On tonight’s episode of SmackDown, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal made his way to the ring decked out in a blue suit and tie. Mahal came down to the ring alone, as the Singh Brothers were selling their injuries after Sunday’s Punjabi Prison match at WWE Battleground. Mahal claimed that he crushed the legacy of Randy Orton at Battleground and the legend of the modern day Maharaja was born. Mahal stated that just like everyone in the WWE Universe, Randy Orton underestimated him at Battleground. Mahal demanded to know who his opponent at WWE SummerSlam and demanded silence from the crowd as he spoke in Punjabi.
John Cena came down to the ring and Mahal said that he wasn’t finished. Mahal said that he knows what Cena was going to say that Jinder doesn’t deserve to be WWE Champion. Cena stated that Mahal sucks as a mind reader, and said that he respects the fact that Mahal is in the best shape of his life and that the WWE Championship means so much to him. Cena then gave Mahal a heads up that at SummerSlam, Jinder Mahal is facing “Super Cena”. Cena then vowed to walk out of SummerSlam as a 17 time WWE Champion.
Cena’s music hit and Cena exited the ring. Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan then came down to the entrance ramp and Bryan congratulated both of them at being victorious at Battleground. Daniel Bryan announced that John Cena doesn’t make the matches and said that on SmackDown, opportunities are earned even if your name is John Cena. Daniel Bryan then made a match for next week’s SmackDown. John Cena will face Shinsuke Namaura next week to determine who will challenge Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at WWE SummerSlam on August 20th.
AJ Styles recently spoke to Edge and Christian on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness about his encounter with Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Money in the Bank last month. During the match, Nakamura and AJ Styles were the only two Superstars in the ring. Styles and Nakamura proceeded to have a stare down and the crowd went crazy for it. It was a moment that felt special, especially for those who have seen Styles and Nakamura work together in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Styles and Nakamura then traded some punches and the match continued.
Styles revealed on the latest episode of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness that it was his idea for the stare down to happen during WWE Money in the Bank. Here is what Styes said on the podcast:
“Well not to toot my own horn here, but that was my idea. Because I wanted to show Vince (McMahon) that there’s something special here. Something that people wanted to see. So let’s wait until we give it to them, and give them something bigger than just you know, a TV match. It was one of those cold chill moments that I got, standing in the middle of the ring looking through the ladder at Nakamura.”
Photo Credit: WWE.com
AJ Styles and Nakamura teamed up last week on SmackDown in a losing effort against Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens. However, Nakamura approached AJ Styles backstage earlier during the show and warned Styles that one day he will be coming for the United States Championship.
Fans in attendance for Tuesday’s SmackDown Live from Phoenix, Arizona were treated to one heck of a main event after 205 Live went off the air. After returning to WWE television on SmackDown for the first time since WrestleMania, John Cena teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura in the dark match main event of the evening. The dream team defeated Rusev and Baron Corbin.
Earlier in the evening, Rusev interrupted Cena’s return promo to set up a Flag Match between the two at Battleground on July 23rd. It looks like Corbin vs. Nakamura is also lined up for Battleground after Corbin attacked Nakamura once again this week.
Check out these photos of John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura in action together.
Two days of #WWEPhoenix capped by a match between John Cena & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev & former Cardinals OL Baron Corbin. Good guys won. pic.twitter.com/hgOoVRuGw5
Shinsuke Nakamura appeared in a rather unlikely place this past weekend…
IMPACT Wrestling held a ‘fan fest’ show before their Slammiversary Pay Per View and the ‘King of Strong Style’ was in attendance. You can see the tweet below featuring Shinsuke, Pro Wrestling NOAH star Marufuji, Ishimori and former Team Canada manager Scott D’Amore.
Although it is patently obvious that Shinsuke was not looking for a new position at the rebranded Global Force Wrestling promotion, it is an odd move for him to make, although a man of his star power is unlikely to see any repercussions from this.
Shinsuke Nakamura was unable to perform at a WWE house show in Vancouver over the weekend. It is being reported that he had trouble getting across the Canadian border.
Nakamura is still expected to be at the upcoming WWE house show in Everett, Washington, as well as Tuesday’s Smackdown in San Diego. He previously performed in Canada with ROH, and evidently had no problems crossing the border then.
WWE Vancouver Live Event Results
Natalya defeated Charlotte.
Kevin owens defeated Rusev and Sami Zayn in a 3-way match for the US Championship.
Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger.
Becky Lynch and Naomi defeated Carmella and Tamina.
