WWE SmackDown Wearing Out the Reset Button
By Rob Furness
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Dolph Ziggler
In the post WrestleMania call ups, Nakamura arrived on SmackDown to much fanfare from the WWE Universe. He was the blue brands best acquisition during the Superstar Shakeup, and they treated him like one. They saved his much anticipated in-ring debut for the SmackDown exclusive PPV Backlash.
In the weeks leading into Backlash, he was paired with another great in-ring performer, Dolph Ziggler. Though there build highlighted bother of their weaknesses (mic skills), the expectation was that when the bell rang these two competitors could put on the match of the night. Except they didn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, the match wasn’t awful, but it also wasn’t memorable. The two traded offense for 15 minutes, before Nakamura got the pinfall off a Kinshasa. Nothing about the match stood out as being unique or compelling, especially when you’re trying to build Nakamura as WWE’s next international superstar.
Instead of cutting bait, and putting both superstars in more compelling stories, they had a re-match less than a month later. From a storyline standpoint it made no sense whatsoever. Nakamura had beaten Dolph clean. To their credit, the rematch was more engaging. It was a faster, more brutal affair that was a more effective iteration of their match at Backlash. But lead to the same outcome.
Maybe WWE wanted to give television audiences a chance to see their new international star in action for free. However, the rematch cheapened the importance of their initial PPV encounter and of the two superstars. Lazy booking and a lack of creative direction for one of their biggest superstars started Nakamura off on the wrong foot.