WWE is slowly but surely making changes to the way that they portray Shinsuke Nakamura on television.
It all started at WrestleMania 34 earlier this month in New Orleans when he turned heel after losing to AJ Styles for the WWE Title.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Louisville, KY at the KFC Yum Center on the USA Network, Nakamura received a new entrance song and video to go along with his new character.
While building up to the Styles vs. Nakamura match at this Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble event on the WWE Network, Nakamura has been taking cheap shots at the WWE Champion by connecting with several low blows over the past few weeks on SmackDown Live.
This leads us to former TNA World Heavyweight Champion and current WWE NXT Superstar Ethan Carter III pitching the idea of a new name for Nakamura’s finisher to go along with his new heel tactic. He sent out the following tweet:
With the amount of low blows @ShinsukeN is dishing out, he may as well change the name of his finisher to the Peenshasa.#sdlive
Shinsuke Nakamura has new theme music. “Shadows of a Setting Sun” by Shadows of The Sun is a remix of his previous theme, “The Rising Sun.”
Nakamura challenges AJ Styles for the WWE Championship this Friday at the Greatest Royal Rumble from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Nakamura, Rusev & Aiden English scored a victory over Styles, Gallows & Anderson in the main event of this week’s SmackDown Live.
This week’s Something Else To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard on the WWE Network will feature Bruce and Conrad Thompson talking about Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage’s Mega Powers alliance from the WrestleMania IV-V era. The show drops at 8pm ET each week.
Bruce and Conrad covered the Mega Powers in Episode 2 of their Something To Wrestle podcast, which you can listen to here.
WWE had previously announced that Brock Lesnar will be defending his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a rematch from WrestleMania 34 at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
And after tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live, the company has announced another huge Championship rematch for the upcoming Live Event from Saudi Arabia later this month.
The main event of this week’s episode of Blue Branded Show saw AJ Styles teaming up with Daniel Bryan to face Rusev Day. However, the match ended with Shinsuke Nakamura attacking Styles from behind while Big Cass attacked Bryan.
This was the third time Nakamura attacked Styles since turning heel at WrestleMania and after the show went off air, it was announced that he’ll get another shot at the coveted title during the upcoming event.
After the announcement, here is the updated match card for the Greatest Royal Rumble:
50 Men Greatest Royal Rumble
Universal Championship match: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
WWE Championship match: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe
United States Championship: Jeff Hardy vs. Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt & Woken Matt Hardy
This past weekend at WrestleMania 34, the WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura didn’t appear to live up to the hype for most fans. Throughout the build-up to the match, the bout was being promoted as a ‘dream match’ between the former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) stars.
Fans in attendance didn’t seem to be too thrilled with what went on in the ring, with pockets of those in the crowd even chanting “boring” at some times.
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Christian recently weighed in on the matter in a recent episode of he and WWE Hall Of Famer Edge’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness.
Christian explained how the crowd can affect the perception of a match, and even compared it to he and Randy Orton’s feud during his time in the ring:
“Sometimes the crowd can affect the perception of a match, [and] I think it happened during this one a little bit,” said Christian. “I think that’s where it started to happen when the crowd was getting fatigued. Especially, when it’s two guys that are babyfaces. And, there’s the title on the line, but emotionally, what else is going on? And I think what they did after the match meant more than anything that did in the match.
“I was thinking about the babyface match I had for the world title with Randy Orton when we wrestled at Over the Limit, and I was thinking, what’s the difference between that and this other than one was at Over the Limit and one was at WrestleMania? So, what I was thinking about is the emotion was not good guy – bad guy, heel – babyface. The emotion was, this guy who we’ve wanted to see at this level for like 17 years has been scratching and clawing and finally won it.
“And then, had it snatched from a guy who’s been patented as ‘the golden boy’ for years and years, and has been molded to be a top superstar gets it back after a couple of days. People didn’t want to see me lose it yet. That was the emotion. ‘Can he get it back? Can he get back to that level already, so quickly after he worked so hard to get there?’ People liked me, but they didn’t like what happened. That was the emotion.