Road Dogg responds to fan criticism of Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance not being aired last night on SmackDown
Former WWE Superstar and now SmackDown producer Road Dogg responded to fan criticism of Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance not being aired during SmackDown last night. A fan tweeted directly at Road Dogg to voice his displeasure in the decision to not show the entrance. Road Dogg responded with the following:
Thanks. We run a television show, they have commercials. See how sarcasm sounds?!
Fans have also been critical of Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance being altered since joining the main roster. Pyro sounds have been added to Nakamura’s entrance since Nakamura made his WWE main roster debut following the Superstar Shake-Up. The pyro sounds can be heard during Nakamura’s entrance in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54g3QFJX3A
Jim Ross says Brock Lesnar versus Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire is going to be a classic
Jim Ross recently spoke to Busted Open about the upcoming Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire. In regards to the match, Jim Ross stated the following:
“I believe those two guys are gonna have a whole hell of a lot to say about their presentation in Dallas. I really do. I also believe that each guy is an alpha male. They’re going to bring each other their best, there’s gonna be locks up that would make some people leave wrestling school. So, I believe Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar is going to be a classic.”
Jim Ross also stated in the interview that he still wants to call their match at Great Balls of Fire.
Former WWE and WCW writer Vince Russo recently joined the Wrestling Inc. podcast to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. During the show, Russo commented on how he believes the WWE is ‘mishandling’ WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and SmackDown Live star Shinsuke Nakamura’s respective pushes within the company. You can check out what he had to say here:
WWE mishandling Jinder Mahal:
“What a mishandling of Jinder Mahal three weeks as the champion,” Russo said. “And they killed it. They dropped the ball… It’s horrendous what they did to this poor guy in the last three weeks.”
“This is what they do with all these guys, Raj. Everybody just becomes another name on the roster. If you go back and you look at the Attitude Era show, every single show was built around who the champion was. And that championship and that title. Every show was built around that. That’s the most important thing on the show.”
Shinsuke Nakamura’s poor push:
“Yesterday, three weeks after winning the title, this guy was handled just like another wrestler on the show,” Russo commented about this week’s episode of Smackdown. “Bro, the announcers couldn’t have no-sold it any-more. When Shane announced he [Jinder Mahal] had a match with Mojo, the freaking announcers no-sold it. This is your freaking champion!”
“There’s a basic problem with the WWE, I’ll you what it is and this is what’s happening,” Russo stated. “We used to spend a lot of Monday Night RAW and a lot of SmackDown building characters and developing storylines. So by the time we got to the match, it was a big deal. What happened now is they don’t know how to make characters anymore, there are no storylines. Everybody just wants to fight each other. So when you take away the character building and when you take away the storylines, all you have are matches.”
“So every week bro, as you’re working towards the pay-per-view, these guys are in the same ring,” Russo explained. “Whether it’s a six-man or a tag or an eight-man, by the time you get the pay-per-view, you’ve seen these guys mix it up like three or four times before and it doesn’t mean anything. And Nakamura, as unique as the guy is, bro, what have they done,” Russo asked. “I saw a vignette of a guy yesterday painting. That’s the character build of Nakamura. I mean, that’s supposed to get me excited about this freaking guy?”
– In the video below, SmackDown Live star AJ Styles joined Talking Smack following last night’s (Tues. June 6, 2017) episode of SmackDown Live to discuss the upcoming Money In The Bank (MITB) Ladder match and when he’d cash-in if he were to win.
Styles said it would all depend on how he feels after the match and if he’s in good physical condition. “The Phenomenal One” stated “Winners find a way to win,” and if he gets the briefcase, he’s focused on cashing in at the right time:
– As we’ve previously reported, Lana made her SmackDown Live debut last night and also joined Talking Smack. Lana discussed receiving a shot at the SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Naomi at the MITB pay-per-view (PPV), seeing as the rest of the women’s division will be involved in the first ever female MITB Ladder Match.
