10 Big WWE Predictions For The Road To WrestleMania 33
9. Shinsuke Nakamura Gets The Call
Shinsuke Nakamura’s time in NXT should really be coming to an end by now. It was abundantly clear from the moment he first walked-out at TakeOver: Dallas that Nakamura didn’t need time to adapt to American wrestling. He fit right in from day one, and after several years as one of NJPW’s biggest stars, he has spent the last 10 months performing for 150-200 people on the Florida house show loop.
Nakamura has been good for NXT, but keeping him in developmental is a clear misuse of his talents. The man deserves the biggest spotlight, and there shouldn’t be anything holding him back now that he has lost the NXT Championship. The returning Kassius Ohno should fill his slot at the top of the card with relative ease, and Nakamura’s current injury storyline should allow a Sami Zayn-esque transition to Raw or SmackDown.
WWE should follow the Zayn blueprint almost to a tee. Just as Zayn bowed out with a big match against Nakamura on WrestleMania weekend last year, Nakamura should do the same with someone like Ohno this year. Announce that this will be Nak’s final NXT match in advance, have him put on the show of a lifetime, then debut him on the main roster immediately after. It’s long overdue, and this feels like the perfect opportunity.