“On this one, they liked both guys, so [fans] are just kinda choosing a side. There’s nothing else. So, to me, now I can really sink my teeth into this, because I think Nakamura now is gonna do better work. I think he’s gonna work more with a chip on his shoulder, I think he’s gonna work more aggressively. He works aggressive anyway, I think he’s gonna have a mean streak that he hasn’t had before, and I think it’s gonna amp up, and I think he’s done himself a huge favor by the aggression he had after the match, in my opinion.”
You can listen to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
– John Cena was recently a guest on Popcorn with Peter Travers where he was promoting his new movie Blockers. During the interview, it was noted that the Cenation Leader is giving ‘some serious thought to what comes next in his career after wrestling’:
“The fact that I’ve been able to do it at the pace that I have for 16 years, that’s not your regular statistic, That falls into like the Tom Brady category. I’m not supposed to be where I am anyway. So I don’t know when it’s all going to end.”
Apart from this Cena also talked about how the culture has changed and how he shared director Kay Cannon’s vision for his character in the film. You can read more quotes from John Cena’s interview and check out the video of it here.
– Shinsuke Nakamura surprised everyone by turning heel at WrestleMania 34 by beating AJ Styles after their match. Then he attacked both Styles and Daniel Bryan again during the main event of the post WrestleMania episode of SmackDown Live.
The Japanese Star made his first comments on his heel turn via the following tweet yesterday, saying that we will see his actions and feel the vibe:
Real emotion is beyond description. Worry not about my words, you will see my actions and feel the vibe. I will continue to express my art. Always. pic.twitter.com/Uc5MU3xTFl
– Tonight’s SmackDown Live episode saw a bizarre dark main event as Shinsuke Nakamura who turned heel at WrestleMania this past Sunday Night went against another heel Dolph Ziggler.
He ended up winning the bout after hitting a Kinshasa and it’s being reported that Nakamura was cheered by the fans despite his actions at Mania and the fact that he attacked AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan on SmackDown this week.
– As seen on SmackDown Live “The Iconic Duo” Peyton Royce and Billie Kay made their main roster debut by attacking the former SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte.
After the show, WWE posted the following video where the two commented on their arrival on The Blue Branded Show and said that they are happy to accomplish what they had planned for their debut- making a statement:
Last night at WrestleMania, WWE Champion AJ Styles defended his title against 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura in a “dream match” for the WWE Universe. Despite all the hype and the potential, the match has received mixed reviews from fans and pundits alike. Many described the match as slow paced without the drama and excitement Styles and Nakamura’s matches are typically known for.
While the finish was pretty creative, there weren’t any huge false finishes, ridiculous high spots, or anything else that knocked fans’ socks off. There was actually a “boring” chant from the crowd during the match. The match’s placement on the near seven hour card didn’t help matters much either, as crowd fatigue set in mid-way through the marathon show.
Nakamura’s surprise attack on Styles after the match signifies a heel turn from the Japanese Superstar and likely the continuation of this program.
– Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss last night at WrestleMania 34 to become the new RAW Women’s Champion. This comes after weeks of Bliss bullying Jax for being and looking different.
WWE posted a video of Jax after her win, who said she’s happy with the message the match sends out to young boys and girls – not to take crap from people who make you feel insecure about yourself:
Global rock legend Alice Cooper has revealed that his touring guitarist Nita Strauss will be performing as part of Shinsuke Nakamura’s Wrestlemania entrance tonight. Strauss was shown in the crowd during the NXT Takeover: New Orleans show last night.
The rock icon tweeted earlier today to confirm the news and he also posted a video of his WrestleMania 3 appearance where he joined Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and the ‘Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hart in an in-ring segment. Check out this iconic moment via the tweet below.
Both AJ and Shinsuke tweeted their final comments earlier today to hype up their huge bout for the WWE Championship at tonight’s Wrestlemania show, check it out here.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura have made their final comments before their WWE Championship match tonight at WrestleMania.
This bout has been long anticipated ever since the two men stood toe to toe at last year’s Money In The Bank ladder match and the time has finally come for two of the world’s greatest performers to battle it out for WWE’s richest prize. This will be the first time that the two Superstars have faced in a one on one match since their epic encounter at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 10, a match that garnered rave reviews and was AJ’s final singles bout before making the move over to WWE.
