Not every WWE Superstar is capable of being a main event attraction. Shinsuke Nakamura certainly possesses that magic fairy dust, but Jim Ross thinks that the SmackDown star is capable of reaching not only WWE’s top shelf but their rarest of stratospheres.
During a recent appearance on the Jim Cornette Experience, Ross, a long time proponent of Nakamura’s, rattled off one of the best compliments a WWE Superstar could ever ask for: a comparison to Stone Cold Steve Austin.
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“But if they get a good offer — hey look… Nakamura leaving New Japan, cause I called a lot of his matches when I first got that gig when Mauro Ranallo went over to SmackDown for a while. This son of a b-tch is the equivalent of signing an Austin or just any top-tier 1, 2, or 3 guy on the roster. Figure it in, top 3 he was there in any generation for those guys,” he said.
Good Ol’ JR would offer that it’s possible WWE scaled back some of Nakamura’s patented agression—something that may have hampered the 38-year old.
“I love his work, but I liked his work in New Japan because I foresee, and maybe I’m wrong that he was more aggressive there and I don’t see that aggression in him that I know he has that I enjoy. Maybe he has been toned down,” said Ross.
Until he won the 2018 Royal Rumble, fans of Shinsuke Nakamura were understandably nervous about his WWE trajectory. A year of complacency rubbed off his NXT shine and Nakamura felt arbitrary—the exact scenario his followers were dreading. But as WrestleMania approaches, Shinsuke is rising.
When WWE has given the stage to Nakamura, he answers. Whether it was his WWE debut against Sami Zayn, his NXT Championship Matches with Samoa Joe, or his electric SmackDown match with John Cena, The King of Strong Style is at his best under the brightest of lights.
And WrestleMania 34 will be the biggest opportunity in Nakamura’s decorated career.
He’ll face storied rival and WWE Champion, AJ Styles in a fight that could officially launch him into the orbit we, and Jim Ross have been expecting.
[H/T WrestlingNews.co]