Lana claimed that SmackDown Live is “The Land Of Opportunity” and also said she has had doubters her entire life telling her she’d never amount to anything. After crossing the ocean and making it out of her ‘pathetic’ little village in Russia, look at where she is now. “The Ravishing Russian” says she will prove all her doubters wrong against Naomi and vows to make history. Check it out:
– Following his attack on Shinsuke Nakamura, who defeated WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens in the main event of last night’s SmackDown Live, Baron Corbin took to Twitter to rub it in the WWE Universe’s face:
To all the people complaining and crying about tonight. I just want to say HAHAHAHAHAHA#EOD
Former WWE Champion AJ Styles is currently on a mission to once again be “The Champ That Runs The Camp”, as he is set to be a part of the WWE’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match later this month at the MITB pay-per-view (PPV) from St. Louis, Missouri. Recently, “The Phenomenal One” joined Rock 100.5’s Bailey And Southside in Atlanta, Georgia to talk about his WWE career, and you can check out some of the highlights below:
Who he’s looking forward to facing the most in WWE:
“Well, I can tell you there [are] a lot of people that want to see Nakamura, Shinsuke Nakamura, and myself in the ring. We’ve done it before for a different company, but never in the WWE.” Styles added, “I think something like that is going to happen. It has to.”
Shinsuke Nakamura’s awkward style:
“He’s a different cat. There’s no doubt about it. He’s a big Michael Jackson fan and you can see that. His performance, everything he does, he’s Michael Jackson, but he’s a heck of an athlete. He’s an MMA guy, he knows his stuff and he will kick your head off. That’s legit. He fought in mixed martial arts, so the guy knows what he’s doing, so he’s kind of a bad dude despite the fact that his stuff is Michael Jackson and that doesn’t come off as very intimidating, but it isn’t a laughing matter when he puts that boot up against your face.”
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. Their recent tag team match on Smackdown is the first time that both men have been seen together on a broadcast since January 4th 2016.
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:
Dolph Ziggler has released a promo via Twitter hyping his bout against Shinsuke Nakamura at Sunday’s Backlash event on the WWE Network.
In the short video Dolph talks about the WWE Universe liking ‘shiny new toys’ and how he built a following and gained the respect of the fans organically. Ziggler also talks about the perception that he is a ‘gatekeeper’ for the NXT stars and how him beating Nakamura means the ‘entire business’ will win.
It is certainly worth checking out the 2 minute video below, Dolph speaks straight in to the camera and it is the most passionate and ‘real’ he has felt in a very long time.
-Dolph Ziggler was interviewed on Talking Smack about his match against Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Backlash. Ziggler said that Nakamura has never had a match on SmackDown. Ziggler claimed that he will figure out Nakamura at Backlash.
-The Rock will be on the cover of GQ’s annual Comedy issue. The Rock’s new film “Baywatch” is set to release later this month on May 25th.
Considering the push the company seems to be giving to Nakamura, this storyline appears to be geared towards making him look strong. Ziggler has continued to get lost in the shuffle as of late, even after his most recent heel turn.
At WWE live events recently, Nakamura has been defeating Ziggler in singles matches, as well as in dark matches after TV tapings. This is nothing new for Ziggler, who loses more than he wins. Before Ziggler was dropping matches to Nakamura at house shows, he was doing the same for Mojo Rawley. Since Rob Gronkowski is no longer around however, Rawley doesn’t seem to be winning matches anymore.
In March, Ziggler did manage to get some wins over Apollo Crews on house shows, but in general his heel turn has not done much to change his win/loss record.
After SmackDown went off the air, AJ Styles, Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler, Jinder Mahal & Erick Rowan. Below are some photos and videos of what went down after SmackDown:
Kevin Owens defeated Chris Jericho in the main event on SmackDown to recapture the United States Championship. After the match, Kevin Owens brutally attacked Jericho and placed his head between a chair. Owens then slammed the chair into the ring post. WWE has uploaded a new video of Kevin Owens ripping Jericho’s name plate of the United States Championship.
– WWE.com noted that Charlotte Flair made history on Tuesday’s SmackDown Live in her match with Naomi. Charlotte is the first female Superstar in history to battle one-on-one in Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-view main events.
– The following video of Aliyah taking a ‘phantom’ bump at an NXT live event has been going around social media.
– Shinsuke Nakamura posted this photo on Instagram with the caption, “See you later buddy.” Yes, that’s AJ Styles in the background. Now that Nakamura is a member of the SmackDown roster, an eventual ‘dream match’ with the Phenomenal One is a very real possibility.
WWE has announced the matches for three of the dates on their upcoming European tour that kicks off on May 3rd in Italy. As reported previously the Hardy Boys will be part of the tour as the ban on Jeff Hardy entering the United Kingdom has now been lifted. Other notable inclusions to the tour include Shinsuke Nakamura and newly signed NXT star Aleister Black.
