Rick Boogs admits that Shinsuke Nakamura has meant a lot to him throughout his main roster run.

On the May 21 episode of SmackDown, Boogs made his main roster debut, aligning with Nakamura. Ever since, Boogs has been accompanying Shinsuke down to the ring, playing his theme song with an electric guitar.

The pairing has garnered praise from many fans and has given color commentator Pat McAfee a reason to get on top of the announce table.

Rick Boogs Praises ‘Mentor’ Shinsuke Nakamura

Rick Boogs was recently interviewed by Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes and said that Nakamura is a father figure to him.

“Now, me and Shin are just crushing it and he’s like a father figure, he’s like a mentor to me. He’s helped me out, he’s given me guidance and everything.

“He’s telling me, ‘Hey, maybe play some air drums here, play a little powerslide guitar here.’ It’s great, listen like I said this is directly from a novel.

“You got your trials and tribulations, you got your highs, you got your lows. You got your starting out, learn really fast but then blowing your knee out. Then you’re debuting on NXT but then nothing’s happening.

“Then you got Old Spice and it’s great and then nothing’s happening, and then all of a sudden you’re thrown on SmackDown.”

Boogs is grateful that things have turned out well for him and he says he wouldn’t change anything about the process if given a chance.

“Oh, it’s great. I’m sure everyone was like, ‘Oh Rick Boogs being with Nakamura? Let’s see how that plays out,’ but it’s amazing. Like I said, looking back I don’t think I would’ve changed anything. I don’t think it could’ve worked out any better.”

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Shinsuke Nakamura wants to face Roman Reigns in the ring more and hopes to have an entire program with him.

The Intercontinental Champion Nakamura is set to face Universal Champion Reigns at WWE’s Tribute to the Troops show which is set to air on November 14 (Spoilers here).

Nakamura says that he’s hoping that he gets to wrestle Reigns more and eventually have a feud with him in the future.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Nakamura said that he needs a full storyline between himself and Reigns. He praised Reigns and said that he’s a luminary in wrestling, placing him alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi.

“This is a match for a special show,” Nakamura said. “After this, we need a full story between myself and Roman Reigns. Roman has a real responsibility for WWE and professional wrestling, and a responsibility to his bloodline to be the best professional wrestler,” Shinsuke Nakamura said.

“He is one of the best in the world. But I need to get the WWE world title. I need to prove I’m better than him. Roman has that fighting spirit. I want to wrestle him more, and that includes Rick Boogs vs. Paul Heyman.”

Shinsuke also talked about performing at Tribute to the Troops and how much of an honor it is for him. He said that especially as a Japanese person, he is honored to pay respect for everyone’s sacrifices and that he is happy to see respect for all races even even though Japan and United States fought each other a long time ago.

A storyline between the Intercontinental Champion and Universal Champion would be great to watch if executed properly. Will you want the two to feud with each other? Let us know in the comments.

Buddy Matthews revealed advice he received from Shinsuke Nakamura that opened his eyes.

Matthews said that this particular piece of advice from Nakamura helped him set himself apart and have something unique about him.

Speaking to Forbes, Matthews revealed the reason why he chose his ring attire for himself. Nakamura once talked to him about how casual fans perceive the product and the wrestlers need to differentiate themselves from the rest so that casual fans attending the shows can remember them.

That is why Matthews sports a unique ring gear featuring ripped-up shorts. This helps him distinguish himself with fans who aren’t that familiar with the product.

“I remember talking with Shinsuke Nakamura and he brought up a very good point that opened my eyes to it,” said Matthews. “He said when you have a casual fan and families that come to these events and watch us—especially a casual fan—they’re not going to remember our names. Because they’re not familiar with the product. They’re just there to follow their family, they enjoyed the show, hopefully, and then on the drive home they generally kind of recap the show.”

Matthews continued, “So Shin said they’re not going to remember his name. ‘Shinsuke Nakamura’ isn’t the easiest name to come off the tongue, but they can also describe him as something: ‘the guy who wears all red.’ And that kind of triggered something with me. ‘Okay, so what’s my description word to a casual fan when he’s driving his family home from an event? The guy in the ripped-up shorts.’ No action figure has had torn shorts before. So it was just all about having something unique to myself.”