Check out the comments from both men below and let us know in the comments who you think will leave New Orleans as WWE Champion:
At one point in my career, walking into #WrestleMania as @WWE Champion was a dream. At one point in my career this match occurring outside of Japan was a dream.
Shinsuke Nakamura has taken the WWE by storm and is now preparing for his first WrestleMania event with the sports entertainment company.
Outside of the sports entertainment company, Nakamura is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion.
Before his WWE main roster debut, Nakamura competed in WWE’s developmental branch, NXT, where he is one of only two wrestlers to have held the NXT Championship on more than one occasion.
Nakamura recently spoke with The New York Post to promote WrestleMania 34 where he is slated to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Title.
“It’s an amazing thing for WWE history I think. We crossed over, we crossed the border line in Japan and the States, different company and that’s why I say this is destiny. Actually I don’t care about the ratings, five stars, six stars, seven stars, whatever. But I really want to enjoy this match. I want to do everything I can do. I want to take everything he can do.”
For years, Nakamura and Styles have wanted to have a match with each other in a WWE ring. That will be achieved this Sunday. For Nakamura, his next dream match under the WWE banner is against SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan. “So, I join the WWE and soon he needed to quit. That was shock to me. Huge shock. Next dream match for me.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the classic bout between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura from 2016’s Wrestle Kingdom 10 show for free on YouTube/NJPW World.
This was the first ever singles encounter between AJ and Shinsuke, and it would end up being their only match together for New Japan. Both men reportedly handed in their notice to New Japan prior to this event, AJ appeared for WWE at the Royal Rumble later that month and Shinsuke debuted in NXT against Sami Zayn over Wrestlemania weekend.
The IWGP Intercontinental Championship was on the line in this match and it was generally regarded as the best match on the card. Many heralded this contest as the Match of the Year in 2016 so if you have not yet had the chance to view it or you have never seen Shinsuke Nakamura outside of his WWE run then now is your chance. This is an extremely interesting watch ahead of their upcoming bout for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34 next weekend.
After missing a house show in Odessa, Texas last weekend, AJ Styles is back on WWE’s house show schedule this weekend.
Styles suffered an undisclosed injury at the Madison Square Garden house show recently (or an angle was filmed on the show to cover for an already existing injury). Triple H commented on the possibility of Styles missing WrestleMania as a result.
“Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and will be ready to go. Obviously, we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get a medical clearance if that’s possible. He’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
WWE House Show Schedule This Weekend
It’s a busy house show weekend as the company builds toward WrestleMania. Tonight, Styles will be at the “World of Wheels” Boston” convention at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston, Mass signing autographs. Styles and the rest of the Smackdown tour will be in Trenton, New Jersey on Saturday followed by Fairfax, VA on Sunday.
The Raw crew will be in Toronto tonight and Kitchener tomorrow. NXT also has house shows in Lakeland and Tampa on Friday and Saturday respectively.
WWE COO Triple H recently took part in an international media call to promote NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. “The Game” was asked about the possibility of WWE Champion AJ Styles missing his WrestleMania 34 match against 2018 Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura due to an undisclosed injury. He noted that while it would be difficult to replace Styles, you always need to have a Plan B and C in place:
“You always have to have a Plan B, [and] just in case you have a Plan C,” Triple H said. “AJ is an incredible performer. Replacing AJ Styles would be very difficult. [He’s] not necessarily a replaceable talent, but we would do our best.”
He also revealed that “The Phenomenal One” is working very hard to get cleared in time for WrestleMania and WWE is providing him with the best medical care possible:
“AJ is working diligently on rehabbing his injuries and getting himself in tip-top shape for WrestleMania,” Triple H said. “We are trying to help him with that process of getting the best care and the best rehab and everything else possible. We’re hoping for the best.
“Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and will be ready to go. Obviously we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get a medical clearance, if that’s possible. He’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
– Despite suffering a grade one partial left biceps tear a few weeks ago, leaving him out-of-action for up to a month, Rey Mysterio is still set to appear at tomorrow’s CRASH Lucha Libre event.
