WWE SmackDown: How Did Booking Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka Go So Wrong?

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Japanese standouts Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka were both riding high after their respective Royal Rumble wins this January. However, that’s seemingly been the peak for both superstars, and WWE has been on track to fail them both creatively almost a year later.

To say that WWE has botched the main roster run of its two biggest Japanese superstars could be the understatement of the century. At the beginning of this year, Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka were the winners of their respective Royal Rumble matches and both were headed to WrestleMania as part of very high profile championship matches.

Nakamura was set to face off against WWE Champion, AJ Styles, in a dream rematch from their days together in New Japan. Asuka would challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, while simultaneously putting her own unbeaten record on the line. What happened next seems to have shaped the rest of 2018 for these two Japanese megastars and their WWE careers may never fully recover.

At WrestleMania this year, Asuka’s 914-day undefeated steak was halted by Charlotte Flair. The months that followed have seen Asuka descend into mid-card purgatory where she is currently embroiled in a meaningless feud with The Iiconics. Her aura has been completely demolished and in a sight that would have been unthinkable twelve months ago, she is now regularly on the losing end in matches against Peyton Royce and Billie Kay.

Asuka arrived to much fanfare on RAW following her promotion from NXT, and her dominant run seemed set to continue as she became the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble winner. Sadly she is now a bit-part player on SmackDown Live and the prospect of her winning a main roster title seems seriously diminished.

After losing his WrestleMania dream match against AJ Styles and shockingly turning heel, Shinsuke Nakamura entered an extended feud against the WWE Champion. After several matches that failed to live up to expectations, Nakamura was shunted down the card to the United States Championship picture.

The Artist has since won his first main roster gold by claiming the US Title from Jeff Hardy, but has barely featured on television or pay-per-view since becoming champion. Nakamura was the most exciting signing the WWE had made in years when he arrived from NJPW and the company looked to be all in on his push when he won the Royal Rumble. But his fall from grace has been just as dramatic as his fellow Japanese superstar.

So, why has this happened and can the careers of these two unquestionably talented wrestlers be salvaged before it’s too late? There were always concerns that Asuka and Shinsuke would struggle to win over the mainstream American audience with the unique style and charisma that made them so loved in Japan, and sadly those concerns seem to have proved prophetic.

While the wacky character work and strong style wrestling will always be a hit in NXT and smaller promotions with a more well-informed audience, it simply doesn’t translate well to the larger television audience. Asuka and Nakamura tell their stories using their in-ring work not their mic skills and the gift of the gab will always hold more power in the WWE, regardless of how good your in-ring storytelling may be.

With an increasingly overcrowded roster and screen time at a premium, there are fears that these two megastars may have already peaked on the main roster. For Nakamura, his best opportunity was the program with Styles but once that fell flat, he was left flailing. The potential of Nak ever holding the WWE or Universal Championship looks less and less likely with each passing week.

The only potential saving grace for Asuka is a blockbuster match with Ronda Rousey, but this also doesn’t appear to be in the short-term booking plans. Unless a significant change of creative direction takes place, it seems increasingly likely that we may see both Nakamura and Asuka back competing for promotions in their native Japan within the next 12 months. Sadly, as fans we may well be lamenting another missed opportunity by the WWE as the company continues to struggle to push its foreign superstars.