This is the reason why Matthews stuck to his unique ring gear and sure enough, it helps him look unique because of that.

Matthews will be sharing the ring with Kazuchika Okada for his NJPW debut at NJPW Battle In The Valley this Saturday (Nov. 13). He discussed the magnitude of facing Okada and how he’s preparing for the match.

Kurt Angle thinks more can be done on WWE’s part to make Shinsuke Nakamura a big-time star.

Nakamura entered WWE with a ton of hype. After all, he was one of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest stars. When he went to WWE, many expected great things for Nakamura.

Shinsuke has had some moments on the main roster and he certainly isn’t presented as a slouch, but some have wondered why he isn’t featured in the main event picture.

Kurt Angle Vouches For Shinsuke Nakamura

During the latest episode of his Kurt Angle Show podcast, the Olympic gold medalist reflected on his 2008 feud in NJPW with Nakamura.

“It was [great] and Nakamura was pretty young at the time. He was very talented. We had a great match, great chemistry together. First time we ever worked, the first time we ever touched and I knew he had a huge future. I knew if he came over here and entered the WWE he would end up being a big star, and he did. He did that.”

Angle went on to express his belief that WWE could do a better job of going all the way with Nakamura as a top babyface.

“He’s gotten opportunities but I don’t think they follow through entirely. I think that he should be on another level. He’s not just a great wrestler, he’s entertaining. ‘Come On!’ The way he is, his charisma is off the charts and I think someone like that should be a huge superstar for the company.”

Nakamura is the current Intercontinental Champion. He’s in his second reign as the IC titleholder and has been champion for about three months now.

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Shinsuke Nakamura has abdicated his crown and dropped ‘King’ from his name ahead of the crowing of a new King Of The Ring later this month.

WWE posted a backstage video on their YouTube before this week’s episode of SmackDown. In the post as seen below, the Intercontinental champion claimed that he respects the tournament. So he is giving up his crown:

“A new King of the Ring being crowned in a few weeks. I respect the King of the Ring Tournament and I’ve proven myself as The King. Because of that, I am giving up my crown. So you will not call me ‘King’ Nakamura, but you can call me the Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura!”

The last King of The Ring tournament took place in 2019. Baron Corbin won this competition and became the king after defeating Chad Gable in the finals.

Shinsuke Nakamura started a feud with the then King Corbin in May this year. This led to Nakamura beating Corbin to earn the title in a “Battle For The Crown” match during the June 18 episode of SmackDown.

WWE announced the return of the tournament, along with the creation of a similar tournament for women named Queen’s Crown earlier this month.

The tournaments began this Friday on SmackDown and the finals are set to take place at the upcoming Crown Jewel event on October 21. You can check out the brackets for the competition here.

Shinsuke Nakamura is denying a report that he has signed a contract extension with WWE. An article in Nikkan Sports published a report stating that Nakamura had extended his deal with the company but Nakamura replied to say that this is not the case.

“‘King’ Shinsuke Nakamura extends contract with WWE, period unknown US media coverage,” a translation of the headline reads.

Nakamura then responded with “Soreusodesuyo” which according to Google translate means “That’s a lie.”

In terms of what led to this report, it appears multiple outlets may have misconstrued comments made by Andrew Zarian on the Mat Men podcast. Zarian says he was referring to a contract extension that Nakamura signed in 2019, not a new one signed recently.

Reports of Nakamura signing a contract extension with WWE in 2019 were originally made by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

It has been a successful summer for Nakamura. He defeated Baron Corbin for the “King of WWE” title in June. That ended up sending Corbin on quite the downward spiral. Nakamura then defeated Apollo Crews to win the Intercontinental Championship on the August 13th episode of Smackdown. He is a former 2x NXT Champion, 2x United States Champion, and 2x and current Intercontinental Champion. Nakamura also won the Royal Rumble in 2018.

WWE decided to do a title change on Friday’s episode of SmackDown as Shinsuke Nakamura became the new Intercontinental Champion. 

He did so when he beat Apollo Crews in the opening match on the show that was broadcasted live on FOX from Tulsa, OK at the BOK Center. Both Rick Boogs and General Azzez were thrown out from ringside due to outside inference in the match that was back and forth. 

