SHINSUKE NAKAMURA

Shinsuke Becomes United States Champion

Nakamura had a few more matches against A.J. Styles, but never won the title. Later that year he became the United States Champion defeating Jeff Hardy, and then lost it to Rusev, only to win it back and lose it again to R-Truth. In 2019, Nakamura defeated Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship and enjoyed a lengthy title run with his new manager Sami Zayn by his side. Nakamura lost the title to Braun Strowman in January 2020 ending his reign at 201 days.

Shinsuke & Cesaro Tag Team Champions

Following WrestleMania 36, Shinsuke Nakamura began teaming with Cesaro frequently and together they won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships in July at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules by defeating Kofi Kingston and Big E in a tables match.

On the October 9th episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura lost the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship titles to Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

Shinsuke Becomes King of the Ring

On the January 8, 2021 episode of SmackDown, Nakamura competed in a Gauntlet match to determine the challenger for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, defeating Rey Mysterio, King Corbin, and Daniel Bryan.

At Royal Rumble, Shinsuke entered at number 7 and scored zero eliminations before being eliminated by King Corbin. In March, Nakamura became involved in Cesaro’s feud with Seth Rollins after Rollins took Cesaro out of action. This led to a match between Nakamura and Rollins at Fastlane where Nakamura was defeated.

On the May 7th special “Old School” Smackdown episode, he teamed with Kevin Owens, Big E and the Street Profits in a losing effort against the team of Sami Zayn, Apollo Crews, The Alpha Academy and the returning King Corbin. After Corbin hit Nakamura with the End of Days for the win.

On the final Smackdown before Wrestlemania Backlash, he lost to King Corbin in about 3 minutes, when Nakamura locked in an arm bar and Corbin countered by stacking him for the pin. After the match, he kicked the crown off Corbin and beat him down. Nakamura put on the crown with a segment later on showing himself in the mirror being almost mesmerized by the crown, teasing a new King of the Ring tournament and the possible crowning of King Nakamura. On the June 18 episode of Smackdown, Nakamura defeated Corbin in a “Battle For The Crown” match to become the new King.

King Nakamura Becomes Intercontinental Champion

On the August 13 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, King Nakamura defeated Apollo Crews to become the Intercontinental Champion for his second reign. Nakamura lost the Intercontinental Championship on February 11, 2022 to Sami Zayn.

At WrestleMania 38, Boogs and Nakamura faced The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but lost. During the match, Boogs suffered a torn quadriceps/patellar tendon injury, requiring surgery. On the June 3rd episode of SmackDown, Nakamura teamed with Riddle against the Usos for the titles, but lost.

On the June 3 episode of SmackDown, he teamed with Riddle to face the Usos for the titles, but lost. Nakamura then failed to qualify for Money in the Bank when he lost to Sami Zayn on the June 24 episode of SmackDown, and in a last chance battle royal on the following episode of RAW. On the August 12th episode of SmackDown, he faced Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship in a losing effort.

On the October 18th episode, Nakamura made his first NXT appearance in over five years as Tony D’Angelo’s hand-picked opponent against Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, whom he would end up defeating. After six months away from WWE programming, Nakamura made his return on the April 14, 2023, episode of SmackDown, defeating Madcap Moss.

Shinsuke Nakamura Changes Rosters

As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Nakamura was drafted to the RAW brand. On the May 29th episode of RAW, he defeated Bronson Reed to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Damian Priest. 

Shinsuke Nakamura teamed up with Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins to defeat The Judgment Day in a six man tag team match on August 7. After the match, Nakamura attacked Rollins, turning heel for the first time since 2021. This began his feud with Rollins.

At Payback, Nakamura faced Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was unsuccessful in winning it. He had another title shot against Seth Rollins at Fastlane in a Last Man Standing match. Again, Nakamura failed to win, ending the feud in the process. After his defeat at Fastlane, Alpha Academy’s Akira Tozawa started a minor feud between his stable and Nakamura. Nakamura defeated Tozawa, Otis, and Chad Gable in successive episodes of RAW. At the same time, Nakamura appeared in pre-filmed promos, where he calls out a challenge to an unspecified wrestler. On the November 27th episode of Raw, Nakamura attacked Cody Rhodes.

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