10 Wrestlers WWE Has Given Up On

4. Shinsuke Nakamura

Cesaro WWE
WWE

What is it with the IC Title and WWE disinterest?

Shinsuke Nakamura has defended the prize once since winning it in August 2021. ONCE! That sole title defence came on the 24 September SmackDown against former champ Apollo Crews, and that's just sad. At time of writing, it's been 124 days since Naka put that thing up for grabs on television. Wow.

He has worked IC Title bouts on house shows, but let's get real here - WWE don't give a toss about the secondary strap, and they haven't done since Big E dropped it to Apollo at WrestleMania 37 in that humdrum 'Nigerian Drum Fight'. If they did, then Shin wouldn't be carting it around like a fan fresh from the WWE Shop sales.

Nakamura's Intercontinental reign is a disgrace to that title, but it's symptomatic of where he is in WWE circles nowadays. Rick Boogs' pal is on the periphery for sure, and that ain't about to change. His next stop is surely losing the belt to Sami Zayn, then falling further into the mire.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.