This Friday WWE announced the long-awaited return of Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown next week.
The King of Strong Style has not been seen on WWE Television ever since losing to Santos Escobar on the November 11th episode of SmackDown. Ever since that loss he has not appeared on any of the shows, except for appearing on a few non-televised live events. His last appearance was at another live event in January where he teamed up with Braun Strowman and Madcap Moss to defeat Imperium.
During the WrestleMania weekend, it was reported that WWE apparently had plans for Shinsuke Nakamura to return to WWE Television. However, these plans were kept on hold until after WrestleMania 39. Now, the company has officially announced the return of Shinsuke Nakamura. It’s still unknown whether Nakamura is going to compete on next week’s SmackDown. No opponent has yet been announced for The King Of Strong Style.
Shinsuke Nakamura was a pretty dominant force back when he was first called up to the main roster from NXT. At that point, he was a two-time NXT Champion. He went on to win the WWE United States Championship twice and the Intercontinental Championship as well. He has also won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Cesaro. However, The King of Strong Style is yet to win the WWE Championship. He did face AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34, but ended up losing and turning heel. Since then Nakamura hasn’t really been involved with any major storylines in WWE.
Where was Shinsuke Nakamura during his absence from WWE?
In January 2023, Shinsuke Nakamura was involved with The Great Muta‘s retirement tour. The two icons had a dream match at Pro Wrestling Noah, where The King Of Strong Style emerged victorious.
The Great Muta was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame Class of 2023 this year. Before his absence, Nakamura battled Santos Escobar in the SmackDown World Cup tournament. The King of Strong Style was eliminated by Escobar in the first round. Before that, he had some short feuds with the Intercontinental Champion, Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser.
With his return announced for next week’s SmackDown, who do you think Shinsuke Nakamura is going to face next? Stay tuned to find out.
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