The currently scheduled matches are as follows:
May 3rd in Rome at Palalottomatica
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe
The Miz vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardys
Alexa Bliss vs. Emma vs. Mickie James vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax vs. RAW Women’s Champion Bayley
Appearances by Austin Aries, WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville, Goldust, R-Truth and more
May 6th at Plaza Toros Valencia in Valencia:
AJ Styles vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton
Sami Zayn vs. WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens
American Alpha vs. The Shining Stars vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos
Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi
Appearances by Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler, Tyler Breeze, Fandango and more
May 13th at Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands:
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe
The Miz vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardys
Alexa Bliss vs. Emma vs. Mickie James vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax vs. RAW Women’s Champion Bayley
Aleister Black vs. Austin Aries vs. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville
1. Aleister Black vs. Corey Hollis This match was so short that WWE didn’t bother to post highlights. Black stood stoically near the roopes and waited for his opponent to charge. When he did, Black hit him with a roundhouse head kick and pinned him. Then he sat cross-legged in the ring. Winner: Aleister Black
** Tye Dillinger came out and cut a promo about how even though he is now on the main roster, he has unfinished business with Eric Young. It was announced that Dillinger and Young will face each other in a steel cage match next week on NXT.
2. Team DIY vs Local Talents – Dylan Miley and Michael Blais This was interesting. DIY pick up the win, but Dylan Miley really made the most of his ring time here. Miley used several impressive power moves including a British Bulldog style vertical suplex and looked to be dominating Ciampa and Gargano. It was only when he tagged in Blais that DIY was able to get the advantage and hit a double shining wizard for the pin. After the match Miley attacked his partner, solidifying himself as someone for fans to take notice of. Winner: Team DIY
Later in the night Dylan Miley caught up with his tag team partner in the back to apologize. It was just an overreaction, I’m sure we won’t see anything like that from Miley again.
3. Ruby Riot vs. Kimberly Frankele As the match began, Nikki Cross from Sanity came out through the crowd and stared down Ruby. Finish of the match came when Riot hit a scissor kick and pinned Frankele. Cross and Riot continued to stare each other down after the match. WInner: Ruby Riot
4. Drew Mcintyre vs. Oney Lorcan Mcintyre picked his game up after being released from WWE and forced the company to give him another opportunity. Now he’s back with a gimmick more serious than he had with 3MB. Lorcan looked to get busted open on his forehead during this match. Mcintyre picked up the win after a reverse alabama slam and shining wizard. All four matches on NXT this week finished with head kicks. After the match Drew cut a promo saying he is targeting the NXT championship. Winner: Drew Mcyntire
Shinsuke Nakamura Farewell Address Nakamura debuted at NXT Takeover Dallas, a little over one year ago. He spent one WWE season in NXT, from WrestleMania to WrestleMania. On Smackdown he looks to be entering a program with Dolph Ziggler, which is a big opportunity for both.
A user on reddit has posted a video of AJ Lee promoting her new book, Crazy Is My Superpower at Book Revue in Huntington, New York. Lee stated that she hasn’t really kept up with WWE recently. Lee also said that Bayley is like her little sister and feels that she is continuing her legacy.
Orlando Fans Sing Nakamura’s Theme
Shinsuke Nakamura made his main roster debut Tuesday night on Smackdown. After the show, fans filed out of the arena and started to sing Nakamura’s theme music.
Minor Mishap During Bayley’s Wrestlemania 33 Entrance
Raw Women’s Champion Bayley tripped over one of the inflatable tubes in her entrance during Wrestlemania 33. Bayley responded to a fan about the incident on Twitter:
Former NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura made his main roster debut this week on SmackDown Live (Video). At Wednesday’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, a special “farewell tribute” for Nakamura took place with appearances from Finn Balor and Triple H.
Nakamura opened the segment by coming out to the ring for a promo. He said one year ago he came to NXT and he already had experience but he wanted to challenge himself against the best in the world. The two-time NXT Champion said NXT is its own brand that creates something new and different.
Nakamura said he quickly found that the NXT Universe is crazy. He added that the NXT fans created the singing and the chants, and that NXT is their style. Nakamura ended his promo by saying he will always be NXT because… “We Are NXT!”
The entire NXT roster then came out to the stage. Nakamura walked to the top of the stage and was then joined by Finn Balor and Triple H. Nakamura ran around the arena filming with his phone before bowing to everyone and leaving.
The segment is scheduled to air on next week’s 4/12 edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
2-time NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura made his main roster debut on Tuesday night’s SmackDown Live from Orlando, Florida.
