Shinsuke Nakamura Defeats Dolph Ziggler At Backlash

OK, now do you see what the all hype was about?

Shinsuke Nakamura finally made his main roster in-ring debut at WWE BackLash and wowed the Chicago crowd with a beautifully brutal defeat of WWE veteran, Dolph Ziggler. To the surprise of many, Ziggler actually controlled much of the bout, but Nakamura earned the victory by showing his full range of skills, with dazzling mat work and strong style strikes; finally finishing off the Show-Off with his Kinshasa knee strike finisher.

Before tonight’s match, some fans were starting to get restless only seeing Shinsuke’s infectious ring entrances since his debut over a month ago. WWE has been very conscious of wanting to protect the mystique of their newest star. On the latest episode of WWE Network’s Bring it to the Table, JBL even went as far as to compare Nakamura to The Undertaker.

“If you see a Conor McGregor fight, you don’t see him fighting every week leading up to that fight. And Conor McGregor always delivers. Look, this Shinsuke Nakamura is that special. He is a special attraction and I guarantee you he is worth the wait. Wait until you see this guy perform in the ring, he is that unique, he is that good, but also to me … you keep this guy special. Like the Undertaker in the 2000s, you don’t want to see him every single week! Fans would say, “yes, I want to see him every single week!” but you make it special. He [Nakamura] is that good, he needs to be special!”

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Nakamura may only seem like a recent NXT sensation to some, but he actually got his start in Japan working for the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion over a decade ago. After briefly competing simultaneously in professional wrestling and MMA fighting (where he compiled a 3-1 victory), Nakamura became the youngest ever wrestler to win New Japan’s most prestigious title, the IGWP Heavyweight Championship. Nakamura would spend the next decade in New Japan’s main event picture, fighting the likes of Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and AJ Styles.

While Ziggler could get another shot at Nakamura in the near future, don’t look for any 50/50 booking here. According to IWNerd.com one of the major rumors floating around has Shinsuke quickly moving on from his feud with Dolph Ziggler right into a feud with the “New Face Of America”, Kevin Owens.

Nakamura and Owens are scheduled for a WWE live event in Bakersfield, California on June 26th. Live events aren’t always indicative of what will transpire on TV, but they generally are where WWE gives new storylines test runs to prepare for the larger audience.