Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Finn Balor in singles competition on the go-home episode of SmackDown Live before WWE Extreme Rules 2019 to earn an Intercontinental Championship match on the pre-show of the Pay Per View, and he didn’t whiff on his opportunity to capture the white belt.
In NJPW, Shinsuke Nakamura was a legendary IWGP Intercontinental Champion, even main eventing a Wrestle Kingdom show as the secondary title’s champion. So WWE fans should be excited for the reign that could follow with Nakamura as Intercontinental Champion.
Nakamura defeated Finn Balor at Extreme Rules on the pre-show to capture the title, hitting Balor with a Kinsasha. Though Balor could have been a great champion, he wasn’t on TV frequently, perhaps being one of the many superstars taking some much-needed time off after WrestleMania 35.
Either way, the IC Title is prepared for a new era of greatness in Nakamura’s first reign with the title. It’s his second main roster championship in WWE overall, as he was the United States Champion last summer after beating Jeff Hardy.
There are so many great potential first feuds for Nakamura as the Intercontinental Champion, but here are just three of those potential rivalries for “The King of Strong Style”.
As the announce team said, it’s great to see Nakamura back on form, and he seems more motivated than ever. Plus, the new writing from Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff can only help the wrestling icon.
Aleister Black
There may not be a more intriguing match-up for Shinsuke Nakamura than Aleister Black, whose singles Pay Per View debut on the main roster occurred at Extreme Rules against veteran performer Cesaro. Nakamura is just as experienced and brilliant in the ring as Cesaro, albeit with a very different style that is less athletic and more deliberate; this could favor Black even more so than Cesaro.
Black is one of WWE’s fastest-rising stars, and he has an insane amount of potential in the promotion. Since his NXT debut in 2016, Black has been a revelation, cutting brilliant promos and putting on arguably better matches, specifically his NXT Championship classics with Andrade and Johnny Gargano at TakeOver Specials.
On the main roster, Black quickly shined in an impromptu tag team with Ricochet, and it would be a joy to see him capture a mid-card title, just as his former tag partner has with the United States Championship.
Of course, it’s too early for Nakamura to lose the Intercontinental Championship, and, win or lose, Black will get the rub just by working with Nakamura in a major title program. These two can bring out the best in each other inside and outside the ring, so I wouldn’t risk sleeping on the segments that would result from this potential rivalry.
Ali
It makes more sense for Ali to bring his story full circle with Kofi Kingston by feuding with the WWE Champion at SummerSlam, but an Intercontinental Championship feud with Shinsuke Nakamura could be just as captivating in terms of in-ring quality.
Nakamura and Ali have completely different styles. Ali is a high-flier who starred on 205 Live, while Nakamura has earned the moniker “The King of Strong Styles” for a reason. That said, both men share a key similarity, in that they are masters of in-ring psychology, and heel Nakamura vs. babyface Ali could be one of the best Intercontinental Championship rivalries in a long time.
The IC Title is in need of a feud between two of the very best wrestlers in the business, much like 2018’s back-and-forth matches on Raw between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. But unlike that “rivalry”, an Ali vs. Nakamura program would have richer story-telling with the actual matches coming more sparingly but perhaps more purposefully.
Ali can have a great match with anyone on the roster, but an Intercontinental Title match at, say, SummerSlam could be just as good as any of his matches on 205 with the likes of Cedric Alexander, Buddy Murphy, and Hideo Itami.
Buddy Murphy
Another dream match-up against a former 205 Live Superstar should pit Shinsuke Nakamura against Buddy Murphy, who is one of the best Cruiserweight Champions in WWE history. Murphy has been teased as debuting on the main roster, but WWE haven’t done anything with him yet, save for relegating some of his vignettes to commercial.
Some WWE fans have dreamed of a Murphy vs. Aleister Black match on SmackDown Live, and that could still happen. But what about Murphy’s first rivalry on the main roster coming against Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship?
The issue here is that Murphy probably shouldn’t lose his first feud on the main roster, as Nakamura would ideally have a long run with the title. But we can’t afford to let wins and losses get in the way of our enjoyment of great wrestling, which is paramount above all else.
Because let’s face it: Nakamura vs. Murphy would be wrestling at its finest. Murphy was one of WWE’s MVPs in 2018, putting on clinic after clinic as either champion or runner-up. His 2018-2019 reign with the Cruiserweight Title was insane, as he had show-stealing performances on multiple Pay Per Views.
Murphy is a superstar built to hold the Intercontinental Championship at least a handful of times in his career, and a match between Murphy and Nakamura would be both hard-hitting and thrilling. So don’t overlook the possibility of these two locking horns at some point in the near future.