Nakamura was able to score the win and become WWE Intercontinental Champion for the second time in his career when he hit Crews with an Exploder Suplex and then followed up with the Kinshasa. 

Crews beat Big E in a Nigerian Drum Match at the WWE WrestleMania 37 pay-per-view event on April 11, 2021. Nakamura won the title for the first time during the Summer of 2019 when he won it at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view by beating Finn Balor. 

It’s possible that WWE books a rematch between these two stars at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Saturday, August 21 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Allegiant Stadium.

Shinsuke Nakamura hasn’t had a whole lot of interaction with Brock Lesnar in WWE but the King Of Strong Style is still interested in a rematch with The Beast from their NJPW days.

The former NXT champion recently appeared on the Oral Sessions podcast hosted by Renee Paquette, where he talked about a number of things.

During the interview, Nakamura was asked about Lesnar and his behavior during his NJPW stint. Replying to it, he said that he would be open to a rematch before claiming that Brock’s behavior was very unprofessional:

“If I have the opportunity, of course, I want [it]. [on the reaction to Brock Lesnar’s NJPW run] I was young, and he was young, I don’t know, [It was very] unprofessional.”

For those who don’t know, Brock Lesnar had a short stint with NJPW after his WWE departure and he won the IWGP World Heavyweight title in his debut match for the promotion in October 2005.

The Beast defended his title against opponents such as Shinsuke Nakamura. However, Lesnar’s unwillingness to defend the title regularly led to the company stripping him of the championship in July 2006.

Apart from this, the Japanese star also talked about things such as struggling with English, talking to Vince McMahon, and more. You can check out more of his comments at this link.

Shinsuke Nakamura is currently entering into a rivalry with King Corbin. The king of strong style is intent on proving that he is the only king in WWE these days. For those wrestling fans that followed Nakamura before he made his way over to America, they know that the Japanese star has a lot more to offer than WWE creative have let him show.

In a recent talk with Renee Young on her Oral Sessions podcast, Shinsuke Nakamura opened up about the struggles he still faces in the wrestling business.

“I’m still struggling in wrestling. Coming to the US and coming to WWE is challenging. I came to challenge myself. That’s why I’m here. I’m waiting to find my timing and my moment. I don’t pitch ideas to [Vince McMahon] a lot. We talk after the match a little or before the match if he has an idea for my promo. I need to get used to [not talking to Vince].” Nakamura told his former colleague.

There is something in his words that speak of possible frustration at things. Nakamura has held four different championships since arriving in America. Starting with the NXT title before he moved up to the main roster.

Shinsuke Nakamura has definitely been wrestling a different sort of game since his arrival, but his recent exchanges with King Corbin definitely hint at a more aggressive Nakamura. Perhaps a quest to re-discover the true King of Strong Style is exactly what he needs to get his career back to where he wants it to be. While there is a lot of talk right now about John Cena making his return, but perhaps the time is now for another superstar altogether.

WWE SmackDown had an interesting (sort of) change to the Shinsuke Nakamura vs King Corbin feud. Corbin defeated Nakamura in a match to determine the ‘king’ of SmackDown, with Shinsuke Nakamura wanting to be proclaimed the King of Strong Style once again.

Nakamura then ‘stole’ the crown from Corbin, the crown that the ‘King’ has had since winning the King of The Ring tournament back in 2019. Nakamura then appeared in a backstage video where he said that the King of Strong Style had returned, and that he enjoyed ‘looking good.’

“I’m the real King. The King of Strong Style is back, finally” Nakamura said in the video. “Finally. I’m looking good, it’s time to take photos,” Nakamura added.

Nakamura vs. Corbin

Shinsuke Nakamura vs King Corbin has not been confirmed for the WrestleMania Backlash card on Sunday, however it may end up being included as a pre-show match.

Hopefully, and I really mean hopefully, the King Corbin gimmick might now get dropped and Baron Corbin might take a different turn with his character going forward.

Shinsuke Nakamura has had a very stop start path on his career on the WWE ‘main’ roster. As NXT Champion, Nakamura appeared to be one of the prominent talents going forward, with the NJPW legend having a different type of charisma to other talents on the roster.

Sadly, Nakamura has arguably not reached the same heights, other than his Royal Rumble win and subsequent WrestleMania match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.

