10 Wrestlers That Have Soared Since WWE WrestleMania 35

3. Shinsuke Nakamura

King Corbin
WWE.com

Shinsuke Nakamura was doing less than f*ck all alongside Rusev heading into WrestleMania 35, but unlike the 'Bulgarian Brute', the 'King Of Strong Style' has found a way back into fan hearts after several years on the proverbial and literal beach.

A pairing with Sami Zayn was formed out of absolutely nowhere, but the lack of narrative craft thankfully ended there. Together, the pair are a riot - Zayn plays overreacting meme factory on the floor as 'The Artist' decorates his opponents with his trademark array of vicious kicks.

Zayn's as funny as his charge is furious, and the act is so far immune to bad writing because the Intercontinental Champion's job is to kick the sh*t out of his foes. Popping his t*ts off to everything he likes, 'The Underdog From The Underground' is basically doing the thing fans used to do for Shinsuke before WWE's main roster grind sucked all the fun out of him.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett