Shinsuke Nakamura as WWE United States Champion feels out of place

As a lifelong wrestling fan with over two decades of fandom under my belt, I find myself at a crossroads with the recent turn of events involving Shinsuke Nakamura and the WWE United States Championship. It’s not that I don’t appreciate Nakamura’s talent or his return to the limelight – quite the contrary! But the timing and execution of this title change feel a bit off-kilter, like a botched Hennessey Slam.

A few weeks back during Survivor Series, Shinsuke Nakamura unconventionally outdid LA Knight to seize the WWE United States Championship, marking his third term as titleholder. This new stint seems distinct for Nakamura. Before his shocking comeback, it had been several months since he last appeared on TV.

Nakamaura feels out of place as US Champion

Though everything is indeed fitting for Nakamura, the sequence of events seems off-kilter. It’s not his fault that he seems misplaced in the role of champion.

During his absence from TV, we’d grown accustomed to witnessing Andrade and Carmelo Hayes go head-to-head in a seven-match series, vying for a chance to challenge for the United States Championship. For a change, WWE managed to develop a new rivalry solely centered around title contention.

Instead of giving one competitor a title match, WWE creators opted to spoil the seventh bout by turning it into a triple threat for the championship at Crown Jewel. In this contest, Knight pins Hayes, and that’s it – they’re no longer in contention for the title? Andrade won’t get another chance? Their matches generated considerable attention, rekindling enthusiasm in the midcard scene on Smackdown. As a result, the United States Championship became an even more desirable prize.

Here’s what transpires: The next week, Nakamura makes a shocking comeback, launching a surprise assault on Knight following his successful defense of the title in an open challenge on Smackdown. Immediately after the attack, Nakamura is granted a title shot and seizes the championship right then and there.

Following the significant advancements in the midcard segment, this action seems to have set it back a bit. However, it’s not that Nakamura doesn’t warrant it (he certainly does). It merely appears that it did more damage to Andrade and Hayes’ progress than it did to enhance Nakamura’s.

Essentially, his fresh presentation and scenes have been quite engaging to observe. He seems overpowering within the roster, yet it appears that he didn’t necessarily need to win the title for this to work. Given that it’s still early in his title reign, things might shift later on, but currently, it feels somewhat discordant with how the midcard has been playing out on Monday Night Raw.

2024-12-19 16:15