Shinsuke Nakamura has had a pretty uneventful stint in 2021 so far on Friday Night SmackDown. Back in January, it seemed like Nakamura was going to get involved in the championship picture. He had a very impressive run in the No. 1 contender’s gauntlet match — only for his momentum to be disrupted by Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. This would have been his first involvement in the main event scene since his feud with AJ Styles back in 2018. While the former NXT Champion gained the upper hand on Uso the following week, nothing really came out of it.

Shinsuke Nakamura was then moved back to the mid-card. He is currently involved as a third wheel in the feud between Big E and Apollo Crews. Crews, who just went through a character change and turned heel, took out his frustrations on Nakamura too. They’ve faced one another two weeks in a row on SmackDown.

In a video uploaded to his Instagram, The King of Strong Style cut a promo saying that he’s going to take revenge on Crews.

“Apollo, you’ve changed. Yeah, I respect that, because I’ve changed too. But I don’t respect what you did to Big E; what you did to me tonight,” Shinsuke Nakamura said in the video. “You changed the outfit, you changed the attitude, but you cannot change who you really are and what you’ve done. You like to live in the past, but I am the future. Last week wasn’t personal. I want to be the world champion, you were my opponent. But now, you’ve started something that I will finish. You should remember who I am.”

Nakamura Unhappy?

A fan commented on this message and told Nakamura he should stop wasting his talent in WWE. Another fan, replying to this comment, argued, “he’s happy. He gets to surf and work a safer style. Yeah it’d be great to see him go all out again somewhere else… but that’s not what he wants. (sic)”

Shinsuke Nakamura saw the reply suggesting that he’s happy with his position in WWE and replied: “Who said I’m happy? Don’t believe anything other than what I said.”

You can see a screenshot of his comment here:

There are many fans who think that Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t given enough opportunity to shine in WWE, especially after seeing how he performed back in his home country Japan. There has been an assumption amongst fans that Nakamura gets to collect paychecks while showing up to work in the midcard while getting to live in Florida and surf all he wants.

That being said, Shinsuke Nakamura’s run in WWE hasn’t been all bad. On the main roster, he has held the Intercontinental Championship, the United States Championship, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Cesaro and has even gone on to win the 2018 Royal Rumble. We also saw him gain momentum back in January as noted before, and while that fizzled out it wouldn’t be unlikely to see him get back in the scene once again.

WWE kicked off its Extreme Rules event with a title change as Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are on top of the tag team division on SmackDown. 

Nakamura and Cesaro beat Big E and Kofi Kingston in a Tables Match at Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center.

The finish of the match saw Cesaro powerbomb Kofi off the middle rope through two tables for the win. Unlike other tables matches with tag teams, Big E didn’t need to be put through a table. 

Back on the April 17th episode of SmackDown, The New Day dethroned The Miz and John Morrison as the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. This reign marked the eighth time that The New Day had won WWE Tag Team gold. 

These two teams have been feuding for quite some time on WWE television. Two weeks ago on an episode of SmackDown, Nakamura and Cesaro introduced the tables by putting Big E and Kingston through them. This set up the gimmick match for this gimmick heavy themed pay-per-view event. 

The Rock Thinks Dolph Ziggler Should Become WWE Champion

What are your thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro winning the SmackDown Tag Team Titles? Was this the right idea by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE WrestleMania 36 PPV.

WWE booked an interesting match on Friday Night SmackDown on FOX between Drew Gulak and Shinsuke Nakamura. The stipulation of the contest was that if Gulak beat Nakamura then Daniel Bryan would get an Intercontinental Title match. 

On the show, Gulak ended up beating Nakamura. As a result, Bryan will challenge Sami Zayn for the strap at WrestleMania 36.

WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event as a two-night event on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center.

Updated WWE WrestleMania 36 Card

• WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
• WWE NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
• AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker – Boneyard Match 
• Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins – Singles Match

• WWE Universal Champion Goldberg vs. TBA
• John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt – Singles Match
• Edge vs. Randy Orton – Last Man Standing Match
• WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler
• WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Sasha Banks – Five Pack Challenge
• Baron Corbin vs. Elias
• Bobby Lashley vs. Aleister Black
• WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Angel Garza & TBA
• WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

Title Match At WrestleMania 36 Reportedly Changed, Another Star Pulled

Shinsuke Nakamura got banged up in his latest match. 