Mysterio was originally scheduled to face Bestia 666 at the event, but due to the fact that he was wearing a sling this week, it’s unknown if he will be engaging in anything physical at the show. There’s also no word yet on if he’ll be facing Jushin “Thunder” Liger at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) Long Beach event on March 25th. We’ll keep you updated.
– Former WWE Superstar Rich Swann had recently announced his retirement from professional wrestling, however, he’s still advertised for tomorrow’s CRASH Lucha Libre show as well. This is interesting considering Swann pulled himself from several upcoming bookings after announcing his retirement.
– With just a few weeks until he challenges WWE Champion AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34, Shinsuke Nakamura is set to get two English re-releases of two autobiographies. The books will be released in both physical and digital editions on August 7th. PWInsider has confirmed the news, and Viz Media – who has acquired the rights to the books – made the following announcement:
“VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), a premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing, springs into the wild world of professional wrestling as it announces the acquisition of the English-language publishing rights for KING OF STRONG STYLE: 1980-2014.
“Originally published in two paperback volumes in Japan, (1980-2004, 2004-2015), the autobiography of one of Japan’s greatest professional wrestlers, Shinsuke Nakamura, will be released as a single-volume hardcover print edition as well as a digital edition by VIZ Media in the summer of 2018. Both hard copy and digital releases will feature select color and b&w photographs.
“Nakamura now appears weekly on USA Network’s Tuesday night program, Smackdown Live, which has over 2 million weekly viewers, where he is frequently featured in the main event match-ups.
“Before he became a star of American professional wrestling, Shinsuke Nakamura was Japan’s “King of Strong Style.” His autobiography traces an amazing life and career from the amateur grappling ranks to the Nippon Budokan. Thrill to his matches against such legends as Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, his reign as the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and his success as a mixed martial artist.
““Professional wrestling is at the crossroads of extreme sports, over-the-top theatre and pop culture, and Shinsuke Nakamura, already a huge star in Japan, is seeing his star rising fast among millions of U.S. fans,” says Masumi Washington, Sr. Director, Publishing Production. “His autobiography, a riveting story depicting one man’s quest to conquer the world both inside and outside the wrestling ring, is a unique and special addition to the VIZ Media catalog.”
“Born in Kyoto, February 24, 1980, Shinsuke Nakamura began amateur wrestling in high school before attending university at Aoyama Gakuin University. After a brilliant career there, he joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling in March 2002 and made his professional debut at Nippon Budokan in a match against Tadao Yasuda on August 29, 2002. On December 9, 2003, a mere sixteen months into his professional career, he crushed Hiroshi Tenzan and was crowned the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history. Even as he pursued greatness in the professional wrestling ring, Nakamura participated in MMA, facing Daniel Gracie of the legendary jiu-jitsu family, and superheavyweight kickboxing champion Alexey Ignashov. Now he thrills fans in the United States and beyond on a weekly basis as one of the top wrestlers in the world.”
– WWE Champion AJ Styles successfully retained his title in a Six Pack Challenge at last night’s Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) event. “The Phenomenal One” will now go on to defend his strap in a dream match against 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34. Both men took to Twitter to hype the upcoming title bout:
It’s been called a dream match… A fantasy born in Japan…
Open your eyes, pinch your arms. AJ Styles vs. @ShinsukeN for the @WWE Championship in THE main event of @WrestleMania.
– Speaking of Royal Rumble winners, 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Asuka appeared at Fastlane after Charlotte Flair successfully defended her SmackDown Live Women’s Title against Ruby Riot. She confronted Flair and pointed at the WrestleMania 34 sign, indicating her choice to challenge Flair at the event.
Although she didn’t verbally confirm her decision during the segment, a post-event interview with Cathy Kelly confirmed “The Empress Of Tomorrow” did in fact choose Flair for WrestleMania:
AJ Styles defended his WWE Championship at Fastlane in a Six-Pack Challenge against John Cena, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. On this past Monday’s episode of RAW, Cena claimed that he was going to win the title and dared AJ Styles to invoke his rematch clause and make it a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania between Cena, Styles and Nakamura.
