10 Times WWE Was Totally Better Than Your Fantasy Booking

5. Shinsuke Nakamura's Mouthpiece

Lesnar Kennedy
WWE.com

Your Fantasy Booking:

Shinsuke Nakamura can't cut truly effective promos in English, so pair him with Paul Heyman to calibrate his act to WWE's sports entertainment world, as opposed to have him stand there and look mildly put out in weirdly civil segments with Dolph Ziggler. It was a pitch rooted in logic and the best of intentions, but Heyman, masterful as he is on the stick, doesn't possess transferable magic. It didn't work with Cesaro, because fans wanted to cheer him, and fans wanted to cheer for Shinsuke Nakamura, at least at first. But the problem with the WWE version of Nakamura is that he does not give a toss; if Heyman worked his ass off to build the match, Nakamura's body couldn't live up to his bluster.

WWE's Real Booking:

Sami Zayn is the perfect mouthpiece for Nakamura because he never shuts that mouth. This is inspired, because Sami's incessant meme-generating hype man schtick masks Nakamura's methodical pace, and emphasises and puts over what he can still do effectively. And that's after Nakamura steps through the ropes; Zayn's role allows Nakamura to enter and further rivalries that aren't otherwise initiated with flat, route-one attacks.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!