On Friday’s episode of SmackDown in Glendale, AZ at the Gila River Arena on FOX, WWE booked a Symphony of Destruction Match, which featured guitars, drums, a piano, and other instruments around the ring in order for stars to use as weapons during the match.

The contest saw Nakamura and Cesaro take on Intercontinental Champion Braun Strowman and Elias with the babyfaces going over.

The finish was Strowman standing on the announce table and hitting his powerslam finisher to Nakamura on the piano, picking up the pinfall victory. 

Fans picked up online that Nakamura’s head caught the end of the piano and was bleeding as a result. After the match, WWE’s medical team checked on Nakamura but no update on his status was given on the show or WWE’s website.  

After the show, Nakamura posted photos of WWE’s medical team taking care of the wound. He wrote the following in the caption: 

“Don’t worry. I’m a tough. But, the piano was toughest. [Braun Strowman] and I couldn’t beat it.”

You can watch some footage of the match here and the spot can be seen near the end of the video. 

Details On WWE Negotiating With ESPN For Potential Streaming Deal

It appears as though things are far from over between Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles and Roderick Strong. Following their Triple Threat match at this past Sunday’s Survivor Series, the Superstars have been lashing out at each other via social media.

Strong would emerge victorious from their hard-fought clash, stealing the win at the last moment from Styles. WWE soon posted a video interview with Strong where he addressed that night’s success. Styles responded to Strong’s words, writing “Enjoy it, Roddy. You know where I’ll be every Monday night. #WWERaw #SurvivorSeries”

If Styles’ challenge wasn’t enough, Nakamura then got involved, claiming that Strong’s win was simply “lucky” and that he’ll end up paying for it. The current Intercontinental Champion then promised that he and Styles weren’t done yet, alluding that all three men have unfinished business with each other despite all representing different WWE brands.

“Congrats @roderickstrong.but it was just lucky. You’ll pay for this soon maybe. @AJStylesOrg, we’re not done yet. Anyway I was standing tall in the ring…. tallest. #SurvivorSeries #RAW #SmackDown #NXT #AnStupidEra”

Strong would see Nakamura’s insult, responding to the “King of Strong Style” that he was open to a 1-on-1 matchup any time.

His victory on Sunday wasn’t the only win for the Undisputed Era. NXT Champion Adam Cole would also successfully defend his gold against “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne, subsequently being referred to as NXT’s “Iron Man” by Triple H.

WWE has shown off a new design for the Intercontinental Title. 

During Friday’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena on FOX, current Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn were doing an in-ring segment. 

This is where Zayn noted that he wanted to give Nakamura a gift for being a stud, which is when he showed off the new title belt. 

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results & Live Coverage (11/22)

This comes one week after Bray Wyatt showed off the new look of the WWE Universal Title, which has different side plates and a blue leather strap. 

Nakamura won the secondary title on the Smackdown roster when he pinned Finn Balor for the shocking win on the WWE Extreme Rules pre-show back in July. 

WWE holds the Survivor Series pay-per-view event on Sunday, November 24, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena and will air on the WWE Network. 

At this show, Nakamura will take part in a battle of the secondary champions as he’ll face WWE United States Champion AJ Styles and NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong at this show.

What are your thoughts on this new title belt design? Do you like this design or like the classic look?

There has been a lot of activity in terms of wrestler contracts recently with WWE trying to sign many wrestlers to longer-term deals and some others asking for their release.

Now latest reports have provided an update on the contract of two more WWE stars suggesting that one of them might be looking to leave the company soon.

Dave Meltzer revealed on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that the contract of WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Kairi Sane is set to expire early next year.

Meltzer said that he hasn’t heard about Sane re-signing with the promotion yet. While Asuka seems to be happy in United States, Kairi has expressed interest in exploring other options so it’s possible that she leaves the company when her deal ends.

Though on the other hand, one Japanese star who won’t be leaving the company anytime soon is the current Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.

A fan had asked Meltzer about Nakamura’s status recently and replying to it, the Wrestling Journalist had revealed that the current Champion has signed a contract extension with WWE a few months ago.

By re-signing, Nakamura has joined the list of stars who have signed contract extensions with the company in recent times including the likes of Roman Reigns and Randy Orton.