Cena stated that this was his last chance at making it to WrestleMania. He admitted that he failed at Elimination Chamber, but vowed to capture the WWE Championship at Fastlane. However, Cena once again came up short at WWE Fastlane 2018 and AJ Styles retained his WWE Championship. After the match, Cena raised AJ Styles’ hand and then clapped for him on the entrance ramp.
After his victory, WWE Champion AJ Styles was interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley. AJ was asked about overcoming the odds and walking out of WWE Fastlane as the WWE Champion. Styles immediately brought up Shinsuke Nakamura and the dream match that is now official for WrestleMania 34. AJ said that now that the match is official, he is going to kick Shinsuke Nakamura’s ass at WrestleMania.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura posted the following tweets after WWE Fastlane:
It’s been called a dream match… A fantasy born in Japan…
Open your eyes, pinch your arms. AJ Styles vs. @ShinsukeN for the @WWE Championship in THE main event of @WrestleMania.
When Shinsuke Nakamura was with New Japan Pro Wrestling he was part of the CHAOS faction. Will Ospreay is now a member of the same faction and reacted to a tweet from his former stablemate.
Bro have you not seen all the titles…we just need you to win the big one.
— Will Ospreay • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) March 1, 2018
CHAOS vs Bullet Club
After winning the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke Nakamura will challenge the WWE champion at WrestleMania. Who the WWE champion is will be determined in a 6-way match at Fastlane.
Should AJ Styles retain his title at Fastlane, it would set up a rematch between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. The last time they met was in the semi-main event of WrestleKingdom 10. Nakamura defeated AJ Styles to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship that night.
On last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW John Cena discussed his plans for a road to WrestleMania. After failing to win the Elimination Chamber match this past weekend, which would’ve guaranteed him a spot on “The Show Of Shows” to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, Cena’s WrestleMania plans are currently up in the air.
Cena proceeded to challenge The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania, which sent the crowd into a ridiculous frenzy. Unfortunately Cena silenced that by saying that a match with The Undertaker was “impossible.” He proceeded to say he would be on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live to further address his plans for New Orleans this April. Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc. reports on the latest episode of the Wrestling Inc. podcast that Cena is getting ready for a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura.
Nakamura and Cena are expected to go one-on-one at Fastlane on pay-per-view (PPV) next month. Nakamura will challenge the WWE Champion for the strap at WrestleMania after winning the Men’s Royal Rumble match last month. AJ Styles is currently scheduled to defend the WWE Title against Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, and Baron Corbin in a Fatal-Five Way at Fastlane. The winner will go on to defend the title against “The Artist” in April.
In 2015, Shinsuke Nakamura released a 2-volume autobiography. The Japanese language book was titled “King of Strong Style: 1980-2014″. Plans are now underway for the book to be released in English.
Viz Media sent out a release today that they have obtained the rights to the English-language version of the book. Digital and hard-copy editions will be available this summer.
Shinsuke Nakamura: King of Strong Style: 1980-2014
As the book only covers up until 2014, it won’t cover his decision to leave NJPW for WWE. It will, however, cover Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014. His match that night with Hiroshi Tanahashi was controversially voted to be the main event. Okada and Naito were wrestling for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but fans voted for Tanahashi and Nakamura’s Intercontinental Championship match to close the show.
Last month, Shinsuke Nakamura won the 2018 Royal Rumble. After the match, Nakamura announced he was choosing to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania, which could mean a rematch with AJ Styles.
Styles and Nakamura first met at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2016. Nakamura defeated AJ Styles to retain his IWGP Intercontinental Championship that night.
– Per WWE Stats & Info on Twitter, Shinsuke Nakamura made history at last weekend’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) by becoming the first-ever Japanese star to win the Royal Rumble match. He was also the first-ever to win the match entering at the 14th spot:
– WWE Superstar and 2018 Cricket Wireless Ambassador Sasha Banks recently did a Q&A at a Cricket Wireless store in Philadelphia earlier this week and discussed various topics. You can watch the full Q&A in the video player below:
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos spoke to Charly Caruso after retaining in the 2-of-3 Falls Match over Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin at the WWE Royal Rumble on Sunday night. They brag on making it through 2 falls, their success in Philadelphia and how they are still the champions, then leave to go celebrate.