While The Miz and Maryse were cutting a promote on John Cena and Nikki Bella (dressed as them), they were interrupted by a violinist playing Nakamura’s theme. Nakamura came out to a huge ovation. He entered the ring and did his usual entrance and received a deafening “Nakamura” chant.
Nakamura competed at Saturday night’s NXT Takeover: Orlando event where he came up short against NXT Champion Bobby Roode in the main event.
After SmackDown and 205 Live went off the air, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler in the dark match main event of the evening.
Coming out of TakeOver: Orlando on Saturday night, WWE officials have plans to call several NXT Superstars to the main roster soon.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Andrade “Cien” Almas, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tye Dillinger are set for call-ups to either RAW or SmackDown soon. Meltzer also speculated on The Revival coming up from NXT.
On a related note, it appears Elias Samson’s call up has been delayed or possibly nixed. Samson was believed to be headed to the main roster after recently losing a Loser Leaves NXT match to Kassius Ohno but Meltzer indicated that the call up may not be happening as soon as originally expected.
Daniel Bryan recently did an interview with James Delow of Gorilla Position and discussed a possible match with The Miz at Wrestlemania 34. Daniel Bryan claimed that he is not sure he would want to wrestle someone like The Miz if he was to return to a WWE ring. Bryan stated that he would prefer to wrestle against AJ Styles or Shinsuke Nakamura. The likelihood of Daniel Bryan wrestling again in the WWE remains very low. Our friends over at WrestlingInc shared a clip of Daniel Bryan discussing a potential match with The Miz.
The WWE uploaded a video of Shinsuke Nakamura at Radio Row in Orlando earlier this morning. Nakamura stated that the match he is most looking forward to at Wrestlemania 33 is Shane McMahon versus AJ Styles. Nakamura is wrestling NXT Champion Bobby Roode at NXT Takeover: Orlando tomorrow night.
Shinsuke Nakamura’s future on the NXT brand has been the subject of much discussion lately. Nakamura is rumored to be joining the main roster soon and his omission from the promotional poster hyping NXT’s upcoming tour of the UK led some to believe that he’ll be getting called up after NXT Takeover: Orlando.
On Monday, the @WWEUK Twitter account posted this video of Nakamura announcing that will in fact part of the upcoming NXT UK tour.
We’ll find out soon if this means Nakamura’s WWE television debut is pushed back to June (or later), but NXT fans in the UK will have another chance to see the former NXT Champion in action.
Shinsuke Nakamura was recently interviewed by Sportskeeda and commented on which main roster brand he’d like to join.
“Either brand is okay,” he said, “Raw has Joe, Finn. So much NXT talent that it’s comfortable for me. SmackDown has AJ Styles, Randy Orton, John Cena. I want to wrestle all of them. So either!”
Whether he winds up wrestling on Monday or Tuesday nights, Nakamra thinks he’s proven that he deserves a spot in WWE. “”I’ve done a good job this year, but I still want to go to the next WrestleMania. Before WrestleMania, there’s Takeover, and I need to prove myself again. Then, I want to go up as soon as possible.”
When asked about his dream WrestleMania opponent, he named AJ Styles. You can check out he entire interview at Sportskeeda.com.
– John Cena (a/k/a Lance Catamaran) thanked fans on Twitter for the tremendous response to Southpaw Regional Wrestling, the 4-part comedy series about a fictional 1980’s wrestling territory. Cena instructed fans to tweet at the creator of the show for more episodes. In case you missed it:
Meanwhile, Jim Cornette was asked if he had checked out Southpaw Regional Wrestling. Cornette is a staunch supporter of classic professional wrestling, a bygone era parodied in Southpaw. He replied:
To put an end to these requests–do not intend to watch this horseshit, people who ask me to are wasting their time. https://t.co/0KQbjIbq8X
Shinsuke Nakamura continues to campaign for a match at WrestleMania 33. During a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel to promote NXT Takeover: Orlando, Nakamura expressed his desire to compete on pro wrestling’s grandest stage.
“I hope. I hope. I want to go to the next [level]. If I can wrestle at WrestleMania, that’s going to be awesome. I… really… want… WrestleMania.”
When asked if competing at WrestleMania was one of the reasons he came to WWE, Nakamura said:
“Yeah. Yeah. I want to wrestle at the biggest wrestling show on the Earth.”
Shinsuke Nakamura will challenge NXT Champion Bobby Roode at Takeover and will be getting called up to the main roster very soon. It’s rumored that he’ll be joining the RAW brand, which sets up potential matches with the likes of Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman.