Roman Reigns will challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Intercontinental championship this Friday on SmackDown. A short build to the match occurred today on Twitter.

Earlier today, Sami Zayn noted on Twitter that he and Nakamura were drafted in the third round and lamented that they should have been picked ahead of Roman Reigns.

Reigns then responded to Zayn’s tweets with the following challenge.

Not long after Roman Reigns issued the challenge, Nakamura responded and invited the big dog to come into his yard.

WWE then confirmed the match will take place on Friday:

Roman Reigns vs Shinsuke Nakamura

This will be the first time that Roman Reigns and Nakamura have ever wrestled each other in singles competition. The only time the two have been in the same match together was the 2018 men’s Royal Rumble match. Nakamura won the Rumble that year. 

• Roman Reigns Calls R Truth One Of The Greatest Of All Time

As of this writing, Nakamura has been the Intercontinental champion for 95 days. He first won the title on the Extreme Rules 2019 kickoff show from Finn Balor. He’s defended the title twice on WWE programming. The first time against Ali on the WWE Network Smackville special this summer and then most recently at Clash of Champions against The Miz.

The Miz has promised his Clash of Champions opponent, Shinsuke Nakamura, that he will create a memorable “moment” this Sunday after he defeats him and becomes a nine-time Intercontinental Champion.

Miz spoke backstage with WWE.com after being blindsided by Shinsuke Nakamura. The attack followed his victory over Andrade this past Tuesday on SmackDown.

“You know, WWE being here at Madison Square Garden, it’s all about moments. Creating moments that people will remember for a lifetime. That’s what we do as WWE Superstars, and that’s what you do as a champion,” he said.

He continued, “How many moments do you remember from Shinsuke Nakamura’s reign as Intercontinental Champion? How many? How many times has he been on TV representing the Intercontinental Championship? How many matches do you remember with Shinsuke Nakamura with the Intercontinental Championship? This is the stuff I got rid of when I was Intercontinental Champion, the type of stuff that I am sick of with the Intercontinental Championship.”

“So this Sunday, I’m gonna create a moment, gonna create a match that Shinsuke Nakamura will remember in WWE for a lifetime when I become the nine-time Intercontinental Champion,” Miz promised. “And it’ll be right in his face, eye-to-eye, not behind his back, and it will be awesome. “

The Miz gets his chance at Nakamura this Sunday at WWE’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view.

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WWE SmackDown Superstar Ali has confirmed that the rumored feud between himself and current Intercontinental Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura, has been nixed.

Responding to a fan question via Twitter, Ali was asked if the feud was simply dropped. Ali, who would have most likely have received a championship match if it had gone ahead, simply responded: “Yes.”

Ali vs Nakamura had reportedly been in the works for WWE’s upcoming pay-per-view, Clash of Champions. There was no build or development on last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, suggesting the promotion has no interest in it at this point in time.

Although he was not featured on the show itself, Ali did compete last night during the pre-SmackDown dark match. He lost to Samoa Joe.

Nakamura & Zayn

Instead, WWE appears to be going in a new direction with both Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn.

“There are so many people on SmackDown that need my help,” Zayn commented before introducing Shinsuke Nakamura during MizTV. It didn’t take long for the two to turn on The Miz and assault him. Their actions firmly established their newfound alliance on the blue brand.

Whether the long-term plan is for them to become a tag team or to simply have Zayn act as a mouthpiece for Nakamura is not known at this time.

In a surprising move, Finn Balor is no longer the WWE Intercontinental Champion as he dropped it to Shinsuke Nakamura.

On Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pre-show, Nakamura won the secondary title on the Smackdown roster when he pinned Balor for the shocking win. 

Balor won the prestigious secondary title for the first time when he beat Bobby Lashley back at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event in Houston, Texas in February.

• WWE Extreme Rules 2019 Results (7/14)

Balor beat Lashley to regain the title for the second time in April in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium at WrestleMania 35, which is the biggest event of the year for the company. 

It will be interesting to see if WWE gives Balor a rematch for the Intercontinental Title on Monday’s RAW or they wait until next month at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event. 

What are your thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

In a recent interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Jon Moxley talked about being part of the G1 Climax, and his thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura.

