strong Style” kicked out of one Attitude Adjustment, countered an attempt at back-to-back AAs by essentially no-selling the first one, and finished the match with the Kinsasha knee strike.

It was a crowning moment for Nakamura, whose booking on the main roster has been critiqued by fans. He’s never lost to this point, but many of his victories have felt empty, as they’ve come via a low blow, against Dolph Ziggler, or in tag matches.

Must Read: Do Shinsuke Nakamura And Roman Reigns Have Similarities?

Nobody can take this victory away from him, and it doesn’t look like the WWE will pump the brakes on Nakamura, even though he was involved in a scary moment in that match. Before hitting the “Kinsasha”, Nakamura dropped Cena on the back of his head on an exploder suplex. Some have wondered if the issue was with how the move was delivered or how the move was taken, because Nakamura has used that move safely many times, including in the WWE.

Following the match, Nakamura could be observed apologizing to Cena, who responded that Nakamura had no reason to apologize. And in case that exchange wasn’t enough to ease any doubts that Nakamura will move forward without receiving heat from this incident, PW Insider’s Mike Johnson writes that people backstage believe this is a “fluke”.

I’m glad they feel this way, because that’s clearly the most logical outlook

. Moves like this happen in wrestling, and Nakamura has a reputation for being safe despite his strong style. This move hasn’t caused issues in the past, and Cena is always understanding of the potential for risks and hard bumps in the ring. All we can do is hope Cena doesn’t have any lingering effects, because that’s the only takeaway at this point.

Next: Where In The World Is Dolph Ziggler?

It will be interesting to see if Nakamura can win the championship from Jinder, who has been slightly underwhelming with the title. The Jinder experiment was a nice idea, but it’s time to push one of the top stars in the company hard. Cena raised Nakamura’s hand twice on SmackDown Live after the impressive victory, and it’s clear that the company has big plans for one of the world’s most charismatic performers.