– WWE announced 17,629 fans in attendance at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for this year’s Rumble pay-per-view. WWE announced 17,289 fans for the 2004 Rumble and 17,164 fans in attendance for the 2015 Rumble, which both took place in the same arena.
– Shinsuke Nakamura reveals why he chose AJ Styles as his ideal opponent at WrestleMania 34 after The King of Strong Style finally “did it” in the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble Match.
There is a new favorite to win the men’s Royal Rumble match.
Originally, odds were wavering between John Cena and Roman Reigns. However, that has changed. According to Paddy Power, Shinsuke Nakamura is now the favorite to win the match.
The Royal Rumble pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, January 28, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured.
– Early tomorrow morning Chris Jericho will be returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) for his highly-anticipated match-up against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12. Jericho took to Instagram to post some fan art that showed himself, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero. “Y2J” said that he is dedicating his match tomorrow to his “fallen brothers”:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdfXpUjlQnS/
– In the dark main event after SmackDown Live and 205 Live tapings; a Six-Man Tag Team match between the teams of AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura took on the team of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Jinder Mahal. “The Phenomenal One” and his team were able to emerge victorious to send the crowd home happy.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was recently a guest on Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Ross offered his thoughts on former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura’s run on the WWE main roster, Matt Hardy’s “Woken” reboot, talent establishing relationships with Vince McMahon, and who he would bring to WWE today. Here are the highlights:
Shinsuke Nakamura’s SmackDown Live run:
“It’s bell to bell, we are lacking what we know is there, we are not getting. I would love to see him return to that. Remember the match where he finally squared off with AJ, that’s your match and maybe AJ Is the best in the world.I got to call a match or two of theirs and they were unbelievable. I understand Kenny Omega who WWE I am sure would love to sig.
“He has proven he is sound and connects with an audience, he will want to get there some day because the older you get, you can’t work that crazy style with multiple big bumps per match and they do a lot of bumps on the apron which is very dangerous. Omega and Okada had three great matches this year but I thought that the Nakamura/AJ matches that I called were up there with them so it’s subjective right.”
Matt Hardy’s new “Woken” character:
“Matt has been around long enough to know where opportunities come and how fleeting they can be. He has one chance to make ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy work because it won’t get a second reboot, I like the persona, it feels organic and it’s interesting.”
Talent establishing relationships with Vince McMahon:
“I think Vince would be very adamant by saying yes, are those opportunities every day and easy to attain, probably not because of the work load, but I don’t believe and he shouldn’t, let go of his relationship with the talent. Sometimes it’s intimidating for them.”
Roberts:
“There’s also that feeling of I can’t believe I am here, if I keep to myself nobody will notice me and they won’t throw me out the door, but that’s not a great strategy.”
Ross:
“That isn’t a great strategy and it’s also not good for the locker room. The one thing that happened when we signed all those guys in the Attitude Era, we had a very competitive group, they all wanted to be the top dog. I booked Austin in a tag match once at Vince’s suggestion right before intermission to give him a break before TV. I got a call from the agent who had Austin and I figured out, A) he doesn’t like tag matches and B) he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t going on last.
“I said, that tag match would give him a break and going on before the intermission would get you on the road earlier to get to Raw. He gave me a speech about how he had worked his whole life for this to be a top guy and that top guys go on last and that is what top guys do, that was him. That was the way some talents were in that word, so I un-booked the tag and I put him on last.”
Who he’d bring to WWE today:
“I am going to certainly work out a way to bring Chris Jericho back, I am looking at Kenny Omega and finding the interest out from Okada, he is a good looking young man, he’s really good. I would certainly welcome Cody Rhodes with open arms and Young Bucks because I like those kids, as many shirts as they are selling now, get under that WWE umbrella and see how many you sell. I would try to figure out a way if there is one more run in CM Punk, and one more run means one WrestleMania, the only other way I would do him is have him return at WrestleManiaand that way there is no pressure on anybody.”
You can listen to Ross’ interview on The Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast by clicking here.