Although part of All Elite Wrestling’s roster, Jon Moxley is currently competing for NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament and is the IWGP United States Champion. He reveals that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of former WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes, as they inspired him to go to Japan.

“I tried to follow [the careers of Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes]. When you travel in WWE, you’re kind of in a bubble and it’s difficult to follow along, but I did watch what I could. Then, when I knew I was leaving – Japan in general was definitely on my bucket list. I wanted to have a good run in Japan, and of course NJPW was the goal. So when I got the call from them, I was just like, ‘let’s go, put me on the airplane’.”

Moxley also revealed that current WWE stars Shinsuke Nakamura and Karl Anderson,who performed previously in NJPW, encouraged him to participate in the tournament.

“Well, Shinsuke Nakamura is in WWE and doing very well. I never got to wrestle him sadly, but he heard that I was likely going over to be in the G1, and he was very pleased,” Moxley said. “[He] said it was a great life experience. Karl Anderson, who I’ve actually been friends with since I was 18, since we’re both from Cincinnati, I asked him about the G1. A few others as well, and everybody was great and said, ‘yeah, go for it’.”

Moxley also had some praise for Nakamura. Moxley believes Nakamura has a differrent style but he fits well in the WWE because of his flamboyance.

“I think [Nakamura is] doing great there. Fans love him,” Moxley said. “It’s a different style, but he fits in well because he is charismatic, he is flamboyant. He can go, so whether it’s a New Japan ring or a WWE one he can do well anywhere.”

NJPW announced that the 2019 edition of the G1 Climax would take place from July 6 to August 12. The first night of the tournament will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, marking the first time the tournament has been held outside of Japan. Like the previous year, the final three shows will be held at Nippon Budokan. Moxley announced that he will be part of the tournament at at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall. He will be participating in Block B.

Current WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor, who we haven’t seen much of lately, could have a former world champion as his next challenger.

On this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, Balor was being interviewed backstage by Kayla Braxton on what his plans are next. He was about to answer but his eye caught someone in the distance. The camera panned to the left and it revealed Shinsuke Nakamura, who then walked toward Balor.

Both of them stared down each other as Nakamura seemed to set his sights on the IC Championship with a ‘Two Sweet’ gesture.

It was noted by the announcers that Balor looks to have found his new challenger. All we need is a confirmation and the two will likely face each other at Extreme Rules.

The two have faced each other before under the WWE banner back in NXT in 2016. Nakamura came out as the winner that time, and the match was critically acclaimed.

The pairing of the two superstars looks great and the two performers are capable of giving five-star performances. We will be looking forward to their bout as it comes to fruition soon.

Former WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura spoke with J Sports to promote the upcoming WWE events in Japan and in Singapore where he’ll be challenging WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins. 

During the interview, he reflected on his WWE career thus far which is where he noted that the reason he decided to join WWE in 2015 is due to the fact that he felt he had done everything there is to do in Japan wrestling. 

“As the next step, we aim to raise one step further and take one step to the area we have not touched before. The place for the challenge was WWE. Even now, the situation changes daily, and my position is up and down every day, and I am living with it.”

Nakamura continued by talking about his tag team run with Rusev where he noted that he had no complaints about teaming with Rusev. While he knows fans think he and Rusev are better off as singles competitors, Nakamura believes that they could revisit the team as he feels there is still room to explore.

WWE will hold live events in Japan on June 28th and June 29th at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Shinsuke Nakamura recently spoke with StraitTimes.com to promote the upcoming WWE event on June 27 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium where he is challenging WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins at this show.

During the interview, Nakamura shared when he wants to retire from pro wrestling. After being in the business for over a decade now, he has only been in WWE for a few years. Thus, he plans to work for another five years.

“I want to wrestle at least five more years. I’m 39 now. (Former MLB) baseball player Ichiro Suzuki retired at 45 and he was such an influence for Japanese sportsmen, especially those who lived in other countries. And so I need to wrestle until I’m 45 years old.”

Here’s the full card for this live event:

• Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura
• RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs Alexa Bliss
• AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley
• United States Champion Samoa Joe vs Ricochet vs Robert Roode – Triple Threat Match
• Braun Strowman vs Cesaro
• WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Iiconics vs Asuka and Kairi Sane
• RAW Tag Team Champions Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins vs The Revival